Thy Catafalque :"XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek"

 12 albums into this project's legacy, things are moving in an even more progressive direction. At one time more of a black metal band, there is not a great deal remaining from those days. Lots of keyboards, with metallic punches when it comes to dialing the dynamics up. This band does sound like they are from Hungary. The exotic scales this album dances around are a testament to that heritage. I mean the scale is even called the Hungarian Minor, so how could it not be the lifeblood of these songs? They speed things up on the second song, which holds more black metal malice to its attack. 

"Vasgyar' finds the drumming propelling things forward in a metal manner. The arrangement jerks you back with the technical riffing. There is a great deal of fire in this aggressive attack, as the vocals take on a menacing snarl, that sounds more death metal than black metal. The song does build into an impressive syncopated groove. "Vilagnak Vilaga" feels more like a heavier take on folk metal. "Niyarfa, Niyirfa" moves in a more hooky fashion, as the vocals have plenty of room to ride the bass line. "Lydianoz" is more of a folk song that still weaves a serpentine charm thanks to the bass. There is nothing metal about the song and that is fine. The synths add more progressive depth to the song. 

"Vakond" features harpsichord sounds that dance around the organ. The album is moving in a more progressive folk direction which works just fine. This is what this album needs to do to retain its identity and not just follow what Ihsahn has laid out for black metal artists crossing over into progressive rock. For an instrumental it succeeds in holding my attention. "Kodkiraly" feels like alternative folk from the 90s. It simmers in the atmosphere but does not have as clear of a direction as the previous song. Midway in the distortion stomps in like a storm cloud. Snarled vocals darken the narrative. 

"Alahullas" wastes no time for the drums to establish the metallic direction it is going in. Synths take the guitar melody. The song has both punch and groove, though the vocals on the chorus are a little dramatic for my tastes. The guitar solo on this one is very effective as it adds to the melodic themes rather than pointless shredding. The last song goes in a more progressive direction. I will give this album a 9, as it cares about the songs, and finds a great dynamic balance while working in the sounds of it's homeland. 

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the Top 10 Progressive Metal Albums of 2016

progressive means to progress, if you are putting out the same album of indulgent noodling I don't care if it is under the guys of a rock opera or not your sound is not evolving you are not progressive. So these are not albums serving as bookends to keyboard solos and are all more focused on the songs than trying to just make musicale bukkake. Many genres are touched on with in this some are more black metal than others some are death metal, some are hard rock, but they all break the mold and embody progressive metal even with out operatic vocals and frilly shirts. Here are the top 10 progressive metal albums of 2016. If you want to hear any of these bands just follow the review links.

10-Fallujah- "Dreamless" 

Here is the follow up to 2014's "The Flesh Prevails". While these guys are technical death metal, they pull it off in such a way that doesn't just come across as dazzling you with chops but create an atmosphere. The first song seems like a movement more than a song on it's own even though I like the fact the carries more ambiance than anything I remember from the first album. "Adrenaline" ebbs down into an almost jazzy landscape, but caters more to fans of death metal as it is about the propulsion. The vocals are forceful growls on the lower side of mid range. A more progressive color is added that creates a more Dream Theater like feel before they blast off into the more rapid fire attack. The drummer is really killing it coming off of fills into punching grooves. The bass player is not too far behind him in terms of prowess. The shredding solos of course reach out and grab, but it's the other textures like the female vocals of Tori Letzer, tossed into this one that make a difference

.http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/04/fallujah-dreamless.html

 9- Hawkwind- "The Machine Stops"


 Here's a rule... if you are going to throw around a band's name when it comes to influencing other artists you like , then you must review their albums when they are released or you are very simply a poseur. You don't have to like it. As not all band's can keep up the kind of streak that the likes of Bowie and Zappa had. Things have changed since their days Lemmy was in the band. The sci-fi element was not toned down, instead it was allowed to run wild. If you do drugs and are not doing them when you listen to this album, that needs to change. This concept album is based on the Em Forster book of the same name. So here is a case of where this album did not get as much air time from me since I no longer drop acid ...or do any drugs, but if I am going to relapse on the more mind expansive drugs then this would be on tap. I really like how they maintained their sense of identity while dabbling in newer sounds.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/04/hawkwind-machine-stops.html



8- Thy Catafalque- "Meta"

