With Destroy Erase Improve, Meshuggah shattered any preconceived notions about what death, thrash, and prog metal could be with one astoundingly accurate, calculated blow. The Swedish outfit managed to surpass their startlingly original, if relatively immature debut, Contradictions Collapse, with a record so pure in concept and execution, it borders on genius. Lyrical themes visualize the integration of machines with organisms as humanity's next logical evolutionary step, while the music backing it up is mind-bogglingly technical, polyrhythmic math metal - the work of highly skilled men with powerful instruments. While the idea looks unwieldy on paper, Meshuggah handles it with a balance of raw guts and sheer brainpower, weaving hardcore-style shouts amongst deceptively (and deviously) simple staccato guitar riffs and insanely precise drumming - often with all three components acting in different time signatures…

On first listen, the sound on Obzen, Meshuggah's sixth full-length, is startling, not for its trademark rapid-fire key and tempo changes, or for the intricate, insanely knotty riffs that careened over 2002's Nothing or 2005's Catch Thirty-Three. Instead, it is the rampaging charge that leads off the set on "Combustion," a balls-out sprint that recalls the band's earlier catalog albums like Contradictions Collapse, Destroy Erase Improve, and even Chaosphere. Power, focus and attention to the bone-crushing power are at the center of Obzen. That said, it loses nothing in terms of the band's keen focus of musical or technical innovation or drummer Tomas Haake's songwriting. What it does leave behind is some of the mathy quick-change-for-the-sake-of-it annoyances that were more a show-off of athletic prowess than actual compositional tropes…

Since issuing Aeolian in 2005, Berlin's continually evolving extreme music collective the Ocean have created conceptual recordings that reflect the evolutionary, violent character of nature itself with a musical signature that combines progressive, sludge, hardcore, and atmospheric post-metal. Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic is the first of two releases - the second is forthcoming in 2020. After 2013's glorious Pelagial, which charted the savage and harmonious life of the sea, Phanerozoic I returns the focus to solid ground; it is the proper sequential sequel to 2007's Precambrian and the missing link between it and 2010's Heliocentric/Anthropocentric.
While Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic continues some of the genre traits and strategies of Pelagial, it's musically more akin to the progressive metal feel of Precambrian…

Imagine a metallic and mechanical journey through extremely complex and brutal metal stuffed with insane spacey guitar solos and neck breaking sharp riffs. Meshuggah's third studio release, "Chaosphere" from 1998, is just like that. An extremely technical prog-metal mayhem of an album, clocking in at 46-minutes; there are no silent parts here, only pure metal throughout, so If you are used to other prog metal bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X, well, then you'll be blowed away with this album's ability to nearly crack your brain. This is Meshuggah's most extreme release yet, guitars, bass, drums and vocals crashes into each other with amazing speed and NO emotion or melody, creating this extremely intense and brutal monster. The best thing is that the result is so original too! No bands before or after have ever created something like this before! That makes this album so interesting.

Since 2007's Precambrian, the Ocean has become increasingly conceptual. Two separate offerings from 2010, Heliocentric and Anthropocentric, had longtime fans in a quandary as to whether the band were visionaries or merely pretentious. Over two years in the making, Pelagial was originally envisaged by guitarist, lyricist, and band mastermind Robin Staps as a single piece of instrumental music that charted the seven levels of the sea - Epipelagic, Mesopelagic, Bathypelagic, Abyssopelagic, Hadopelagic, Demersal, and Benthic - by portraying their depths musically, from the surface where light enters (Epipelagic) to the murky, enclosed-in-darkness ocean floor (Benthic) where bottom feeders live. Staps was also influenced deeply by Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece Stalker, a work that charts the journey of three men through a bleak (presumably post-apocalyptic) landscape to a room where all desires can be fulfilled…

Epica's Simone Simons has been spearheading the world of female fronted metal. Enter stage right Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon). Her musical partner and longtime collaborator is no stranger to her soaring operatic voice, one that can stir even a gargoyle's stone heart to tears. Together they have crafted a sonic universe that befits the influential figure she is. "Vermillion" emerges as a gargantuan goose-bump generator, a universally touching, stellar tour de force.

"Fossil Gardens" is an intense and soul-elevating experience; a musical journey to the unmistakable world of HAIL SPIRIT NOIR, and its most extreme effort to date. The band's signature sound, defined by otherworldly melodies, vintage synths and compositional experimentation, is once again present, yet shifting towards black metal instrumentation and chaotic soundscapes, reaching next-level psychedelia.

Cacophony guitarist Marty Friedman unleashes his virtuosic six-string fury on the excellent Dragon's Kiss, which may be the most definitive sampling of Friedman's talents available. Spiking his supersaturated heavy metal sensibilities with texture, imagination, and a flair for the exotic, Friedman proves to be a distinctive modern metal soloist. This all-instrumental offering marks the end of Friedman's more indulgent, progressive solo artist phase, as he was recruited to join Megadeth's ranks shortly after its release.

In 2019, Spanish progressive/melodic death metal band Eternal Storm released their debut full length 'Come the Tide, which was a shockingly accomplished, poignant and evocative album which many still regard to be one of the highlights in the style. Four years later, after working meticulously to hone their sound even more, they return having fulfilled a seemingly impossible task - to come up with a worthy follow up album, one that doesn’t betray the sound nor dilute it. On 'A Giant Bound to Fall', shattering the apprehensions, they've actually taken the sound further ahead; it's far more nuanced, multifaceted and even feels darker. The emotions are just as palpable as before but are rawer, more piercing, and the heightened extreme parts are not at the expense of their immersive atmospheric ones…

Nightingale's sought-after “Nightfall Overture” release, which gathers re-imagined and re-recorded versions of songs from the band’s first four albums, is now remastered by songwriter/frontman/producer Dan Swanö (Opeth, Katatonia, Edge Of Sanity, etc).
First released in 2005, “Nightfall Overture” in its upgraded shape offers a perfect introductory opportunity to (re-) discover Nightingale’s early and highly versatile body of work. The shadow breathes once more…

First released in 1994, Edge Of Sanity’s seminal fourth album, “Purgatory Afterglow”, is now remastered by songwriter/frontman/producer Dan Swanö (Opeth, Dissection, Katatonia, etc). Featuring the catchy crush of “Twilight”, the blistering “Of Darksome Origin”, the slow groove of “Velvet Dreams” and Edge Of Sanity’s breakout hit “Black Tears”, “Purgatory Afterglow” is a triumph of cutting-edge death metal. Rediscover Edge Of Sanity’s “Purgatory Afterglow” before X-machines end us all!

Hailing from Kristiansand, Norway, In Vain has been a pioneering force in Norwegian progressive extreme metal since 2003. Founded by guitarist Johnar Haaland and vocalist Andreas Frigstad, the band's melodic extreme metal sound set them apart early on. In 2007, In Vain released their first full-length album 'The Latter Rain', a collaborative effort with nearly twenty guest musicians, showcasing their prowess in diverse, progressive arrangements. Subsequent albums like 'Mantra' (2010) and 'AEnigma' (2013) continued to push musical boundaries. Their album 'Solemn' is showcasing exceptional musicianship across the board, and further elevating the experience with a resplendent, organic production, masterfully honed to perfection by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Katatonia, Devin Townsend, Kreator).