The Progress Report: November 2024

Welcome to the November Progress Report, our last new review column of the year. December will see our summary of the best prog of the year, but in the meantime we still have six more albums to share with you, from luscious prog rock to blackened prog metal. Check these out and add a few to your Christmas wishlist!

Ratings are on a five star scale.

Beardfish – Songs For Beating Hearts (InsideOut)

I wasn’t expecting a new Beardfish album this month, or at all for that matter, but I’m not complaining. I’ve been a fan of this cult Swedish prog band since their Sleeping In Traffic albums nearly twenty years ago, until they sadly broke up in 2016. They return now with Songs For Beating Hearts, their ninth studio album. As with every other album the quartet remains the same, led by vocalist/guitarist Rikard Sjöblom (who has also played with Big Big Train and Gungfly).

The results of this reunion are fantastic. This is prog rock as it is meant to be: complex, yet melodic and highly enjoyable. The songs are excellent, from the five-part “Out in the Open” to the epic title track, and Sjöblom’s vocals span the breadth from plaintive to hard-rocking. Often when bands reunite the results are tepid at best; not so with Songs For Beating Hearts. Beardfish have released a fantastic prog rock album that just happens to be our album of the month.

Rating: 4.5

Gotho – Gothron Versus Fartark (Supernatural Cat)

Italian duo Gotho are new to this column as well to me. Gothron Versus Fartark is the second album from this synth/drum pair, and the ten tracks musically describe the battle between its two robotic combatants. As one would expect from that description, there’s plenty of space-age psych and prog on display.

Gothron Versus Fartark is an odd, quirky, kind of fun distraction. The songs here are short and to the point, all entertaining, all a bit off-kilter. I’m not sold on the staying power of the album, but it’s a great record to throw on in between more serious fare. Give it a shot, and keep an eye on Gotho in the future.

Rating: 3.5

Monolith – The Black Cradle (Self)

U.K. progressive black metal outfit Monolith are the extreme metal entry this month, with The Black Cradle. Each of the five superbly written songs explores progressively deeper levels of the ocean, with the music correspondingly getting lower in tuning and more dense as well.

There are plenty of guttural howling vocals as well as traditional black metal screams, but the music transcends the basics of black metal: equal parts brutal, ethereal, and complex, all pulled off with aplomb. What makes it all the more impressive is that this is the band’s third album this year. Who do they think they are, CCR?

Rating: 4

Neal Morse & The Resonance – No Hill For A Climber (InsideOut)

Neal Morse is no stranger to this column, and this time he is joined by a bunch of young local fellows called The Resonance for No Hill For A Climber, yet another lengthy Morse album composed of a handful of short songs bookended by two massive epics. And as one would expect from Morse, lyrically the album is based in Christian messages.

One’s first thought when playing No Hill For A Climber is “do we really need 29 and 21-minute songs?” The answer is almost always no, but on this album the 28:50 closing title track turns out to be the best song on the album, interesting and full of great ideas. As with all of Morse’s work, the message may not resonate with everyone but this is another strong record.

Rating: 4

Sleepless – Through Endless Black (Necromantic Press/Metal Warrior)

This one actually came out on Halloween, but that’s close enough to November for us to take a look at it here. Through Endless Black is the second album from U.S. trad/prog outfit Sleepless. If you’re looking for some deep comparisons, there’s certainly hints of Anacrusis and Watchtower throughout.

Through Endless Black is an enthusiastic platter of slightly complex traditional heavy metal, with plenty of thick riffs and a variety of moods and tempos. The album is still a bit rough around the edges, which is part of its charm. I look forward to seeing how Sleepless evolve on their third album.

Rating: 3.5

Wizard Must Die – L’Or des Fous (Klonosphere)

France’s psych-prog trio Wizard Must Die have been around for about ten years now, and L’Or des Fous is their second album. Stylistically these guys would fall along the lines of a mellower, more prog/psych version of Baroness, or perhaps Elder. If those name-drops work for you, dig in!

The longer songs here (tracks range from four to twelve minutes) allow for Wizard Must Die to stretch out and let their instruments take them where they want, resulting in some truly engaging songs. For a second album the band has a very mature sense of songwriting, making L’Or des Fous a thoroughly enjoyable excursion through the realms of psych, prog, and stoner rock.

Rating: 4