The Progress Report: August 2024

Welcome to the August Progress Report. As our brief (here, at least) summer draws to an end, we are blessed with a few excellent albums this month from bands high on our favorites list. Oddly enough, this month’s column is represented by only three record labels, most certainly a first here, but congratulations to them for releasing six worthy albums of varying genres. As always, check these bands out and support the music you enjoy.

Ratings are on a five star scale.

Anciients – Beyond The Reach Of The Sun (Season of Mist)

It has been a long eight years for fans of Anciients, Canada’s Juno-winning prog metal stalwarts. The band seemed to disappear after 2016’s excellent Voice Of The Void. As with many of us, life handed the band a series of obstacles, all of which they have overcome now and are we ever lucky, for the result of this wait is Beyond The Reach Of The Sun.

The Baroness and Mastodon influences and comparisons remain, but Anciients have taken their craft up a notch on this, their third release. Imagine the strongest moments of Voice Of The Void (“Ibex Eye”) and Heart Of Oak (“Raise the Sun”) and you’ll have an idea of what Beyond The Reach Of The Sun is like: nearly an hour of top-notch progressive metal. Not only is this a superb comeback album, it’s also our pick of a very strong month.

Rating: 4.5

Kingcrow – Hopium (Season of Mist)

Italy’s Kingcrow have been around for quite a while but I only just discovered them with their seventh album, the excellent The Persistence, which we reviewed six years ago. Now we are up to their eighth album, Hopium, and once again the band crushes it, pushing their sound and style further abroad in epic-sounding fashion.

Once again led by the fantastic vocals of Diego Marchesi, Kingcrow deliver ten emotional, riveting songs that veer more towards aggressive prog-pop than metal. The band embraces synths and samples and arranges every song in wonderful fashion. Hopium solidifies Kingcrow’s status as one of the top prog bands in the vein of Riverside and Pain Of Salvation, and Hopium is practically tied with Beyond The Reach Of The Sun as our pick of the month.

Rating: 4.5

Meer – Wheels Within Wheels (Karisma)

One of my favorite prog-pop bands, Meer seemed to come out of nowhere with their second album, 2021’s Playing House. That album plus a brilliant cover of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” spent an inordinate amount of time in my playlist and had me eagerly awaiting their next outing. Wheels Within Wheels, the Norwegian 8-piece’s third release, takes their formula and pushes it over the top with eleven brilliant tracks spanning an hour.

Meer specialize in crafting meticulous songs that feature plenty of orchestration, pop sensibilities, and hard rock climaxes. The dual male and female lead vocals are loaded with emotion, and every song is a unique and frankly impossible to skip over. Wheels Within Wheels features some of the most gorgeous arrangements you will hear all year. Can there be a three-way tie for our pick of the month? Because Wheels Within Wheels is right there with the two albums above.

Rating: 4.5

Ritual – The Story Of Mr. Bogd Part 1 (Karisma)

If you feel like you’ve heard of Ritual but can’t recall where, don’t worry: same here. Turns out this is the Swedish prog rock band whose heyday was the late ’90s. This album, the oddly-entitled The Story Of Mr. Bogd Part 1, is their first in 17 years, and fifth overall. The band’s style remains firmly entrenched in ’70s prog.

Ritual’s sound and style is reminiscent of bands like Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, and Kaipa. Moments of groove and hard rock are lightly sprinkled through a mostly mellow mix of prog and folk as we are told the story of Mr. Bogd, and affluent fellow who decides to leave it all behind. This is well-executed and rather pleasant light prog, enjoyable from start to finish but not particularly unique.

Rating: 3.5

Tusmørke – Dawn Of Oberon (Karisma)

Scandinavian releases continue here with Norway’s Tusmørke and their twelfth album, Dawn Of Oberon. Tusmørke take progressive folk music and drench it in psychedelia. At times pulling from early King Crimson, at other times Wobbler, Tusmørke do not limit their imagination at all through these six songs.

The eighteen-minute title track is an extended jam that perfectly defines the band: folky singing, spaced-out arrangements and pure early ’70s production. With a very live, off-the-floor sound, Dawn Of Oberon will make one feel they are sitting in the midst of a cool Norwegian forest while on a strange trip of some sort. It’s a fun and quirky album that fans of the band will love.

Rating: 3.5

Vile Rites – Senescense (Carbonized)

Our only debut album of the month – and our only extreme album – comes from Vile Rites, an American prog death trio. Senescense is a sprawling eleven song, sixty-five minute attack, loaded with everything one would expect from a progressive death metal release: riffs, solos, dynamics, and hints of the band’s thrash beginnings.

Despite Senescense being a debut, Vile Rites sound very experienced and mature. They’ve been honing their craft since 2017 and it shows here on a compelling mix of epic tracks, short ambient sections, and furious blasts. Vile Rites show a ton of promise here on one of the stronger prog death debuts of the year.

Rating: 4