Masqued | Light In The Dark Album Review November 2017

Masqued | Light In The Dark

Label: Sleaszy Rider Records
Release Year: 2017
Country: Houston/Texas USA
Genre: Progressive Metal

 

Band Members

Jon Allen – Drums
Drew Creel – Guitar
Shane Dubose – Bass/Vocals
Eric Halpern – Guitar
Steffany Johnston – Vocals
Adam Rawlings – Keyboards

 

Contact Links

Masqued Offical Website

Masqued Official Facebook Page

Masqued Official YouTube Channel

Masqued Official Reverbnation Profile

Masqued On iTunes

Masqued On Amazon

When I relocated to Houston Texas from Los Angeles California in 1988 -89 I will admit that the Houston Texas metal, progressive rock scene etc … was a rather eclectic mix much more than Los Angeles. One night you could go see Houston Blues legend Freddy Everret out on the Northwest side off Jones Road, another night you could be a Club 6400 or Numbers watching local bands like ZLotZ and Helstar, the fledgling Galactic Cowboys or St Louis Missouri transplants Kings X. There was even ZRock that was a 100% all Heavy Metal and Hard Rock station.

As the 1980’s gave way to the Alternative 1990’s, Houston found itself in a musical culture that was either forcing the flavour of the month in rock n roll down the throats of its citizens. Soon modern rock formatted stations such as 101.1 KLOL would go from decent modern rock and metal to a full blown Espanol station. Outside Classic Rock radio and KPFT a non commercial station here as well. Then there were the record stores that seemed to be one of the few entities keeping any metal scene together. You had Catcus near the Montrose, Diamondhead Records and Vinyl Edge on the Northwest side. Yes for a while in the later 1990’s and early 2000’s the metal scene seemed to be a little bleak around here.

However something began to happen where the scene. With the rise in the internet and the explosion of small to larger venues, bands in any genre began to reclaim a foothold within the general conscience. The House Of Blues started to welcome local bands, the 19th Hole up in The Woodlands and BFE off Jones Rd, started to book national acts like Savatage, Fates Warning, Seven Witches among local bands like Well Of Souls and the subject of this album review Masqued.

Brief Biography Courtesy Of Masqued Official Website

The band was formed in 2014 by guitarist Eric Halpern (HELSTAR, LEATHERWOLF), bassist Shane Dubose, and keyboardist Adam Rawlings, all formerly with local Houston, TX legends Z-LOT-Z. They recruited drummer Jon Allen (SADUS, TESTAMENT) and second guitarist Drew Creel (MEVYN), with Steffany Johnston providing the missing piece after an extensive vocalist search.
​The group have just put the finishing touches on their first album which was produced by veteran SF Bay Area studio whiz Juan Urteaga (Testament, Vicious Rumors, Machine Head). Expect an amazing piece of American metal: melodic, progressive, aggressive, unique and modern, with elements from ‘70s rock and jazz, till Bay Area-thrash! Release date will be announced soon.

​Eric Halpern on behalf of the band stated the following comments:

”After several years of hard work, MASQUED is very excited to present our debut CD! We are also proud to release it on Sleaszy Rider Records, a well-known and respected label. Metal fans around the globe, with much love and respect, we sincerely hope you enjoy our new music!”

My initial introduction to the band Masqued is a bit blurry. I believe it was a word of mouth thing combined with some social media exposure. I had the privilege of seeing the band live in its infancy at least once. I knew they were going to be a good band but I did not know they would turn out as good as they have. Although the band have only been a unit for 3+ years, in reality they have been preparing for this their entire lives with other prior musical ventures and other bands. With a lifetime of musical and personal experience the band unifies their God given talent that makes for a well crafted album that is The Light In The Dark. Masqued explore subjects of faith, spirituality and provide very uplifting positive in their compositions.

It would be easy and cliche to compare Masqued with other American Progressive Metal bands. If I had to best tell you the reader and potential fan of Masqued, I would say they are a cross between Shadow Gallery meets the Wedding Party. Vocally Steffany Johnston is a female version coming of the late Mike Baker of Shadow Gallery. Her pitch perfect range is well balanced throughout the album. On the male vocal side Shane Dubose lends a very strong European flavour to the band reminding me very much of Andrea Ferro of Lacuna Coil. On the instrumental side of the band it is one of the top and stellar lineups in the industry today. This is due to all the time playing live as a band and really honing the craft prior to making a full debut album.

