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Known for their high energy and tight performances, the band have already toured the mainland on the back of this reputation.
That album title then became their band name for the release of Etymology and Emergent. Utilising improvisation around a thematic compositional base, the duo blend ambient atmospherics, subtle electronics and ethnic traditions. This should appeal to fans whose tastes blur the boundaries between instrumental, progressive and gently-improvised jazz. This time Colin Edwin has elected to play double bass exclusively throughout the album's nine tracks, grounding the new material with an earthier, more natural resonance.
From the free-jazz explorations of Where It All Began , to the rhythmic tensions of the North African-spiced Divine Rascal , this is a natural follow-on from the previous albums. As before, the sound is augmented by drummer Vinny Sabatino and the in-demand Swiss rhythm master Andi Pupato.
The most striking contribution comes from Estonian trumpet player Aleksei Saks, whose expressive phrasing makes Rosso Portofino my favourite track. Happy to say that DPRP was one of the first to pick-up on this band with their debut EPs getting a positive mention on our new releases blog two years ago and my colleague Calum Gibson giving a recommended review to their last album The Ultimate Multiverse.
Chaos Over Cosmos describes itself as "an international progressive metal studio project". The main song-writing is in the hands of Poland-based Rafal Bowman who adds the guitars, synths and drum programming. Musically this album continues the 'progression' of the band's sound. Elements from previous releases are still there in the form of a barrage of shredding guitars with a lot of technical solos and harsh vocals, all wrapped around a spacey, science-fiction atmosphere created by the synths.
This time however the vocals are stronger and more consistent and the music is heavier, taking a bigger nod towards bands from the sphere of technical death metal. For the chosen genre, this is an unusually light-sounding album. The guitar tone is bright and very much to the front. There is not a lot of low-end in the mix.
The spacey synths enhance the lightness further. Every note of the relentless, syncopated guitar is clear, whether riffing or soloing or both. The synths are used well to break up the intense technicality of the guitar and to add a soothing pulse to the rest. The all harsh vocals are delivered as a rasped scream, rather than a growl, thus continuing this brighter sound. It's a refreshing change. The ten-minute-plus opener Violent Equilibrium perfectly sums up this album.
If this intense, technical death-metal epic, driven by guitar-flamboyancy, works for you, then the rest will provide more than a silver lining to your day or night. To be honest I had never heard of this young band before but I will be following them from now on, because the music here is really good. The current line-up consists of Andrew Testa on drums, Brandon Cousino playing guitars, Steve Hill on bass, Mike Short also on guitars and Joshua Corum doing the lyrics and lead and backing vocals.
As one can imagine it's not easy and I don't like to do it judging a band only from an EP of three songs, so I decided to also check their aforementioned albums. To my surprise I discovered interesting people helping the band with their first release and those were no other than Jamie Van Dyck and Frank Sacramone, from the great band Earthside.
Living With Loss was released two years before Earthside's masterpiece A Dream In Static but its members were part of Head With Wings' debut taking credits for vocals and guitars, besides also co-producing the album.
But the sound back then, has little to do with what the band shows in this new EP and even less to do with the cinematic and challenging compositions delivered by Earthside. Instead, those initial four songs showed a very promising band developing a sombere and sad sound related to sad memories.
Their debut album is one of those that I should never has missed. A big step forward in terms of their sound, with more mature compositions but keeping that intriguing dark tone, set within some really beautiful songs.
Again there was some help from Earthside's members and also David Castillo, who has worked with Katatonia and Opeth among others. A really great album, that I'm now discovering, full of emotion and a modern progressive rock sound, with just the right touches of alternative rock vibes. And this new release next is great too; short but great. Head With Wings has released an EP of just three songs but they have managed to summarise all the good things about their music, and go to the next level.
Now they have their own style of modern progressive rock and they exploit those abilities of blending alternative rock choruses with odd structures and arrangements, without losing the emotive vibes of the compositions. I really love these songs and all the nuances one can discover after each listen. My only complaint: I wish it lasted longer.
I hope they can keep progressing and release some more music soon. I can only recommend checking their Bandcamp site and discovering this very promising band. The three tracks are full of odd twists and turns that upset any expectations you may have from the openings of each of the songs. They have a restless, unsettling energy that channels punk, metal, jazz and the kitchen sink, to end up sounding like a mix of math-core titans Rolo Tomassi , jamming with King Crimson and The Mars Volta.
The opening track Waiting starts with strummed guitar from Sam Killick, then it all kicks off. Heavy as heavy-can-be riffs that stop on a dime for Ryu Kodama's drums to take over, before it slows to a quiet passage of singing, before the heavy-riffed chorus comes in. There is also an oddball, off-kilter short guitar solo. Now if this sounds bonkers you would be right. It is, but it works brilliantly. To See , has Matt Harris' keyboards and synths to the fore, along with funky fusion bass and a disco shuffle, before being engulfed in raging guitars and small disharmonies.
The final track, Lethargy , is anything but lethargic. Quiet jazz-infused verses are blown away by a chorus of staccato, pummelling riffs. Prog Dylan's Home Birth is an extraordinary set of songs where nothing goes as you might expect on a first listen. Don't let the jokey band-name put you off from getting your head re-arranged by this music. In terms of bands that I am a fan of, I am somewhat indifferent to compilation releases. However, if new or previously-unreleased material is included, my interest escalates.
This career-spanning retrospective from Riverside provides some of that via the excellent new song Story Of My Dream , a few radio edits and a remastering of every track.
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