Static Dress formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire, in 2018, initially bringing together vocalist Olli Appleyard, guitarist Tom Black, bassist Connor Reilly, and drummer Sam Kay. The band emerged from the orbit of the earlier group Galleries and quickly distinguished itself through a mix of post-hardcore, emo, screamo, metalcore, and the visual language of early-2000s alternative culture. Just as important as the music was the band’s approach to presentation, with videos, coded imagery, livestreams, comics, and other visual projects becoming part of the larger Static Dress world. The first official Static Dress singles arrived in 2019 with “clean.,” “DSC_301,” and “Adaptive
We’re back with a brand new Tracks Of The Week! This week we’ve got another seven new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
So Steven Wilson notches up his second win in recent weeks in TOTW with his rather creepy new video for On Chapel Slope. Pure Reason Revolution’s Annicke Shireen made second place all her own and Arabs In. Aspic came a respectable third.
The premise is simple – we’ve listened to a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you – it makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn’t it?
The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it’s a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn’t be easier, could it? We’ll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week, we’ll update you with this week’s winner and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you’re a band and you want to be featured in Prog‘s Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo (please, don’t forget the photo!) and biog with quotes to us here.
SKYLAKE – WIDE OPEN
This is the first time we’ve heard Dutch prog quartet Skylake, but the breezy and melodic Wide Open certainly leaves us wanting to hear more! It’s the first new music to be shared from their upcoming second album, The Deep Dive, which is released through The Rock Company on November 12.
“We poured our heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, sanity and more into this album, and we are incredibly proud of it,” says guitraist Bert Laan. “We dived deep to refine our sound, to figure out what works and doesn’t, and ended up embracing what makes us sound like us. The result is The Deep Dive: a dynamic album featuring heavy walls of sound, lush acoustic passages, energetic and intricate rhythms, and vocals ranging from confident and powerful to delicate and vulnerable.”
BOSS KELOID – PEDESTAL
Wigan’s heavy proggers Boss Keloid are back with the lengthy Pedestal, which follows a more intricate musical path than previous single, Landslide. Both are taken from the band’s upcoming sixth studio album, Float & Aperture, which they will release through Church Road Records on October 23
“The lyrics to Pedestal explore both the positive and negative sides of isolation, as well as its causes and effects,” the band say. “The song also contains a 10-year-old riff from the Keloid archive we finally found a way to use properly. Enjoy!”
ALCEST – PROTECTION
French atmospheric dark prog duo Alcest have announced they will release their very first live album, Live At Hellfest 2022, through Nuclear Blast on December 4. They’ve released the emphatic Protection, originally from 2019’s Spiritual Instinct album, as the first taster.
For many here, possibly, the first example of the band’s music you’ll have heard, but maybe not quite as heavy as you may have feared? The album seamlessly weaves together evocative fan favourites spanning their entire career prior to 2022, tracing an emotional trajectory from their groundbreaking 2007 debut Souvenirs d’un autre monde through to 2019’s acclaimed Spiritual Instinct.
ARCANE ALLIES – AESTESIA
Berlin/Cologne-based genre-bending prog trio Arcane Allies have released the title track to their upcoming studio album, out November 20 through Crazysane Records. The band’s sound is described as pushing the boundaries between psychedelic rock, krautrock, ambient, doom, jazz and free improvisation, drawing inspiration from pioneers such as CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk, as well as minimalist composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich.
“We wrote Aestesia about two years ago, originally as an ambient synth piece,” the band say. “Later, it became a demo for a doom project that never ultimately came together. As we tried it with Arcane Allies in the studio, the song has finally found its own way.”
SCARDUST – SYMPHONY
Cinematic prog metal quintet Scardust have shared a video for their cover of Symphony, originally by UK electronic band Clean Bandit. The band’s new cover features electronic violinist Mia Ansasno as well as singer Noa Gruman’s Hellscore Choir.
“Symphony by Clean Bandit has always felt like such a beautiful and emotional song, and we immediately felt it had the potential to become something very Scardust – combining prog metal, the Hellscore choir, and Mia’s incredible violin playing,” the band enthuse. “Sharing the adventure of Sabaton’s Legendary tour this last winter with Mia made us want to create something together again, and this song felt like the perfect opportunity.”
HYPNO5E – TRAME NOIRE
French prog quartet Hypno5e have shared a video for the wonderfully atmospheric ten-minute-long Trame Noire. It’s the title track of the band’s upcoming seventh album, which is released through Pelagic Records. At the same time, to celebrate Hypno5e’s more than two decades of existence, a complete 13LP discography box set will also be released.
“With ‘Trame Noire’, the title track of our new album, I wanted to extend into images the themes that run through my music: memory, loss, dreams and the ghosts of the past,” says vocalist and guitarist Emmanuel Jessua. “I directed the video myself, working with models, collages, drawings and various forms of superimposition. The journey through these shifting spaces, and the apparitions that inhabit them, are fragments of the character’s memories, condemned to wander through this world. He is confronted with the traces of what he has lived through, but also with his own image, which returns like another ghost.”