There seems to be hook and riff after hook and riff. I will note the highlights of every track going forward.

A New Beginning is a straight forward instrumental intro to open up the album. Its heavy Arabic scale lends a very unique and beautiful dimension to the album from the first note go. It seamlessly transitions smoothly into the next track The Light In The Dark.

The Light In The Dark explodes with a thunderous rhythm section right out of the starting gate off A New Beginning. This is also the official first single off the album. The chord progressions are very tight like the band have been together for 10+ years. There is no filler whatsoever. Every chord progression and rhythm portion all serve a purpose and do their own intended purpose. Steffany Johnston – Vocals and Shane DuBoise – Bass/Vocals really play tight off one another. Their vocal structure is also in perfect pitch with the melodic composition half of the this track. The vocals do not overwhelm nor appear to have once ounce of weakness with the melody and harmony of the song. Lyrically the band immediately establishes a much more positive and uplifting message that is sometimes lacking in progressive metal.

The Call begins with thunderous rhythm sections with some very beautiful ethereal vocal chants. It soon switches gears towards a more atmospheric progressive track and the beautiful yet uplifting female vocals come in and really play on key with the instrumental section. Lyrically the subject matter revolves around life choices and destiny. This is one of the more aggressive tracks on the album. It is not only a heavy track sonically but vocally it is full of passion and grace. The track contains some very insane chord progressions and time signatures that certainly qualify it as a progressive minded song.

Let Go begins with a very blistering introduction with various chord progressions met with some very intricate time signatures in the rhythm section. It reminds me a lot of Shadow Gallery’s Deeper Than Life off 1995’s Carved In Stone as far as the explosive riffs and emotion within the opening instrumental section. Once again the female vocal narrative is on perfect point and range. Steffany Johnston totally demonstrates full control along with Shane DuBose in the male vocal narrative. It seems that vocal control and orientation is becoming the rule throughout the album more than just some exception and Let Go is yet another perfect example of this.

Hypnotized is a perfect demonstration of the band’s uncanny ability to create something different with every song and a killer brainstorm in the mixing of the track. In perfect harmony between the opening instrumental passage in perfect harmony with the vocal the track is fades in gradually and seamlessly. This track is very heavy on guitar solo’s as the beginning starts as a solo. Both the male and female vocal narratives work much like a melodic dialogue going back and forth in various sections. The instrumentals are very brutal and heavy throughout the song serving as perfect filters for the various solo’s. The outro is a beautiful blend of the brutal rhythm sections with the beautiful ethereal vocals.

Bullet By Bullet starts off with the band’s signature deep thunderous rhythm section in melody with the beautiful piano styles of Adam Rawlings – Keyboards. There are some breaks in the early notes before the song begins to blister the senses. The blistering soon subsides to the beautiful soothing balm of Steffany Johnston’s vocals. The message again is one of very uplifting. Then the male vocal narrative of Shane DuBose switches in and out. This is also followed by brilliant solo’s done by Drew Creel – Guitar , Eric Halpern – Guitar, Adam Rawlings – Keyboards. Much of this track reminds me a lot of Dream Theater’s Awake in 1994 meets Teremaze’s Tears To Dust in 1998.

The Other Side starts out with a spoken word narrative before going into a opening passage that is very Iron Maiden style, especially with Hallowed Be Thy Name. It does level off into a progressive frenzy of various guitars solo’s and atmospheric keyboards within the background. You have this situation that allows both guitarists to display their great rhythm work. The guitars come from out of the stringed section and meet up more with the rhythm section in the song. The vocal harmony even plays off the rhythm section very fluidly. Of course a few intricate guitar solo’s appear but within in the context of the rhythm section more than a stringed section.

Broken can easily be a single much like The Light In The Dark. It has a beautiful verse bridge verse to it. Where it lacks in chorus it certainly makes up for with beautiful vocal work and intricate guitar work. I can see this one gain a foothold within in live sets as the band progresses and plays shows in support of the album.

