The Progress Report: July 2024

Welcome to the July Progress Report. We have quite the assortment of albums for your listening pleasure this month, all of which have been a blast to, well, blast for the past month. I haven’t dug too deeply, but this might be the first time we’ve had a band (Aeons) and a title (Beyond The Aeons) this similar. Is Beyond The Aeons really beyond Aeons? Read on to find out. And as always, support the music you enjoy.

Ratings are on a five star scale.

Aeons – The Ghosts Of What We Knew (Sliptrick)

Talking about an album that came out at the beginning of the month is always tough, but the third album from Aeons, The Ghosts Of What We Knew, is worth highlighting. This is intricate yet melodic progressive metal in a modern vein, loaded with superb arrangements and killer musicianship. And don’t let the singer’s name (Skippy) throw you off: this guy can belt it out.

While The Ghosts Of What We Knew does have its flaws (“Blood” is an awkward addition, almost a power ballad) these are easily overlooked by the overall quality of the album. Aeons have given us more than an hour of killer tunes that sound as amazing as they are, and this is our pick of the month.

Rating: 4.5

Axamenta – Spires (Self)

Here’s an interesting release from Belgian outfit Axamenta. Is it a single? An EP? Both? Spires is a 23-minute song in the realm of cinematic progressive metal. Taking influence from bands such as Fleshgod Apocalypse, the band coalesces its 20 years of experience into this EP, and as far as epic-length songs go, they hit all the right chords.

Spires is well arranged and produced, taking the listener into the story with a deft combination of prog, horror, and theatrics. Nothing is overblown in the song, and Axamenta manage to keep our attention for the entire duration. If Spires did one thing for me, it left me wanting an entire album instead of just this excellent teaser.

Rating: 3.5

Mothman And The Thunderbirds – Portal Hopper (Self)

This one took me by complete surprise, and in a good way. Philadelphia quartet Mothman And The Thunderbirds are completely new to me, and brand themselves as an outfit that will appeal to fans of Devin Townsend and Torche, among others. I look at some other recent bands that have caught my attention like Them Moose Rush and The Giraffes as well.

In short, this is eclectic and proggy hard rock with plenty of left hooks thrown in. The enthusiasm throughout Portal Hopper is palpable, and quite honestly this is the album that I couldn’t stop playing this month. It is rife with hooks, most notably from Alex Parkinson’s bass (Parkinson plays almost everything here, with some additional augmentation). Don’t sleep on this band or album, folks!

Rating: 4

Octoploid – Beyond The Aeons (Reigning Phoenix)

Octoploid is the brainchild of one Olli-Pekka Laine, a member of Amorphis and Barren Earth, two bands that are renowned for excellent music. Beyond The Aeons is as odd and varied as its cover art. One might think this is a stoner album at first glance, but it is primarily a combination of death metal and ’70s prog, with some psychedelia thrown in for good measure.

Octoploid have put two years of effort into Beyond The Aeons and have produced an exciting album full of interesting songs that can quickly pivot from the aforementioned styles of death and prog seamlessly. While at times the mix of styles can seem odd, especially with the death vocals, it all works, making this an extremely strong debut and putting Octoploid on the map as a band to keep an eye on.

Rating: 4

Øresund Space Collective – Orgone Unicorn (Laser’s Edge)

Denmark-based Øresund Space Collective have dropped the oddest album. The band is led by one Dr. Space and has been in existence for about 18 years. Over that time they have released an astounding 44 albums, their latest being Orgone Unicorn. Do you like your prog heavily mixed with free jazz? Or vice versa? This is for you.

Not only is Orgone Unicorn the band’s 44th release, it is a whopping two hours and fifteen minutes long. It really amounts to a ton of crazy background music, as even for one such as myself (a lover of avant-garde and free jazz) this takes a lot of patience to focus on for more than two hours. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of pretty amazing musicianship going on here.

Rating: 3

Sacri Monti – Retrieval (Tee Pee)

Our final entry of the month is a progressive stoner-psych rock album from Sacri Monti, a San Diego outfit. Retrieval is the Hawkwind-inspired group’s third album, and first in five years. One look at the album cover tells you exactly what this album is going to sound like (unlike Octoploid’s), and these guys are true to form.

Retrieval features plenty of whirling synths and spacey guitars, at times eerie vocals, and hypnotic arrangements. Sacri Monti do not stray from their template at all, which is both good and bad. Song lengths vary but the feel and vibe is consistent. It’s a highly enjoyable album that will keep fans of the aforementioned genres engaged through the entire 39 minutes.

Rating: 3.5