Genius at Work: The Neal Morse Band
Chris Thompson just posted this wonderful shot of the Neal Morse Band (minus Mike Portnoy, sadly), hard at work. So much talent in one room. . . .
RIP, David Bowie (1947-2016)
Just days after celebrating his 69th birthday and the release of his latest album Blackstar (to critical acclaim, I might add), rock legend David Bowie lost his battle with cancer. Another sad loss for the rock world.
http://prog.teamrock.com/news/2016-01-11/david-bowie-dead-at-69
Best of 2015: Symphony X — Underworld
The Man of Much Metal has a really great review articulating why Symphony X’s Underworld deserves to be among his top ten for 2015.
I couldn’t agree more! The MMM totally nails down so many of the reasons why I included it on my own list of the top albums for 2015.
But the MMM’s review does seem a bit rushed. Certainly, I agree with him about the epic stature of “To Hell and Back” (which is the track that really grabbed my attention for this album, because up until I heard it I wasn’t warming up to the odd numbered tracks on the album — namely: 1, 3, and 5 — but when “To Hell and Back” came up as #7, I was immediately captivated and willing to re-listen to the entire album again and again until it grew on me in its totality, odd numbers and all). But I do think the MMM missed his golden chance to mention how it is really the last three tracks of the album that take things to a whole new level.
To my ears, tracks 7 through 11 (the last half of the album) are the absolute best. After the epic-length “To Hell and Back” (9:23), we get a bit of a breather with “In My Darkest Hour” (4:22), since it is shorter than the final three tracks which follow it. But then the unexpected fun really begins.
“Run With the Devil” has a killer riff that sounds like one that The Winery Dogs would toss off when operating at their finest. When I have time to listen to only one track from this album, this is the one I pick. It is mind-blowing in its virtuosity.
“Swan Song” fooled me, with its title, into thinking it was the album’s final track. Its epic length (7:29) and epic vocals and epic sense of conclusion and finality had me thinking that nothing could top such an amazingly operatic song as an album closer. But then Symphony X pulls out an even more epic album closer…
“Legend” never fails to instantly excite me, and it’s because the way it starts off totally sounds like Rush. In fact, the last time Rush sounded this good, it was the 80s! So, it’s even Rushier than Rush.
Yes, I like how “Legend” starts and ends in that classic Rushy vein. But even better, everything in-between is totally awesome as well, as Symphony X shows off also how they are truly their own band. Yet, in my mind, I take the song as a secret tribute to Rush, because of the pinnacle lyric: “The legend never dies.”
Symphony X, in their finest hour. The legend never dies, indeed!
A Primer For Finding the Best Music: John Simms
An excellent primer by our progarchist friend, John Simms. Where to look for the best in prog and art rock.
http://flightoftheskypilot.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/finding-new-music.html?spref=fb
Songs in the Key of X: Short Stories of Horror and Paranoia
For us old guys who love music, 1996 was a pretty memorable year. As always at progarchy.com, we’ll pay tribute to that year throughout this year. We’ll look back at 1986 and 2006 as well. Anniversaries matter.
One of my favorite releases of 1996 was the outstanding compilation album celebrating the weirdness (the prog-ness?) of the TV show, X-Files, SONGS IN THE KEY OF X. As with probably most of us who write for and read progarchy, I was and remain an “album” guy. Singles are fine. . . every once in a while. But, I want something to sink my teeth into. Compilations rarely do.
This one was an exception, as it has a bizarre–almost pulpish–consistency in the music, ranging from grunge to country to experimental to pop to heavy metal. Everyone from Sheryl Crow to Nick Cave to Elvis Costello to Brian Eno to William S. Burroughs appeared on the album. Stunning, really. Even the CD insert was great–a thick cardboard poster, folded over, and adorned in cartoonish horror.
And, it was all put together by X-Files creator and mastermind, Chris Carter.
Strangely enough, I remember day SONGS IN THE KEY OF X was released, as it was March 19, 1996, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, a family feast day (on my mother’s side).
Here I am, twenty years later, still thoroughly enjoying every aspect of this CD, from its music to its art. A thing to hold and behold.
Ariana Lies Down on Broadway
Killer band, killer songs, killer voice:
Interview with Henriette B
Swiss metalcore quintet Henriette B are working on the follow-up to their 2014 album “Red Dawn of Humanity,” which is expected to be released in early 2016. Let’s find out what can we expect from the new material in the interview below.
What made you go for the name Henriette B?
It refers to a Norwegian actress, Henriette Bruusgaard who acted in a horror movie called “Manhunt”. We saw the movie in 2009, a couple of months before we started the band. We enjoyed the movie and the actress, so we decided to keep the name for our new project.
How do you usually describe your music?
We usually describe our music using the words metalcore or melodic metalcore. If you’re not used to these styles, it’s a blend of extreme music coupled with a lot of melody and rythmic parts.
What is your writing process like?
Our writing process starts with a first draft of a song produced by Vincent (guitar). This first draft contains, guitars, bass and drums. Then Thierry (guitar), Fabien (bass) and Vincent review the chords, we all give our inputs and ideas. When this is done, Fabio (drums) rewrites the drumming with his own style and ideas. When the song is done, we start to play it together and Ian (voice) starts to write the lyrics. We work with Guitar Pro, it allows us to do a lot of work by our own at home. It means that the first time we play a song in rehearsal, everybody knows his part and we just have to put the whole together.
Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?
We all are huge music fans, so we’re listening to a lot of music in any style. But from the beginning of the band (2009) we were highly influenced by August Burns Red and Parkway Drive. Lately we were amazed by the last Texas In July’s album, “Bloodwork”. The work on the guitars and the drumming are awesome.
What is your favourite song on “Red Dawn of Humanity”?
Enslave Our Future. This song has the better balance between melody, extreme parts and rythmic parts. We always have fun playing this song live and besides, we recorded a music video for this song (you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/DgzYSGi3xi8) and the audience knows it and reacts to the intro’s sample.
You are working on new music. What makes it different?
We invested much more time in the pre-production phase to improve the harmonies and the drumming. Furthermore, we took some time to add some keyboards and effects to improve the finished product. So I think the audience will still recognize our style but will, hopefully, enjoy our new way of creating music.
What should music lovers expect from the next album?
Our music is pretty straight forward, so if you like heavy and fast music, you will enjoy it! However, if you listen to the songs carefully, you can enjoy a more complex riff’s structure and subtle harmonies.
What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?
Even if we have a mix of heavy rythmic and melodic parts we don’t have a precise emotion to give to the audience. However we want our music to enter into every listner’s body and make them headbang, even a little bit! It’s more to give the audience a good feeling which makes them want to move than an emotion.
Which do you like most, life in the studio or on tour?
Definitely on tour. We really appreciate being in studio because you always learn a lot. We work since 2013 with the same sound engineer for the recording process (Raphael Crivelli) and he gave us a lot of useful inputs and feedbacks to improve our instruments. But you can’t compare that to what you feel on stage. Moreover, on tour you always meet new people, whether it is the band you’re sharing the stage with or the audience.
Pick your 3 favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.
Messengers from August Burns Red, Sempiternal from Bring Me The Horizon and finally When Legends Become Dust from Conducting From The Grave.
Stay tuned for more Henriette B news via the band’s Facebook page.
Progarchy 