Katai is back handling things on this own once again. There is more of a conventional metal groove to the opener and less black metal, though the end result is a good song so what genre he is delving into here doesn't really matter much to me.  Katai does get some help by the second song "Siraly" as female vocals coast over the slightly slower than mid-tempo waltz of distorted guitar. Things get a more experimental with bells ringing out before a thrashing attack. This album does take more chances than most metal releases and is not tied hard and fast into a genre it feels the need to play it safe and conform to.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/09/thy-catafalque-meta.html

7- Hail Spirit Noir- "Mayhem in Blue"


 I loved this band's last album, so I won't lie it's a surprise to hear them go from progressive black metal into groovy 60's tinged black n roll.Some blast beats do crop up, I am not sure I would say they give the end a more black metal feel, I do not that this is going to be a weird ride. The title track finds them bringing back more of the prog feel, and going all out into the wake of Poseidon with Opeth like melodic section before bring some smack down.The sung vocals are well executed and these guys are incredible musicians so it's hard to argue against any of their creative choices so far.


http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/10/hail-spirit-noir-mayhem-in-blue.html

 6- Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas-"Mariner"

 On the 8th release by this band I think it was high time they did something to switch it up a bit so the same old sludge didn't get stale. The first song stays fairly close to home. Though they have opened up a more expansive sound with a greater range of melody.While some of the songs might go to excess in terms of length, they keep my attention . There is not a fast forward classic on this one, some points are just more powerful than others, but it all balances out.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/03/cult-of-luna-julie-christmas-mariner.html

5- the Von Deer Skulls"- The Rest is Silence"


 They cover a lot of ground in the eight minutes of the first song.If I am really going to nit pick the genre lines, I would say this falls closer to sludge than doom. The slow heaviness places more emphasis on oppression on than mourning. The spoken section going into "the fall of the Raven" makes it clear these guys are from France. The more oppressive mood is the driving force of this song as it lumbers a more droning course.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-von-deer-skulls-rest-is-silence.html

4-Pensees Nocturnes- A Boire et A Manger"

 How experimental do you like your metal is the first question you have to ask when going into this one. French metal bands have never played it safe. This takes that to a new extreme with something you might hear in the Big Easy they pulls from a style of jazz that later influenced the creole jazz of New Orleans influenced Jazz it flips into metal that is noisy and dissonant. This is dark enough to make me happy, but after hearing it called depressive black metal my expectations were something more like Lifelover or Totalselfhatred . Instead of anguish and emoting we get something more like death metal even though there are croon clean vocals that come like something from a Mike Patton project.This is totally original despite the comparisons to John Zorn that could be drawn. The guitar playing might sound disjointed at times, but I think this is all done very purposefully. The blast beats come in spasm like burst lingering when the New Orleans street jazz returns


. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/02/black-metal-history-month-pensees.html


 3- Ihsahn- 'Arktis"


 Ihsahn has brought back the metal is back in a big way on his 6th solo album.  You won't forget Ihsahn was in Emperor. I suppose he felt he took the experimentation as far as he could without losing sight of where he came from. This makes for an album that is in line with his earlier solo work. Captures more of an Opeth like feel...that is when Opeth actually played metal.The electronic elements are still there just set back behind the guitars. The guys from Leprous are still around with  Einar Solberg, helping out with vocals . Overall he is back here in fine form and proving himself to be one of the best creative minds in metal or any genre.



 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/03/ihsahn-artktis.html




2- Voivod - "Post Society"

 Voivod has always been light years ahead of their time. Since "Target Earth" the band has locked into a sound that takes the classic tones from "Dimension Hatross " and pushes it forward in a modern production. This ep is the quality of both songwriting and production as "Target Earth" in fact the arrangements might be even more progressive,  like the surreal breakdown on the title track that kicks the ep off. They have always been able to shift in a very organic manner from one movement to the next . What amazes me more upon hearing this is how true they are to their legacy even though half of the original members are not on this recording. Chewy and Rocky did comprise the live band on their last pass through the states with Napalm Death and both really do justice to the Voivod legacy. This is only an ep, but it is Voivod and even there passing fancies are better than what your favorite band can muster


. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/01/voivod-post-society.html

1- Purson- 'Desire's Magic Theater"


