Recently, Scott Kelly fans have been abuzz with the announcement that his band Road Home has cemented a permanent lineup. Road Home was founded as a Neurosis side project (formerly Scott Kelly and the Road Home) but the addition of Neurosis band mate Noah Landis and Munly J. Munly (Slim Cessnas Auto Club) has signaled the beginning of a new era for the act.
progressive metal
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 We might as well get this out of the way up front: if you were among those who were hoping against hope that Mikael Åkerfeldt would steer the band back towards death metal on Pale Communion, you’re going to be very disappointed, because Pale Communion completes the transformation begun on 2011’s Heritage. It’s time to accept it—Opeth is no longer a death metal band. And this is a very good thing. |
 The Great Wall’s sound is more like Intronaut-meets-mathcore with a few electronic elements thrown in for good measure, but with vocals that are almost crooned. The end result is a heavily textured take on alt-metal that’s both proggy and accessible. On paper it might seem a bit incongruous, but in practice it’s pretty damn wonderful. It’s also not really like anything I’ve ever heard before, which is saying something. |
 Can you take a band named Destiny Potato seriously? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because they make high-quality and unique prog metal and no, because they are in truth a pop band and their music is supposed to be fun, not life-changing. Check your pretensions at the entrance before stepping into the potato world, these guys know their prog metal and can perform the shit out of their instruments, but the vocal melodies are not much different from those few good hits on the radio. |
 At this point, what can be said by way of introduction to Animals as Leaders and Tosin Abasi that hasn’t already been said at least a hundred times before? If you think about it, though, it is somewhat remarkable that an instrumental outfit that plays such challenging, progressive music enjoys such a relatively high profile in the metal world. I think part of the reason for that high profile is how consistent this band has been from album to album; The Joy of Motion, their recently released third album, is another very solid outing from the group. |