Rise Up starts out seeing and hearing Jon Allen – Drums put on one of the best drumming clinics on a album I have heard in the last 20 years. He certainly sets the tone for the rest of the band to chime in instrumentally and vocally to give the listener a full all out assault on the senses of the next 6:05. Once again the vocal narrative between Stefanny Johnston and Shane Dubose is spot on perfect in melody to the instrumental. The unsung hero on the song being Jon Allen on drums.

In a year that did see Houston Texas battered by Hurricane Harvey this album was very needed within the Houston metal, progressive and general musical community overall. Masqued The Light In The Dark and the World Series victory of the Houston Astro’s in that order are highlights in what appeared to be a dark bleak 2017. I knew I had moved from Los Angeles to Houston for a reason. This album is among those reasons and blessings. Masqued The Light In The Dark is now on my very short list of Album Of The Year 2017 contenders right up there with Ayreon, Nad Sylvan, Quadrus, Scardust and Perihelion Ship. Masqued The Light In The Dark gets a perfect 5/5 for stellar work.

Scardust | Sands Of Time Album Review October 2017 “Israel Metal Series #1”

Scardust | Sands Of Time

Israel Metal Series #1

Label: Independent/Unsigned
Release Year: 2017
Country: Israel
Genre: Progressive Metal/Melodic Death Metal

 

Band Members

Noa Gruman – Lead Vocals
Yoav Weinberg – Drums
Yadin Moyal – Guitars
Yanai Avnet – Bass
Alex Nicola – Keyboards

Guest vocalists

Kobi Farhi (Orphaned Land), Jake E (Amaranthe)

Scardust choir:
Basses: Jonathan Wolf, Ray Livnat, Yarden Gruman, Amit Fortus, Erez Tovi, Guy Moshkovitz, Yanai Avnet. Tenors: Elad Peretz, Baruch (Bam) Gruman, Ben Saada, Ray Livnat, Chen Sharon, Dima Fridrich, Yan Ben Yosef, Adar Elmackias. Altos: Rakefet Ann Ben Shabetai, Shani Gruman, Leah Marcu, Tali Shahar, Hadar Shemesh, Neta Ben Harush, Yael Cohen, Yael Abady. Sopranos: Rinat Gruman, Atalya Emily Shuorki, Zohar Ben Haim, Nitsan Cohen, Shaked Baydatch, Almog Dror, Carmel Cohen, Yael Abady, Hadar Shemesh.
Children: Amit Brenner, Dana Maimon, Noam Minster, Gaya Maman, Ori Peretz
Conductor: Noa Gruman

 

Strings quartet:
Violin I: Rinat Gruman, Violin II: Idith Gruman, Viola: Yaacov Avnet, Cello: Telalit Charsky

Drums recorded at “Bardo” studio by Yonatan Kossov, Carmel Peach
Drums edited by Yonatan Kossov

Choir, Strings quartet and grand piano recorded at “Mitzlol” studio by Jonathan Barak
Vocals and children choir recorded at “Gruman” studio by Jonathan Barak
Guitars, bass and keyboard recorded and edited by Yanai Avnet, Yadin Moyal and Alex Nicola
Extra vocals (in “Queen of Insanity”): Yotam ‘Defiler’ Avni
Vocals edited by – Noa Gruman

Sands Of Time
1. Act -I Overture
2. Act-II Eyes Of Agony
3. Act-III Dials
4. Act-IV Hourglass
5. Act-V Sands Of Time
6. Arrowhead
7. Out Of Strong Came Sweetness
8. Queen Of Insanity
9. Blades
10. Gift Divine

Contact Links

Scardust Official Website

Scardust Official Facebook Page

Scardust Official YouTube Channel

Scardust Official BandCamp Store Profile

*Editorial Op-Ed Note*
For a while now I have been wanting to highlight quality progressive metal and progressive rock from the great country and state of Israel. There are certainly many bands and talent in Israel that get overlooked on the global progressive rock/metal communities. That hopefully is all about to change. Just as I believe that Israel deserves to exist as a state and nation I also believe its artists and bands from the progressive rock and metal communities deserve to be spotlighted with articles and the upcoming series of album reviews I have coming to Power of Prog.This series is also in celebration of Israel’s Independence in 1948. This series will go all the way through 2018 to mark the 70th Anniversay of Israel becoming a nation. My personal views on Israel or my album review observations do not reflect the other members and staff of Power of Prog.

