Dreadnought - The Endless

While crafting a sound that leverages the heavy-hitting aspects of doom metal with the forward thinking nature of progressive metal is no easy task, Denver's Dreadnought has managed to accomplish this in rather impressive fashion over the past nine years and four albums. With that much material under their belt, I felt fairly certain of what to expect for their upcoming fifth album, The Endless. You know what they say about assumptions, though. Indeed, what an ass I was for thinking the band would try to re-hash already tried formulas for their latest venture. The Endless showcases Dreadnought in a different light; one that, while not totally unsurprising, leans more into the subdued and tranquil facets of the band's repertoire.

Durf's Weekly Workout # 16: May 7, 2021

When I first decided to do this post every week, the idea was simple: I wanted to listen to more music than I had in years past, and I wanted to write more.  Durf's Weekly Workout is literally just the easiest way for me to do both, incorporating music and writing into my already daily routine of working out.  So now that it's been almost four months, I figured it was time for a check-in from me/update for you on how that's all working out.

As of April 30th, I had listened to 164 albums, EPs, splits, and singles; by the time you read this, there's a very solid chance that I've surpassed my 2020 total of 176 albums listened to.  So it's hard to complain about anything there.  I was curious when I began this quest as to whether or not increasing my musical intake would just lead to my listening to more trash, but quite the opposite has happened.  Sure, there's been a few duds, but the amount of solid or great music that I've listened to this year is almost overwhelming.  My fears of not finding anything new by listening to more music appear to be as dumb as they sound; there is SO MUCH great music being produced right now, and so it makes perfect sense that listening to more music in general would reveal more of that great stuff to me.  I've also become a lot more open to a few genres (hello, grindcore!) that I've normally shied away from, which is definitely a cool feeling.

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

In a genre of music that is anything but shy in making a concerted effort to clearly subdivide its variations, "experimental" isn't a term that you see thrown around too liberally. Sure there's "avant-garde," but to my knowledge genre-tagging something as "experimental metal" isn't really a thing. Whenever that or related topics come up, however, Genghis Tron is always a band that immediately sticks out in my mind. Between the programmed drums, the not so subtle synthesizer melodies and backdrops, the intense screams, and the spiraling guitar riffs, the output of the band from 2005-2008 encapsulated the frenetic and unpredictable energy one would associate with the likes of the Dillinger Escape Plan and turned it completely into its own brand; a brand so unique I still feel like I haven't heard anything completely like it before or since. Coming off of that hype some 13 odd years later, Dream Weapon marks the band's return with a bit of a personnel change and refinement of their sound. It may not be the kind of refinement old-school Genghis Tron purists may want to give credence to, but it does see the band tapping deeper into certain areas of their repertoire which end up producing lush soundscapes that in many ways are just as gratifying to hear as the older material.

 

Dreadnought - Emergence

 

When I was lucky enough to interview the entirety of Denver progressive-doom outfit Dreadnought last July, there was one sentiment in particular that continued to stick with me. It's perhaps the closest thing I've ever heard a band personally divulge in an interview that best embodied the often blanket descriptor of "progressive." They operate under the ethos of "best sound wins." The label of the music is arbitrary as long as it vibes well with all of the members. After hearing doom guitars along with saxophones, flutes, keys, and clean vocals mixed with black metal shrieks, one can't deny that the band doesn't walk the walk in terms of owning this ideology. But the bar was set high with the band's prior release. 2017's A Wake in Sacred Waves intertwined the aforementioned stylings with melodic hooks that kept the experience as catchy as it was mesmerizing. Whenever a band releases what feels like their opus, however, one can't help but immediately wonder what the next step is going to be for them. The next step for Dreadnought is Emergence, an album that sees the band evolve their craft by letting all of their core-elements loose in a free-flowing expansion.

