“Listening to Shade Empire’s discography is as perplexing as it is enlightening. The early albums demonstrated a band finding its feet and establishing an epic, symphonic black metal sound that charmed as much as it impressed. Although ostensibly a black metal band, Shade Empire’s sound has changed so radically from its earlier days that it’s now more symphonic prog.” Empire in the shade.
Progessive Metal
UKĆ – Coming Out Review
“UKĆ is the brainchild of Łukasz ‘Icanraz’ Sarnacki, a Polish artist who has knocked around the local scene for a while. Billed as “black-prog from the heart,” I was impressed by some of the early singles, and the promo pit wasn’t exactly overflowing with goodness, so I grabbed Coming Out.” Out in the cold.
Gold Spire – Gold Spire Review
“Coming off the back of a run of awarding three 4.0s in a row, a run that will likely see me fired—or at least badly mauled—by a certain helmet-wearing Ape, can the last-minute pickup of a post-death doom album, sporting Kenny G saxophone antics, save my fledgling career as a music journalist? Swedish quintet Gold Spire comprises former members of the now-defunct prog-death outfit Usurpress, as well as past and present members of Sarcasm, Obskyr and, crucially, Third Storm, the very first band I reviewed for this here site, meaning there would be a certain pleasing irony if Gold Spire’s debut prevents my firing.” Blood, treasure, and sax.