In a part of the world that that is often rocked with such great turbulent turmoil there often goes a great musical community that can be easily overlooked. Surrounded by enemies from all sides and those that seek to destroy her is the nation of Israel. Centuries old conflicts on the world stage sometimes gather more attention than its very vibrant and thriving art and musical community. Among the vibrant thriving symphonic progressive metal community in Israel is none other than independent upstart’s Scardust with their debut album titled Sands Of Time.

When Noa Gruman – Lead Vocals told me she was sending a physical CD along with a digital press kit I was truly grateful. This has allowed me to follow the lyrical content, instrumental content and the artwork that seems to get pushed aside, however is just as significant as to what you hear on the album. All these factors work wonderfully hand in hand together.

Scardust are just not another Epica, After Forever or even a Delain clone from Israel. Scardust as a band have far more to offer and their own unique sound that to draw a comparison to those bands would be very unfair. I will venture to say Scardust have developed their own sound that many newer bands going forward will be taking something away from them. First of all Noa Gruman – Vocals has a death growl, a semi operatic voice and even a deep powerful power metal vocal about here and that becomes obvious throughout the entire Sands Of Time album. The Sands Of Time album is a partial concept album with the opening multi tracked 27+ minute epic Sands Of Time that encompasses the first five tracks of the Sands Of Time album. In terms of any comparison, I would compare Sands Of Time the 27+minute epic to something like Dream Theater did with A Mind Beside Itself – 1. Erotmania, 2. Voices & 3. The Silent Man from 1994’s Awake album. A epic that was multi track to suffice a label yet without abandoning their fan base. Sands Of Time is that epic for Scardust.

Sands Of Time Parts 1-5 

1. Act -I Overture
This starts out with a isolated violin and stringed section before a very explosive orchestral instrumental atmosphere in harmony with a equally explosive choir in perfect time and harmony to the instrumental melody. The instrumental contains both metal and symphonic elements within it. It only contains four verses/stanza’s however they prepare the listener a brief over view of what is to come within the Sands Of Time story.

2. Act-II Eyes Of Agony
This seamlessly transitions smoothly from the first act Overture. There is a melody of piano with heavy rhythm sections happening both in the guitar and bass/drum. Soon the beautiful feminine vocal narrative comes into being. The lyrical narrative can be seen from the perspective that a person can not shake the images of war and that those images plague them night and day, awake or in a their sleep. The instrumental does a beautiful job adding to this emotion. Soon it goes from a clean female vocal narrative to a mean and angry melodic death metal narrative done from the angrier perspective provided by the dual vocal personality of Noa Gruman herself.

3. Act-III Dials
Once again this seamlessly and smoothly transitions off of Act-II Eyes Of Agony. The choir continues to bridge the gaps and tie the over all Sands Of Time epic from the very beginning of this track. This is also a pivotal point where the band start to really tighten up their unique cohesive sound and present more as a musical brand. Accompanying the choir is a deep bass/drum rhythm section along with some reprisal portions that maintain the epic atmosphere. There is a very Chris Squire-esque Yes type of bass to keyboard section within this before it gets back into more familiar and modern progressive symphonic metal territory much like a cross between Epica and Dream Theater. Lyrically the track remains rather dark and anger driven properly and on point with the bands main objective of the Sands Of Time epic. This part of the epic ends with a very symphonic induced section that sounds like a mini orchestra with a beautiful soprano conveying the lyrical and melodic narrative.

4. Act-IV Hourglass
This continues the epic through a smooth and seamless transition off of Act-III Dials . It follows with a beautiful guitar and keyboard atmosphere before the female narrative vocally comes in with some isolation and then joined in melody with the instrumental portion of the track. It also seems the band are really tightening up everything into a core unit of sound. There is this perfect balance between progressive metal and symphonic metal really happening here in this portion of Sands Of Time. Some of the vocal narrative is almost cabaret like at times both in the singular narrative or the plural narrative in the choir. This is also the perfect transitional portion of Sands of Time to begin to close it on the final portion Act-V Sands Of Time.