I have fond memories of homebrewing with my dad. We honed the best methods for small-batch beers, experimented with dozens of styles, learned tough lessons from a couple of bottle bombs, and got to drink some great beer (and, yeah, some bad). Those are memories I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, and it’s something that drew me to the father and sons Swedish power metal outfit, Tungsten. Anders Johansson started out as a drummer for Yngwie Malmsteen in the ’80s.1 He would later spend 15 years with Hammerfall before starting a band with his two sons, Karl and Nick, and the longtime Cloudscape vocalist, Michael Andersson. In 2016, they formed Strokkur, but after one album decided to go in a heavier direction and changed their name to Tungsten. This father and son project has been going strong ever since, with Ashes as their fifth full-length and their second with Reigning Phoenix Music. Do strong familial bonds make for good music?
One thing is clear when listening to Ashes—Tungsten are having tons of fun. Rather than aim for the semi-serious cheese of power metal acts like Fellowship, or the ostentatious approach of Rhapsody of Fire, Tungsten play a tightly-written, high-energy, and semi-jokey style of power metal. Anders’s kitwork places Ashes in borderline dance music status, approaching the poppiness of Battle Beast’s latest. Industrial touches on the likes of “Bite My Tongue” only serve to heighten this techno-dance connection. “Fuego del Sol” goes full-on Latin American dance music, with a “Gangnam Style”-like opening that’ll make you think you stepped into the wrong album. I don’t mean to make it sound like Tungsten eschew guitars completely. Chugging riffs often provide a sense of heft, but play second fiddle to the synths and choruses in terms of hooks. Nick Johansson delivers some gnarly solos on “Bite My Tongue” and “Ted the Exorcist” to help ensure this doesn’t turn into full-blown power pop.
Tungsten have no illusions about their silliness. They make use of silly folk elements and lyrics in a similar vein as Trollfest. The yodeling on the catchy “Joker” makes for some fun hooks, while cuckoo bird noises add to the lightness of the breezy “Supernova.” “Ted the Exorcist” sounds like it could have been written for a bawdy comedy act with lyrics like “Ted the Exorcist/he showers the world in piss.” The folk instruments also allow Ashes to have a tremendous amount of variety. Whistles on “Sunshine of Fall” lead into some anthemic power pop, and a sort of flute or pipe provides a Celtic character to the cheerful “For Thee.” The biggest surprise comes from “The North Will Rise,” which electrifies with a cool opening riff, some great energy, and guest vocals from Sonata Arctica’s Tony Kakko. What begins as a silly educational song with Kakko listing off northern European countries turns into a rousing call for those countries to unite in defense against a common foe.
Perhaps the biggest drawback from an album like Ashes is that the style can only sustain so many repeat spins before it begins to grow tiresome. Tungsten keep things short and sweet, crafting a concise record at only 39 minutes with tracks largely falling in the 3-minute range. It’s true that the last few songs start to fall off, but they’re still pretty enjoyable. Trollfest’s Flamingo Overlord is a great example of how this kind of record can work over the long haul, and Tungsten isn’t that far off. There’s plenty of variety, tons of catchy hooks, and some great energy. Andersson delivers a strong vocal performance, singing with enough gruffness to ground the bounciness of the music, but also belting out some memorable anthems. Yes, Ashes works best in snack-sized portions, but it also proves to be some fun lighter fare that’s perfect for breaking up your doom sessions.
Clearly, father and sons have put together a metal record that was a lot of fun to make. Ashes is a work of pure escapism that’ll compel you to get up on your feet and dance instead of headbanging to sick riffs and punishing kit work. It’s not quite so wild and subversive as the day’s other comedic release from Netherwilds, instead taking a much more formulaic and polished approach. Where some bands of this ilk can overdeliver on the silliness, Tungsten strikes a well-balanced approach between silly comedy and music that’s just pure fun to listen to.
Welcome to Four Records! Each episode, we feature one guest as they discuss the four records that helped shape them at four different times in their life. This week we are guestless as Forrest and Karina celebrate one year of the podcast. They talk about some of their favorite guests and moments from the first year. Keeping with the theme, they share an album and a single they are enjoying at the moment.
Karina’s record – Olivia Rodrigo – you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love
Forrest’s record – The Linda Lindas – GOTTA GET OUT
Forrest’s single – Gameface – “All My Friends”
Karina’s single – Great Falls – “Nicotine in the Spine”
After the recent arrival of Giant Sky III, my education in Scandinavian prog continues with an album by Confusion Field entitled Resilience Remains. This one arrived through the letter box a couple of days or so after Giant Sky III and is another from the prolific Bad Dog Promotions stable From the blurb sheet with […]
British heavy metal legends Judas Priest have shared the following: “It is with heavy hearts that we are sending out this personal message from our Ian….he has been the backbone of Judas Priest for so long and will be greatly missed by us all….we wish him well in his retirement and welcome Davey into the […]
I have fond memories of homebrewing with my dad. We honed the best methods for small-batch beers, experimented with dozens of styles, learned tough lessons from a couple of bottle bombs, and got to drink some great beer (and, yeah, some bad). Those are memories I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, and it’s something that drew me to the father and sons Swedish power metal outfit, Tungsten. Anders Johansson started out as a drummer for Yngwie Malmsteen in the ’80s.
