Our discovery of the week must give a tip of the hat to AMG, who first won our interest by describing Black Vulpine’s new album Veil Nebula this way: “every song here either rocks hard, dooms hard, or at least contains nuggets of stoner, doom, and/or prog brilliance.” Check it out…
Progarchy Podcast: Nick Beggs Interview
The Progarchy Podcast interviewed Nick Beggs today, and it was a fascinating time. Take a listen to our combination of an album review and a song-by-song discussion with the artist himself:
The podcast includes a detailed discussion, for over half an hour, track-by-track, of the new album from The Mute Gods, Atheists and Believers.
Tune in if you want to hear all the details. But here are some highlights to get you excited. Listen and learn:
- how the first track, “Atheists and Believers” is devoted to telling the true story about extraterrestrial visitors to our planet;
- how Alex Lifeson of Rush got involved with the second track, “One Day,” and what he contributed to it;
- how Nick’s political views on “Knucklehed” and “Iridium Heart” spare none of us, since all of us end up being knuckle-headed in the end;
- how Nick plans to keep touring until he drops dead, after one of his joyous concerts, as a happy old geezer;
- how “The House Where Love Once Lived” incorporates Nick’s own experiences of marriage and of being a father;
- how “I Think of You” is connected to Nick’s own mother, who died at the age of 38, when Nick was 17 years old
- how “Twisted World Godless Universe” involved a collaboration with a friend of Nick’s who is a Catholic nun in Finland and whose talks with her about spirituality were part of the process by which the song was generated
The Mute Gods, Atheists and Believers
1. Atheists and Believers (4:11)
2. One Day (6:35)
3. Knucklehed (6:48)
4. Envy the Dead (5:40)
5. Sonic Boom (4:47)
6. Old Men (3:45)
7. The House Where Love Once Lived (4:54)
8. Iridium Heart (6:06)
9. Twisted World Godless Universe (8:32)
10. I Think of You (6:04)
The last time that Progarchy spoke with Nick was back in 2016, and so it was great catching up with him today. Thanks, Nick!
Exercises in Futility
When that punk coarseness is braided with some outside influences, black metal becomes something more. Whether it’s ‘In the Nightside Eclipse’, ‘Nemesis Divina’ or the stunning ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ — it’s crassness with sophistication, that has elevates the genre to unusual heights. Exercises in Futility is not completely rooted in the 90s, but they channel that very sensibility, and same crudeness with atmospheric elegance.
Mgła mellows that black metal fury, almost like they applied some post-metal filters to a Burzum sound. With that constant strumming interleaved with adequate doses of tremolo picking and blast beats, the sound here becomes more streamlined. In short, there are no jarring temporal switches, but more tempting progressions. It’s not an all-out melodic assault like Dissection or Watain, but a more contoured, and structured aggression. But, quite like the black metal greats, Mgła is also moving the genre forward, beyond the confines of its Norwegian creators.
S. Bollmann [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
PROG ROCK!
Progressive Rock…
RIP Mark Hollis
Talk Talk frontman Mark Hollis has passed away suddenly at age 64. Progarchy sends its sincerest condolences to his friends and family.
The BBC has an obituary for him here: https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/entertainment-arts-47373897
Interview with ENDWORLD HALOS
Finnish dark prog debutants Endworld Halos have launched their self-titled full-length album back in October, which in the trio’s own words is “a versatile and abitious slab of Finnish prog-infused rock.” Kimmo Utrianen spoke for Progarchy about the release.
How do you usually describe your music?
The most common description is dark prog (with a highly versatile range). An aural projection of the world as seen from these cold northern regions anno 2019.
What is your writing process like?
Me and Toni both come up with ideas we wish to incorporate to this project, passing them on to each other frequently (mostly digitally) and occasionally taking them to the practice space for a guitar jam-out session. With the guitar parts or just the melodies sorted, we start to figure out the vocal patterns and melodies, then the drums and the rest of the arrangement as a whole band. Quite a few of the songs are by either one of us, but some tunes are the fruit of our musical symbiosis.
Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?
Older prog and non-generic music, people and musicians who dare to do whatever they please artistically, without caring about trends or standards. Other than that, my inner tracts, subconscious thoughts and conflicts I cannot deal with though any other means than music. Those are my primary source of inspiration. Through this assembly, my music connects to the outside world, hopefully leaving a mark from my point of view. The chance to (attempt to) do that is also very inspiring.
