If You Haven’t Heard Oathbreaker Yet, Please Do So Now

The band, from Belgium, has been making hardcore music since 2008, and allegedly got better with every album. Rheia, which is due on September 30th, is their third release. From this music video for ’10:56/Second Son of R.’, you can see the band’s frontwoman in a strange and eerie a capella piece in the beginning, until all hell breaks loose and the post-hardcore blast beats – which is almost just like a black metal section, in fact – hit in. Their sound isn’t too far from Sweden’s No Omega band, which I adore.

What does this do on Prog Talk? This is an example of poignant and quality progressive post-hardcore. I suggest you familiarize yourself with Oathbreaker as soon as possible, while we patiently wait for the official release of Rheia. Meanwhile, you can stream the entire album on Noisey.

Review: 1974 – The Lazer Trilogy

1974 is a progressive classic rock band from the state of Connecticut, in the USA. In 2011, they released their first album, 1974 & the Battle for the Lazer Fortress, which served as the first chapter of what would become the Lazer trilogy. Their debut was followed by two extended plays in 2012, The Return and A Soldier’s Tale, which, although being conceptual themselves, didn’t continue the initial storyline. In 2013, 1974 & the Death of the Herald is released and carries the story through another chapter until, three years later, 1974 & the Echoes of War puts an end to the book with this final installment. Today, I want to write a short review of the three-album suite from 1974, and present you a criminally unknown band.

Roundabout: Opeth – Sorceress

Hello everyone! Since we think that each one of us at Prog Talk deserves the right to express their own opinion on an upcoming album, instead of having just one person analyse it, we’re introducing a new way to review albums; and this is our first attempt. Welcome to ‘Roundabout’ (yes, prog puns), where every admin that has a: time and b: interest, comes and shares their points of view. Our first review shall be of Opeth‘s upcoming album, Sorceress, which is coming out on September 30th.

*DISCLAIMER*

Each review has been done independently from each other. We do talk a lot between ourselves, but Roundabout is about giving our own uninfluenced views on a record, and seeing where they parallel the others’ and where they clash. This section is about giving an unbiased review – just like a regular review -, but with more than one writer wanting to express his or her opinion. Enjoy.

A Beginner’s Guide To: Gazpacho

Earlier this month we posted the somewhat controversial ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Dream Theater’, which proved to be quite popular. A lot of you expressed interest for us to make more flowcharts regarding other progressive rock artists,so that anyone can ease into any expansive discography if they don’t know where to begin.

So here’s the latest installment for a band who deserve more recognition in the modern progressive world – ‘A Beginner’s Guide To: Gazpacho’.

The Astonishing Prog Opera That Could Have Been

On January 29th, Dream Theater released their thirteenth studio album: a two-disc “rock opera” simply named The Astonishing. Amongst a mixed reception at first, the band’s second ever concept album received generally favourable reviews, but nowhere near their more acclaimed releases, such as Metropolis, Part 2: Scenes from a Memory, Images and Words, and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Recently, the band shared an updated version of the song “Our New World”, with Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale. Now, why would Dream Theater create a new version of their song more than seven months after its release, and what does it say about The Astonishing?

A Beginner’s Guide To: Dream Theater

In lieu of the hype for Dream Theater‘s new album ‘The Astonishing’ and our taste of the song ‘The Gift of Music’, I’ve decided to celebrate 30 years of DT history with a ‘Beginners Guide to Dream Theater‘ – a flowchart for any budding proghead to easily navigate through their expansive discography at their own leisure.

WARNING – this infographic is both satirical and based on my own opinion, so please take it with a pinch of salt – it’s just some lighthearted fun. Hell, I made it in MSPaint, it’s hardly gospel. Although if you have your own flowcharts you’d like to share, satire or not, put them in the comments below!

Listen to Victor Wooten’s Prog Metal Band, Octavision

Octavision just shared their first single, Three Lives, on Youtube. Octavision is the band in which the acclaimed and legendary funk and jazz bassist Victor Wooten takes part. Besides him are Steve Weingard, a jazz keyboard player known for his time with Dave Weckl, Roman Lomtadze, a progressive rock and metal drummer, Ara Torosyan, a keyboardist and music producer, and Hovak Alaverdyan, guitarist and main writer for the band.

Vola Releases Music Video for Stray the Skies

Vola is one of the few interesting acts in modern progressive metal. Their album, Inmazes, was released independently last year but is seeing a rerelease this year, September 16, on Mascot Records.

Album Review: Plini – Handmade Cities

Unless you’ve been living under a progressive rock, you’ll have heard of Plini – the budding Australian guitarist who has stormed his way to the forefront of melodic prog from the comfort of his bedroom. Handmade Cities is his first full length album following a trilogy of EPs and tests Plini‘s ability at lengthy songwriting, producing another display of self celebration.

Mike Portnoy to Perform the Twelve-Step Suite Live

As headliner for ProgPower USA XVIII, on Friday, September 8, 2017, the event announced Mike Portnoy will play live, for the first time, his famous twelve-step suite. See the video announcement below.