![Luna’s Call – Void [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LunasCall_Void_01_Small-768x768.jpg)
“2020 provided plenty of quality metal releases, but only a scant few of those which tickled my fancy fall into the “progressive metal” category. Of those, we missed two that deserve mention. The first is Cellar Vessel‘s immense slab of Xanthrochroided symphonic prog-death, entitled Vein Beneath the Soil. The second—and, obviously, more preferred, since I’m writing about it—is UK quartet Luna’s Call‘s sophomore epic Void.” When the void calls…
“If forced to describe my relationship with Therion over the past 30 years, I would have to call it “complicated.” I was there at the start when they were a simplistic but enjoyable doom death band. I watched with interest as they slowly integrated opera and symphonic orchestration, making them one of the most unique extreme metal acts of the 90s. They had ups and downs over the decades that followed, with the lowest moment coming on 2018s 3-hour, triple album rock opera atrocity, Beloved Antichrist. Now Therion is back with their 17th album, Leviathan.” Opulence as pestilence.
“Hey, remember the infamous manbun album, where Pain of Salvation‘s Daniel Gildenlöw sang about his experience lying in the hospital and almost dying for over 70 minutes? Well, The Day the Clocks Stopped has TDW’s frontman Tom de Wit singing about his experience lying in the hospital and almost dying for over 70 minutes. But TDW’s album is 5 minutes longer and instead of almost dying just once, Tom spent a long time on his sick bed, fighting bowel disease, sensory processing sensitivity and medical mistakes, and he almost died twice! Take that, Daniel!” Hospital-core.
“Need‘s previous record Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom was one of my favorites of 2017. Apparently I’m not alone, as I had to fight Huck
off to review this one. As the album titles imply, Greece’s Need play pretty prototypical pretentious prog, in the vein of Mountain-era Haken and bits of Symphony X. As the tussle over reviewing it implies, they’re also really good at it,” Needful songs.
![The EP, Split, and Single Post [Things You Might Have Missed 2020] Part III](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cuervoportrait.jpg)
“The neglected, forgotten children; that’s what this post is about. Full-length albums are the proud first-born, strutting about with muscular arms and a beautiful face. But EPs?” Three times’ the harm.
“The neglected, forgotten children; that’s what this post is about. Full-lengths albums are the proud first-born, strutting about with muscular arms and a beautiful face. But EPs?” Arms for the poor.
A look back at Nevermore‘s Dead Heart in a Dead World, which is now freaking olde.
![Vulkan – Technatura [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Vulkan-Technatura-1-768x768.jpg)
“People hate social media because of all the idiots, lunatics, and imbeciles. I must have the best-curated friend lists on the planet; aside from blocking a few conspiracy theorists, flat-earthers, and all-around rednecks this year, my feeds are pristine. In fact, I’ve gotten a ton of great recommendations from my Twitter pals, and the best of the bunch was Technatura, the third album from the Swedish heavy prog band Vulkan. I’ve never heard of them just like they’ve apparently never heard of PR, because I didn’t know about this album until months after its release. That’s a shame, because this is one of the strongest progressive rock albums of the year.” Secret Spock.
“It was a cold, rainy day outside the AMG offices (not that I’d know; I don’t have a window) when Huck N Roll spoke of Ages, the fourth full-length release from London, England’s Dawnwalker. “Prog death with folk undertones,” he says. “Billed as a mix of Opeth, Enslaved, and King Crimson,” he says. “I’m already busy or I would take it,” he says. Well, as I happened to be the only person in the room when he said all of this, I decided to take him up on the offer, and went in knowing only that.” Blind progress.
“My first exposure to American progressive death outfit Contrarian was on their third LP, 2019’s Their Worm Never Dies. Despite impressing with their technical skills and old school soul, the material never quite hit loftier heights, resulting in an enjoyable, talent-laden album of the solid variety. Only Time Will Tell is a relatively speedy turnaround and comes with some line-up changes in tow.” Prog after Death.