What is your favourite piece on “Endworld Halos” and why?
Adjusting to Light perhaps. It represents my scale of writing really well, as it ranges from weird and psychedelic passages to peace and harmony. One of the best tunes I’ve ever written, not to forget there’s some significant co-writing value to be considered, too. I also like Toni’s bizarre percussion on that song, including some household items, but let’s not go further into that topic here.
What makes “Endworld Halos” different?
In the nowadays array of progressive music, I feel we don’t play as much “safety” as quite a few bands. Even though we are not the most uniform or the easiest band to listen, or one with a smooth and conventional modern soundscape, we have managed to squeeze quite a bit of heart’s blood and even madness to our music. I’m very happy about that, even though I’m not referring to us being the only band that’s capable of doing that in 2019. The world needs a little grit, and we’ve got just that.
What should music lovers expect from “Endworld Halos”?
Songs and compositions that don’t bow to anyone in the field of modern prog music. Hard work by three Finns now manifested through digital medias such as Spotify and Bandcamp, not to forget the CD version we released, including a striking 12-page booklet with lyrics colorful photography by the band. Music that goes where ever it needs to go, and in this case, from the twilight of man to metropolitan chaos, to turbulent skies and barren wastes and deserts, eventually to a sundown and silence.
What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?
I’d leave that for the listener to decide, but realizing how small we are is a good pick. Confusion, too, if all else fails.
Are there any plans to promote the album live?
No, not at this point. So far we work as a designated studio act, so no tour or show plans in the horizon.
Pick your three favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.
Genesis: Foxtrot, Mercyful Fate: Don’t Break the Oath, Pearl Jam: Ten.
“Endworld Halos” is out now and is available to order from Bandcamp.
Pleiades’ Dust
There are bands which reinforce your conception of a symphony, and then there are the ones which broaden them. Gorguts is willfully rooted in that second category. Luc Lemay’s compositions are intimidating, and at the same time curiously captivating too. It might take a while to comprehend this level of discordance. But, quite like Meshuggah, or early Slayer, Gorguts is forging new neural pathways. In other words, they are creating a totally new classification for what we call an elegant symphony. Subtly, but effectively influencing how we perceive music itself.
If Obscura is too intimidating, then Pleiades’ Dust might be that ideal prescription, something that helps us mere mortals comprehend this transformative force.
Rubén G. Herrera [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Video: “Keep Waiting” — Space Elevator
Here’s a song from their new album, Space Elevator II:
Video: “Rocket Man” — Kate Bush
Kate Bush has just released the video for “Rocket Man,” unreleased for years.
NME has an interview: “Years later, in 1989, Elton and Bernie Taupin were putting together an album called ‘Two Rooms’, which was a collection of cover versions of their songs, each featuring a different singer. To my delight they asked me to be involved and I chose ‘Rocket Man’. They gave me complete creative control and although it was a bit daunting to be let loose on one of my favourite tracks ever, it was really exciting. I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version.”
Hunter’s Moon: new release from Delain @delainmusic
Delain is back! Released today is a new disc of their epic brand of symphonic metal.
Hunter’s Moon includes four new studio tracks, plus a selection of live recordings, as well as a Blu-Ray disc of the live tracks.
Delain is working on their next studio album, due in 2019, but the four new tracks here on Hunter’s Moon give an idea of their musical direction.
The band’s guitarists each compose a new track here: “This Silence Is Mine” (Timo Somers) and “Art Kills” (Merel Bechtold).
The live tracks (tracks 5 to 14) follow the Danse Macabre Tour in Utrecht’s Tivoli Vredenburg, and most of the live tracks (tracks 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14) feature Nightwish’s Marco Hietala.
1. Masters Of Destiny
2. Hunter’s Moon
3. This Silence Is Mine
4. Art Kills
5. Hands Of Gold (Live) — studio version was on Moonbathers
6. Danse Macabre (Live) — studio version was on Moonbathers
7. Scarlet (Live) — studio version was on The Human Contradiction
8. Your Body Is A Battleground (Live) — studio version was on The Human Contradiction
9. Nothing Left (Live) — studio version was on April Rain
10. Control The Storm (Live) — studio version was on April Rain
11. Scandal (Live) — studio version was on Moonbathers
12. Not Enough (Live) — studio version was on We Are the Others
13. Sing To Me (Live) — studio version was on The Human Contradiction
14. The Gathering (Live) — studio version was on Lucidity
Progarchy 