5. Act-V Sands Of Time

This seamlessly transitions perfectly off of Hourglass. It begins with a beautiful piano with the beautiful female vocal. This starts as a beautiful ballad like atmosphere. The choir comes in and out lending further depth and layers into this classically endowed piece. On the lyrical side the song and story begins to come to a close thus completing the entire Sands Of Time epic.

Arrowhead starts the last half of the album. It is ironic that the band incorporate the sound of crickets and give the track the personality of a morning style atmosphere. It is symbolic to the new beginning of the other half of the album. Noa Grunman’s isolated vocal picks the listener up where it left them on the Sands Of Time epic and once again hooks them into another story line lyrically. Instrumentally this track is full of thunderous rhythmic blast beats and a very percussive bass to match the equally tuned down rhythmic stringed sections on the guitars. The other half of this song is very choir and vocal harmony driven.

Out Of Strong Came Sweetness opens up with a sound much in the tradition of Savatage’s Hall Of The Mountain King instrumentally. The levels off into a more orchestral and symphonic track utilizing various choirs and various off vocal harmonies. The instrumental really works very well both melodically and harmoniously especially when the grunts work in tandem with the choral portions. The choirs are a huge attraction to this song.

Queen Of Insanity starts off with a absolute shred fest that morphs into a blistering and thunderous rhythmic frenzy. The guitar riffs remind me very much of Jeff Loomis Nevermore era, meets Mike Romeo SymphonyX. The growls and grunts done by Noa Gruman remind me of classic Mark Jansen Epica ex-After Forever. The female vocals of Noa Gruman ascend to a entirely different level and we discover her immense vocal depth and ability. She is a fine breed of both power metal and progressive metal with symphonic tendencies.

Blades opens up with a beautiful ballad like atmosphere with a beautiful duet between Noa Gruman and Jake E Amaranthe. This is all highlighted by the beautiful progressive/symphonic instrumental that is often at time atmospheric in nature with the soaring guitar solo’s and orchestral portions. This track reminds me a lot of Kamelot’s The Haunting. The guitars are very well balanced between progressive passages and symphonic passages.

Gift Divine opens up with a beautiful atmospheric piano that is soon met by the beautiful atmospheric female vocal narrative. The heavy orchestral portions of both keyboard and bass and a entirely different dimension than what the rest of the album has been. The band really know how to layer various instruments in on perfect time. The layers are very progressive in attitude yet symphonic in nature. The band has a very cunning ability to bring the listener in that is more of a warm invitation without overwhelming them. This song is a excellent example to all the band are capable of doing.

Israel is a country that is very under rated and often overlooked for their progressive rock, progressive metal contributions to the world. In a land that has given the world Orphaned Land, Reign Of The Architect, Quietus, Yossi Sassi Band, Soul Enema, Distorted Harmony, etc … Scardust are certainly a band that can continue to establish Israel as a progressive metal powerhouse on a global scale. Due its unique sound and consistent intensity, I am giving Scardust’s Sands Of Time a 5/5.

Quadrus Main Composer John Galanakis Releases Video ‘Destroyers Of The Worlds’

Quadrus Main Composer John Galanakis Releases Video ‘Destroyers Of The Worlds’

John Galanakis had this to say from his Facebook profile:

“Ok folks here it is! The first cinematic soundtrack ‘Destroyers of the Worlds” from my upcoming sci-fi concept album ” The Doom Vanguard” is here.”

The story on this album takes place on the distant future were mankind is on the brink of destruction by some alien race who lives in a parallel universe. Humanity stands no chance of fighting the Xenos attackers and falls back deep into the core of Kepler 2.0 where it builds enormous galactic ships to fight back the destroyers of the worlds. Those ships are powered by powerful entities called “The heart of the ship” and they act both as a source power and adviser for repealing the alien attack. If you are interested you can find more on my official web page. “

Earlier in the year Power Of Prog reviewed John Galanakis other out Quadrus with their debut conceptual album Entropia. You can read that by clicking here.