Exclusive Interview - Dreadnought

Denver's Dreadnought are no strangers to us here at Brutalitopia. Their previous effort, A Wake in Sacred Waves, was my top album of 2017. By harnessing a wide array of instruments, the band is able to capture the ambitiousness of the progressive rock legends of old along with the heaviness of modern day doom. Also throw in the dichotomy of black metal screams and clean vocals, and you have one, for lack of a better term, unique sounding band. I had been dying to catch the band live for quite some time; and especially after Durf's glowing review of their performance at this year's Fire in the Mountains festival. Fortunately, I was able to catch them this past week as they past through Chicago on their current tour. I initially thought I was only going to be talking to frontwoman Kelly Schilling, but the whole band ended up wanting to partake. What ensued was a fun conversation about everything from the band's beginnings to what lies ahead for them.

Read the interview after the break!

Between the Buried and Me - Automata II

When we last heard from legendary prog-metallers Between the Buried and Me, it was way back on March 9 of 201...8.  So fourteen weeks ago.  Wow, the world seems super different now.  Feels like it's been years.  Anyway, three months ago, the touring stalwarts released Automata I, their eighth album.  Mick handled the Töp's review, and he liked it, closing with the line "BTBAM hasn't faltered yet."  I agree with his assessment.  So now, Between the Buried and me is preparing to launch Automata II (out July 13th via Sumerian), which is their second eighth studio album (we'll get to that).  The first half of Automata was welcomed by BTBAM diehards; will the second get the same treatment, or will the band finally falter?

Aesthesys - Achromata

Instrumental rock/metal bands that I listen to typically fall into two different camps. There's either technically awe-inspiring bands, such as Animals as Leaders, or emotionally enrapturing bands in the vein of Explosions in the Sky. Rarely do you hear bands that fit comfortably in that in-between area. But Moscow's Aesthesys is here to do exactly that with their second full-length album, Achromata. Birthed originally as a one-man project of Nik Koniwzski in 2007, the project has since evolved into a full band. With their latest endeavor, heavy guitars, violins, and keyboards all coalesce into an experience that evokes an airy introspection but also has a tangible grit under its surface. Filled with lush soundscapes, Achromata's journey is nothing short of enchanting.

Between the Buried and Me - Automata I

 In the world of contemporary progressive metal, there are few names bigger than Between the Buried and Me. Ever since 2005's Alaska, the band's sound has continued to evolve by pushing itself into more ambitious directions. Their previous effort, Coma Ecliptic, took a more operatic approach, forcing more of their experimental quirkiness to the forefront. And while it was an enjoyable listen, it doesn't hold a candle to the material from Colors through Future Sequence. With Coma not having delivered a track that could stand toe to toe with the likes of "White Walls", "Swim to the Moon", or "Silent Flight Parliament", my expectations for the band's material moving forward were certainly tempered. By taking the hard-hitting elements of their earlier material and weaving it together with the discernable effort to not remain pidgeon-holed, Automata's first half acts as a bridging of two very distinct phases of their career.

Dreadnought - A Wake in Sacred Waves

Of all genres of music, especially metal, "progressive" is a genre tag that, over time, has constantly expanded its grey area for interpretation. While it's now commonly assumed to be a genre where technically proficient musicians play concept-albums while encompassing sporadic tempo shifts, progressive music can be better thought of as more of a pushing of boundaries. By incorporating unfamiliar elements or creating a new combination of pre-existing ones, this expanding of horizons is the bedrock of what it means to be progressive as a band. Now, the whole concept of progressive music as a philosophy versus a rigidly defined musical genre is a rabbit-hole of a conversation that would best be served as the central focus of its own series of articles, but it's these kinds of thoughts that traversed through my mind as I listened to Dreadnought's second album, Bridging Realms. Making my year-end list for 2015, the album harnessed the power of soft female vocals, black metal shrieks, blast beat drumming, pianos, saxophones, and everything that could be thought of being in that vast in-between. Denver's experimental foursome now returns with A Wake in Sacred Waves, an album that dials in their craft, takes their sound to new monumental heights, and, ultimately, will be the album that establishes them as a progressive metal force.

