“As I sit down to write this review, it’s occurring to me belatedly that I’m not fully sure how to describe the music I’m sitting down to describe. The four members of Tvinna, in their sophomore full-length album, demonstrate that they are many things. They are European, with members hailing from Germany and Switzerland. They are experienced musicians, with members in Eluveitie, Solarcycles, and Faun. They are well-read and well-researched, presenting in Two – Wings of Ember an album that is entrenched in folk tropes and rich in both history and mythology.” Two wings, one band.
Riverside
Angry Metal Guy’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023
What, you thought I wasn’t going to make a list?
Ok Goodnight – The Fox and the Bird Review
“Four years Ok Goodnight has pondered on their whimsical blend of art rock, math rock, and prog. Each member fresh off a stint at Berklee, and with frontwoman Casey Lee Williams additional years of experience as the voice of the RWBY soundtracks, Ok Goodnight felt it best to take a low and slow approach for this full-length follow-up to their debut.” The fox and the prog,
Riverside – ID.Entity Review
Riverside is back with their first album in nearly five years. After all the change since their last album was released—a pandemic, a new guitar player, political polarization in their homeland—will ID.Entity continue to be aggressively chill or something different?
Angry Metal Primer – Riverside
In anticipation of their upcoming album, here’s a helpful primer on prog-metal stalwarts, Riverside (they live in a van down by the river).
Starless – Hope Is Leaving You Review
“Hope Is Leaving You journeys through bleak and distressed landscapes inhabited by many post-metal, progressive, and atmospheric rock groups. Reminding me at times of recent releases from The Ocean, and others of airier acts like Gazpacho and Riverside, Starless finds a natural balance between heavy and light, always maintaining a bleak-yet-hopeful atmosphere.” Hope is a fading commodity.
Alizarin – The Last Semblance Review
“The Last Semblance is the second Alizarin album, and the first that is not instrumental. That’s an important note, because Alizarin is the passion project of a one Josh Kay, who wrote the songs, played the guitar parts, made the album art for, and mixed The Last Semblance.” One man army.
Ereley – Diablerie Review
“I kind of forgot about Fear Factor for a while there. I can give no particular reason for it, they simply slipped out of my mind and slunk through the front door, down the stairs, into the street. But a band with such a unique sound was bound to return, at least in doppelganger form, burrowing back into my head. It took a minute to get my thoughts in order, but after mentally crossing out Godflesh, I knew who Ereley were pushing back into my brain. It wasn’t the pure stuff though.” Strange bedfellows.
Rendezvous Point – Universal Chaos Review
“Lately, I’ve come to a realization: I really like progressive metal. The lighter, bouncier, often less heavy warmth of its synth-tastic embrace has been rather alluring of late, and I’ve been leaning more towards the Ayreons, the Civilisations, and the Riversides of my collection. Shortly after I came to this realization, I came to another: not all prog is created equal, as the three aforementioned examples demonstrate capably. Still, seeing an album cover with that much purple on it in piqued my interest nicely, and that’s the story of how I snatched up Universal Chaos, the sophomore album from Norwegian prog metal act Rendezvous Point.” Prog is chaos.
Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2018
The manbun has landed! We repeat, the manbun has landed!