John Galanakis Official Website

John Galanakis Official YouTube Channel

Quadrus Information 

Quadrus Official Website

Quadrus Official Facebook Page

Quadrus Official YouTube Channel

Perihelion Ship | To Paint A Bird Of Fire Album Review October 2017

Perihelion Ship | To Paint A Bird Of Fire

 

 

Label : Independent
Release Year : 2017
Country : Finland
Genre : Extreme Progressive Death Metal

 

Band Members

Andreas Hammer – Guitar, Vocals
Jani Konttinen – Hammond Organ, Mellotron
Jouko Lehtonen – Bass Guitar
Jari-Markus Kohijoki – Drums

 

Track Listing
New Sun
Bird Of Fire
The Sad Mountain
River’s Three
Wind Of No Echoes
New Sun?

Contact Links 

Perihelion Ship Official Facebook Page

Perihelion Ship Official Bandcamp Profile

Perihelion Ship Official Soundcloud Profile

Perihelion Ship Official YouTube Channel

When Opeth returned in 2011 with the release of Heritage many believed that the death of true extreme progressive death metal had come to a end due to the lack of growls to balance out the cleaner vocals. Many people did not know where a suitable replacement or a new hero band would come from or if it was going to return at all. Little did people know that one of the answers to this very question would come from Opeths neighbouring country of Sweden, Finland. The band out of Finland would be Perihelion Ship.

Last year I discovered these guys and was totally mindblown by their strong independent debut titled A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring. With haunting Hammond Organ and Mellotron style keyboards over a traditional progressive death metal sound, Perihelion Ship would be one of those very bands that kept the progressive death metal sub genre alive and well. Not only are Perihelion Ship one of the answers to that void left by Opeth, they are very serious contenders to take the throne as the kings of that brand of progressive death metal which Opeth left vacant. This could not be more true with the bands second album and sophomoric effort To Paint A Bird Of Fire.

To Paint A Bird Of Fire sees Perihelion Ship mature quite quickly within under the year since they debuted with A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring. To Paint A Bird Of Fire builds upon the rock solid foundation laid with A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring. In some areas To Paint A Bird Of Fire is quite a bit more abrasive and aggressive than A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring, especially with the guttural growls. The growls are more a blackened death vocal this time around. This will be pointed out and highlighted as this review moves forward. To Paint A Bird Of Fire has 6 very unique tracks yet they all remain in a tightly and sometimes very unpredictable objective. It is book ended by New Sun and New Sun? leaving the listener either the illusion or appearance that this could be a two part epic broke up deliberately to conveying a unspoken point. Now a few highlights from the album with a track by track analysis.

New Sun starts out as a post modern extreme progressive doom style chord progression. This is met with haunting Hammond style organs creating a very dark atmosphere that allows the deep bass chord progression to explode. The song starts to assault the senses of the listener in a beautiful brutal passage. The band always has a very cunning ability to weave in 1970’s pure progressive concepts with the mellotron and Hammond styled organs with the various modern time signatures both in the rhythm section and the guitars. This song quickly demonstrates the bands uncompromising approach to pure progressive rock and to transcribe it through the filter of today’s modern progressive metal elements. The band certainly storms out of the gate with a very tight cohesive vision and execution of sound.

Bird Of Fire begins with a very eerie dark Hammond Organ chord progression that forms a very dark atmosphere. Soon that recedes and a full all out assault of all instruments forms a deep thunderous melodic rhythm section with the clean vocal first. Thereafter the band takes the listener through a roller coaster of various time signatures and chord progressions before the death growls come in and change the complexion of the track.

The Sad Mountain opens up with thunderous blast beats that are soon met with the melancholic atmosphere created by the synths. The rhythm section goes to further and darker areas of melody in harmony with the clean yet somber vocals. The band have a uncanny ability to use the bass both as a melodic and percussive instrument. Jouko Lehtonen – Bass Guitar is gradually establishing himself as one of modern progressive metal’s best bass players. This also sees the growth and maturation of Andreas Hammer – Guitar, Vocals starting to come into his own as a powerhouse progressive metal frontman. He is also a firm reminder of a younger Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth or Jonas Renske of Katatonia. Perihelion Ship definitely remain on point and objective this far into the album.