Top 10 Dream Theater Tracks For Metalheads

Let me start by acknowledging that this article was born in my mind after reading an Invisible Oranges article that was reflecting on Dream Theater's sophomore album, Images and Words, turning 25 years old. Anyone who knows me personally or has read this blog more than a few times probably knows by now that Dream Theater was a seminal gateway band for me after my initial days of listening to hard rock and mainstream metal on the local radio station. Because of that history, despite how my metal tastes have and will continue to change, I will always consider myself a Dream Theater fan (I can hear your collective sighs.....they fuel me).

So, after reading the aforementioned article, I put my thinking cap on and asked myself, "What Dream Theater tracks could potentially sway metal fans who wouldn't normally consider themselves Dream Theater fans (or even better, actually HATE Dream Theater)?"

Animals As Leaders - The Madness of Many

As long as music continues to exist, there will always be a market for musicians who can play their respective instruments at god-like speeds in varying styles. For many of these often progressively-minded bands who successfully corner this market, technicality is harnessed as the hook that piques the ears of a first time listener and ultimately keeps them coming back for more. Instrumental act Animals As Leaders became such a band with the release of their self-titled debut in 2009. From that point forward, regardless of how much I ended up liking or disliking their subsequent material, knowing the capabilities of Tosin Abasi was enough reason to warrant at least a few honest listens. With The Madness of Many, the band continues in the slightly different path established with their last album, The Joy of Motion. But while this path favors technical flourish over heaviness, The Madness of Many dials it in much more smoothly than their previous effort.

Opeth - Sorceress

I'll cut to the chase. If you're the breed of Opeth fan that refuses to believe the band has done anything of substance since their 2008 album, Watershed, then their latest album will not change that opinion. On the flip side of that coin, if you are, at the very least, unoffended by any of Opeth's post-Watershed material, then you would probably be interested to know that Sorceress is among the strongest of their recent output. With the recent transition from Roadrunner to Nuclear Blast Records, it seems that Akerfeldt and co. have found a new wind; maybe not the wind we've not so-secretly been hoping for for the past five years, but a welcomed one nonetheless.

New Gif: Gojira - "From Mars to Gifius"

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- Mick

Concert Review - Steven Wilson (Park West, Chicago, IL June 4,5 2015)

Since we had achieved the unimaginable by interviewing Steven Wilson in-person just over two years ago, Durf and I were determined to not miss him again as he came through Chicago late last week for two shows at Park West.  While we unfortunately fell short in terms of landing another interview, we were lucky enough to catch both shows between the two of us.

Check out our thoughts and some pictures of the show after the break!

Exclusive Interview - Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) #2

It was with great pleasure that Durf and myself were able to sit down and chat this past Saturday with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess. In what was certainly the fanciest place we've ever conducted an interview, we ended up talking about the intricacies of what has gone into Dream Theater's current tour, thoughts on their latest album, and Jordan's best interpretation of the term "progressive music."

Check out the full interview after the break!

Exclusive Interview: Steven Wilson

This past Friday, Mick and I had the extreme pleasure of sitting down and talking with the one and only Steven Wilson.  It was the longest interview we've ever done, clocking in at nearly thirty minutes (!) and encompassing a wide range of subjects, including his solo work, his responses to the public's responses to his albums, and his feelings on the term "prog."  Needless to say, it was a huge honor to get to speak with a living legend, and you definitely don't want to miss our interview below.

In The Mood For Some Prog? You've Barked Up The Right Tree

I've been soooo hooked recently with everything about prog metal.  My headphones lately have been filled with everything along the spectrum of prog from Dream Theater to BTBAM to Intronaut.  But one song in particular has been stuck in my head and I have a feeling that it won't get out of there for quite some time.  In enters Porcupine Tree.  If the song above does not convince you that Steve Wilson is the effing man than I don't know what will.

- Vicious Mick