 While summoning a retro vibe is part of their sound there was more of a hard rock under current to their sound which this new full length turns away from in favor of something that is supposed to be a rock opera aiming for Sgt. Pepper and Ziggy Stardust. Right from the get go it feels like it has more in common with T-Rex before colliding into more of a folkish hippy haze of second hand smoke. They throw a ton of colors at you so it can be overwhelming at first but at the end of the day I found this album stuck and stayed more than the others on this list. So that is why it earned the top spot.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/04/purson-desires-magic-theater.html

Thy Catafalque : "Meta"

Tamas Katai is back handling things on this own once again. There is more of a conventional metal groove to the opener and less black metal, though the end result is a good song so what genre he is delving into here doesn't really matter much to me.  Katai does get some help by the second song "Siraly" as female vocals coast over the slightly slower than mid-tempo waltz of distorted guitar. Things get a more experimental with bells ringing out before the thrashing attack of "10 20 angstrom" which at this point in the album proves to be the most metal moment. The double bass gives the song a powerful drive.  Eventually things get darker as monks start to chant by the midway point.

"Ixion Duun" is more of a death metal song. It is more powerful by merit of it's more calculated attack. The atmosphere  comes on thick for the prog interlude  "Osszel otthon". Distorted comes in at the final two minutes, but overall the feeling is laid back. There is some skilled guitar work in play, but something I would rather hear in context of a proper song. There is a more powerful pace to "Malmok jarnak". It's like a more new age version of Rotting Christ to me. It's well balanced with melody and heavy in an almost Moonsorrow manner when they lock into the chug. At fifteen minutes the song is a pretty ambitious piece of work. The first song minutes finds it riding the massive guitar sound until it breaks down into more of a folk interlude with layers of female vocals. the song takes a very weird turn into electronica that I was not expecting. The metal returns at the seven and a half minute mark. It's a pretty bold move that I am sure you will not hear on many other metal albums this year.

There is a stoner rock shuffle to the darker tone of "Vonatut..."  The vocals are more crooned hear dissipating any links to black metal that might have been hiding in the shadow.  It sounds more like an upbeat version of My Dying Bride. The last song is  more of an outro than and actual song. This album does take more chances than most metal releases and is not tied hard and fast into a genre it feels the need to play it safe and conform to, so I'll give it an 8.

Thy Catafalque : " Sgurr"

This is the brainchild of Tamas Katai a Hungarian mastermind . The album  starts as a blend of Eastern European folk and classical arranged in a very progressive manner it's not until the second song that they begin unveil metallic sounds , namely the guitar the vocals.The drums have an electronic skip to their step, giving the song an almost dancey feel that is counterbalanced by the throaty vocals bringing a very Killing Joke vibe to things. Young Gods would also be another point of reference for this sound. A fifteen minute song it sticks close to this groove for the first six minutes before dropping out for a sample to create an ambient narration. Things come back in way heavier almost to the point of black metal. It drifts off into Pink Floydian krautrock. This sprawling piece is followed up by something that should play in every opium den that hobbits frequent.

Metal surfaces again for "Elo Leny" it has more of a folk metal metal draped over it's  Sepultura meets industrial drumming or programming it's hard to tell, I was going to guess programming which would be almost as impressive as if he had played the drums since he found a pretty organic sound. the more atmospheric parts sounds like something D.J. Shadow mixed together.  The heavier guitar that follows this has an almost nu-metal feel to me. When "Jura" tries to strike out on it's own and be a metal song it sounds like an extension of the previous song.The sixteen minute monster that follows carries on with a very driving brand of thrash that is pretty straight forward until it hits a groove. It eventually lumbers into a more sludge like trudge. At this point we are at the four minute mark and I am wondering where the next 12 minutes could go. Pretty much on the It's a Small World of Metal ride, next they take a taste of something that is a blur of speed that  could be black metal, but much like I stated in another review recently black metal is not about the speed of which you play a blast beat or the way you scream, but the feeling of darkness it invokes. So it's fast but not black metal. The final two minutes finds this ebbing down into something more electronica.

Things are dialed way down for the instrumental interlude "Keringo" which compared to the other compositions feels more like a transitory piece , despite it's post- rock climax that kicks in midway into the song. This could very easily have been on a Godspeedyoublackemperor! album. This album is almost hard to call metal though it has some metal moments, so progressive might be the best call on this one, long winded at times  yet the scope of musicianship invested into this project and the sense of adventured endowed to these songs is impressive so I'll give this genre defying album a 9.