After the mixed reception of The Astonishing, Dream Theater decided to regroup and recalibrate, which was a natural step after something as ambitious as a massive 2 disc concept album. In interviews, John Petrucci mentioned that the band decided to do what they had done for many of their most classic albums: isolate themselves in …
Music festivals are the best way to tackle your band bucket list. Here at Proglodytes, we thought we would try and compile a list of all of the progressive rock/metal music festival that we knew of, in case there is one that is happening close to you. If you are aware of one that we …
Every year since we started, we’ve done an end of the year list of our favorite albums of the year. No, not a best of- that’d be us trying to objectively pick something that’s highly subjective. We instead put together a list of recommendations, in case you missed any of these albums when they came …
“Vector is dark, elegant, smart, and cinematic”- Thomas reviews Haken’s latest album, “Vector”
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I love to profile different prog-related festivals and events. Why? I truly believe that progressive rock festivals are some of the best events for prog fans to learn about new music, feel solidarity with other prog fans, and recognize the strength of …
This article is the second in a two part series comparing the two versions of the band Yes in current existence. In part one, we started by providing some background about how the two versions of Yes came to be. We then used numerical analysis to see which band has more claim to the iconic …
Proglodytes is thrilled to premiere The Dirty Diamond’s new single, “Love and Light”. The Dirty Diamond is a Los Angeles based rock band that features 4 members with impressive rock and roll credentials: Sam Babayan (Slow Motion Reign) on guitar/lead vocals, Fernando Perdomo (Dave Kerzner, Todd Rundgren, Linda Perhacs) on guitars/vocals, Derek Frank (Shania Twain, …
When Christopher Squire passed away two years ago, I thought I’d missed my chance to see Yes live. While never fanatical, I’ve been a fan of the band for a long time. But without Chris Squire or Jon Anderson in the band, I thought I should leave well enough alone and move on. My mentality …
Derek Sherinian hardly requires an introduction. Derek has played with KISS, Alice Cooper, Zakk Wylde, Dream Theater, Billy Idol, Slash, and scores of other incredible musicians. I first heard about Derek from his work with Dream Theater on the Falling into Infinity album, and he has since become one of my favorite keyboardists. Following his departure from …
We are honored here at Proglodytes to chat with the delightful Ché Aimee Dorval. You may have heard her collaborative work with Devin Townsend, first as a guest vocalist on his Ki album (on “Gato”, “Heaven Send”, and “Trainfire”) and then later as a co-writer on Casualties of Cool, which was released through a highly successful …
The anticipation was killing me. It was the first weekend in May, and that could only mean one thing: time for the road trip. Destination: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Objective: a serious dose of live progressive rock. It was finally time for the internationally renowned Rites of Spring Festival. For the past five years, my longtime best …
Sometimes, the worst thing that can happen to a talented underground band is they get noticed, particularly by a major record label. Still, where avant-pop geniuses Bent Knee were concerned, it was only a matter of time before they got noticed and a major label got involved. The Boston quintet has been hard at work, …
I knew I had to see Devin Townsend at Bogarts. I couldn’t really avoid it. Mastodon, Eagles of Death Metal. and Russian Circles were playing at the Taft, which would have been a given if any other band or group was playing, but Devin and I go way back. I remember first hearing Devin Townsend’s …
After much anticipation, progressive metal band Tool has finally released the name and tracklist for their new album, Pleistocene, which will be released in late 2018. Lead singer Mayneard James Keenan has said of the album, “We tried to do a conceptual album with Lateralus a few years ago, but this time we decided to really commit. …
This post has a distinct purpose: to help folks like me open their mind up to good music. Up until about 5 or 6 years ago, I refused to listen to anything that Genesis released after Peter Gabriel left. I was a Genesis purist, and as far as I wanted to see, Genesis were prog’s …
I am writing this post with a grateful heart for the last few days of my life. I have walked the decks of this massive engineering marvel, listening to amazing music and meeting incredible people, but carrying with me the names of those I love and those who made it possible for me to come. …
My day 3 officially started at midnight last night. I went to sleep at 3 am, because I didn’t want to miss anything. The problem was that we were supposed to have breakfast at 7:30 AM with Steve and Jo Hackett. My brain, understanding the gravity of the appointment, managed to wake up at 6:45 …