River’s Three opens up with a beautifully played acoustical guitar that creates a dark and once again yet somber atmosphere. Jani Konttinen’s – Hammond Organ, Mellotron orchestration of simulated wind instruments is a delightful brainstorm that yields a beautiful melody alongside the beautiful acoustic guitar. This track is a great track that it allows the listener to breathe and begin to digest the album.

Wind Of No Echoes continues to demonstrate the bands atmospheric side. Once again semi acoustic guitars alongside the beautiful keyboards give the album a particular sound signature where it is starting to become part and parcel to the brand of the band. That melancholic vibe before a wall of extreme bliss seems to be how the band likes to approach things at times. This is also accompanied with heavy rhythm section provided by the bass and drum. Then without notice the band changes up the atmosphere briefly yet with taste as not to disturb the listening experience. Through all the heavy passages there is a spoken word section that is met with some of the most venomous and sinister blackened death vocals I have heard in quite sometime. The sheer anger in the vocals is perfectly matched with the instrumental half of the track.

New Sun? This track goes well into the world of extreme progressive metal with some equally as heavy psychedelic elements to it. This is also the longest track on the album. It really explodes out of the gate with a heavy progressive and melodic unity within all the instruments. The deep rhythm sections are still in play as well as the intricate guitar chord progressions. The clean vocals are very strong on this one and are articulated quite well. If this is a continuation of the first song New Sun there are not any reprisal areas that lead the listener that way. The death growls certainly kick in perfect harmony with the deep double blast beats of the drums. The psychedelic portion comes with a wicked and sinister laugh that reminds me a lot of Porcupines Tree’s Voyage 34 when the main character Brian goes on that bad LSD trip. The mellotron style keyboards lend a heavy psychedelic vibe to those laughing spots. With this being the final track on the album it finishes very tight, professional and strong.

Last year I went on record and called Perihelion Ship’s A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring the best extreme progressive metal’s strongest debut album of all time. I also remember giving such praise to the pioneering independent spirit to that album. For a band to return just little under a year like Perihelion Ship has now done with To Paint A Bird Of Fire is another lofty feat in of itself. To Paint A Bird Of Fire is yet another full length album and it demonstrates the band’s ability to mature a lot in such little time since their debut A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring. Due to the band’s quick maturity and non inhibition of exploration I am giving Perihelion Ship’s To Pain A Bird Of Fire a strong 5/5. This could possibly be my progressive metal album of the year.

Kansas Stream Live Version Of Carry On Wayward Son

Kansas Stream Live Version Of Carry On Wayward Son Ahead Of Liveoverture Live & Beyond Album Release

New version of the band’s 1976 hit taken from forthcoming new live album.

Information Courtesy Of Prog@Teamrock

.

Kansas have streamed a new live version of their biggest hit Carry On Wayward Son. The song, which reached No. 11 in the US Billboard chart in 1976, was originally taken from the band’s Leftoverture album. The new version is taken from the band’s forthcoming new live album Leftoverture: Live And Beyond.

Kansas, who cancelled their prog stage headline slot at this year’s Ramblin’ Man Fair citing security concerns, have instead been touring the US celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 1976 album which reached No. 5 in the US album charts, from which the new live album has been recorded.
“When we saw how much our fans enjoyed the Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour shows, we knew we had to record a live album,” drummer, Phil Ehart said in a interview.

“When it came to finding someone to produce it, we thought the best possible person would be the guy that produced Leftoverture forty years ago. So, we called Jeff Glixman!”

Leftoverture: Live And Beyond will be released through InsideOut Records on November 3. The album will be available as a double CD digipak, four 180 Gram Vinyl boxed set, and digitally.

Stay tuned to Power Of Prog for continued news related to this new live album from Kansas as it becomes available.

Kansas Official Website

Kansas Leftoverture Live & Beyond Pre Order Link

Kansas Official Facebook Page

InsideOut Music Official Website

InsideOut Music Official YouTube Channel 

Prog@Teamrock Source Link