Kings X

King’s X – Three Sides of One Review

King’s X – Three Sides of One Review

“2022 seems to be a year for bands I was a fan of in their heyday to reunite. A couple months ago we saw the release of the not-amazing-but-not-embarrassing new album from Porcupine Tree, Closure/Continuation. Back in January Jethro Tull released their first album in 19 years. Now this week we see a new album from the venerable melodic prog rockers King’s X. Three Sides of One is the band’s 13th album, and first since 2008’s XV. The trio have a combined age of 195, which is almost the same as Steel and I. That’s old, but age doesn’t bestow nor hinder success; songwriting does. Can Dug Pinnick, Ty Tabor, and Jerry Gaskill still write some great material?” These three Kings.

Guild of Others – Guild of Others Review

Guild of Others – Guild of Others Review

“Too many bands today make progressive music for the sake of being progressive, prioritizing meandering exploration over songcraft, and this is akin to a chef filling a bowl with flavorful seasonings and serving it as a full meal. Guild of Others seem intent on dishing out hearty meals seasoned with proggy goodness, their promo even going so far as to quote prolific music critic Martin Popoff, who is supposed to have said, “Guild of Others accomplish the near impossible, and that’s make progressive metal that is accessible.” Let’s see if there is any truth to these words, or if they’re merely promospeak.” Guild to last.

Scardust – Strangers Review

Scardust – Strangers Review

“I have a strange relationship with progressive metal. On one hand, I feel like the vast majority of prog is made up of decent song ideas separated from one another by fancy time signatures, self-indulgent experimentation, and other forms of needless wankery. But on the other hand, I proudly claim progressive titans Symphony X and Nevermore as my two favorite bands of all time. Those bands had a way of making their immensely complex compositions seem deceptively simple — a hallmark of a good prog band in my book. To me, progressiveness is really just the amplification of — or an embellishment upon — what a band already does well. Thus, my view that much of today’s “prog” music is really just embellished nothingness. On that cheerful note, enter Israeli progressive metal band Scardust.” Prog for dummies.

Retro-spective Review: Damn the Machine – Self Titled

Retro-spective Review: Damn the Machine – Self Titled

Here’s another overlooked and underrated gem for those of you searching for new (but old) listening material of high quality. Damn the Machine was the creation of original Megadeth guitar-wiz Chris Poland following his dismissal from Camp Mustaine. Though they only managed to release this self-titled opus, the quality is such that most listeners will ardently wish they’d been more prolific. Forsaking his Megadeth-era roots, Poland steered DTM into thoughtful, progressive metal waters with hints of jazz-fusion sprinkled (sparingly) throughout. He was also wise enough to surround himself with some seriously talented musicians (including his brother Mark on drums) and the result is nothing short of phenomenal. Not overly fast nor crushingly heavy, it successfully walks a fine line between balls and brains and echoes such better known acts as Queensryche, latter day Fates Warning, Black Album-era Metallica and even Kings X.