This day has been wild. I’ll just start it by saying that by some fluke of the universe, I just got to jam to Beatles tunes with Neal Morse and Brook Hansen at a piano in a small bar. So I’m still sort of in shock… An example of the magic that can happen on …
I’m writing this review at 1 am and a group of musicians from the various bands we’ve seen today are playing the entire Court of the Crimson King album in a Greg Lake tribute. They just finished a ridiculously awesome version of “21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson, with the lead singer of District …
To all of our lovely readers: Thanks to an incredibly thoughtful surprise gift from my beloved friends and family, I was given the amazing opportunity to represent Proglodytes on Cruise to the Edge 2017. I will be reviewing each show I see and I will try to help you, our lovely readers, share with me …
2016 has been an intense year here in the United States and in the rest of the world. We’ve lost Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and our collective minds. And to make matters worse, we have a presidential election coming up next Tuesday. Election anxiety has been a very real phenomenon this year, and many Americans …
After 18 years of recording, the supergroup trio known as The Jelly Jam finally toured this summer for the first time ever in support of their new album, Profit. The tour was very small—only 8 shows confined to the northeast United States—and it wasn’t well publicized. The tour culminated with the final show on August …
Each year, Prog Magazine gives out awards for the movers and music makers in the progressive rock world. A number of categories are open for fan voting, while others are determined by the writers and editors of the magazine. What follows is a discussion by the Proglodytes team on the awards and who should win …
When I first heard that Peter Gabriel and Sting were touring together, I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of the billing. In my mind, I viewed Peter Gabriel as more thoughtful and ponderous and Sting as a little more poppy and “mainstream”. I then was made aware that the structure of the shows would …
Big Big Train has been enjoying some well deserved success lately. Starting with their acclaimed release The Underfall Yard in 2009, Big Big Train has only enjoyed more and more positive reception. I first heard them after reading an article on modern progressive epics (meaning longer songs). ‘The Underfall Yard’ is a 20-minute progressive epic, fitted …
To preface this review, I was a really big fan of Dream Theater as a teenager. As a musician, their technical ability inspired me. I used to sit out in the garage and play along on the drums, carefully counting out time signatures and working on copying fills. I started to fall out of love …
As a prog metal kid growing up in rural Kentucky, I longed for an imaginary scenario in which I’d see my favorite progressive groups playing to packed rooms. Kentucky was a dead zone for almost all of the bands I liked. So, imagine my surprise, 20+ years later, standing in Diamond Pub and Billiards in … Continue reading
Keyboardist and composer Gabriel Iwasaki has been making waves lately. Gabriel joined Flor de Loto in 2016, and has added a new sonic dimension to the band with his compositional skills and keyboard wizardry. Apart from his work with Flor de Loto, Gabriel is also an accomplished composer, receiving classical training at Pontifical Catholic University … Continue reading
I’m late to the party with the band Daughters, but ever since their 2018 release of the tremendous You Don’t Always Get What You Want, I’ve been playing catch up with their discography and better understanding why they’re making such waves. After absorbing their latest album over a few months and hearing about their immense … Continue reading
One of the most anticipated (and potentially controversial) releases of 2019 is Devin Townsend’s Empath. According to Devin himself, this is one of his most ambitious albums, and has featured an over-the-top, “kitchen-sink” approach from beginning to end. Watch the video below. On “Genesis” as the first single, Devin Townsend said: “As the musical nature … Continue reading
(Affiliate) Link to Pre-Order King’s X: The Oral History by Greg Prato (Jawbone Press, 2019) As I type this review, I’m looking up on my wall at a framed set list from the second time I saw King’s X live (out of 4 times total). King’s X are one of the biggest musical influences in … Continue reading
I can say, without hyperbole, that The Mercury Tree is one of the most interesting bands in the modern progressive/experimental scene. Hailing from Portland, The Mercury Tree continues to push boundaries and explore new musical frontiers with reckless abandon. Over the last few albums, they have begun to explore the world of microtonality, or “the … Continue reading
If you haven’t been able to tell, Bent Knee is one of our favorite bands here at Proglodytes. They recently joined Leprous and Haken (two more of our favorite bands) on a highly successful U.S. tour, and are about to cross the Atlantic and embark on a European tour with VOLA and Haken (as well … Continue reading
