Stellar Circuits - Phantom :: Phoenix (Nuclear Blast Records)
Stellar Circuits 2023 album Sight To Sound came via Nuclear Blast and it brought their modern progressive metal to a much wider audience, gaining them a following and critical acclaim. Inspired by the Djent originators with the passion of post-hardcore and the atmospheric sound of post metal/rock, they captured what modern prog metal is about currently, blending genres together with a technical proficiency and strong emotional moments.
On the back of their last album they have gained a much wider following so with this record they'll be trying impress again and as soon as you press play you're once again in the realm of Stellar Circuits, charged with emotion and technical skills of the highest level. There's no huge that shifts the approach just a more refined take, drawing from a wider pool of inspiration, on a track such as Elegant Illusion there's an influence of Deftones while something like Bury The Ashes increases the aggression towards the heavy end.
Both Corridor and Gloria come from the songbook of Coheed & Cambria and Leprous, the bass driven prog of Same Page brings that mix of emotion, technical and melody I referred to earlier. Armed with more melodies in these new songs and stronger resolve to climb up the rankings of prog metal, Stellar Circuits, are hard wired for success with album three. 8/10
Downswing - And Everything Was Dark (MNRK Heavy)
Oof *makes and stank face* Albany New York band Downswing embrace darkness on their new album And Everything Was Dark. A record about endurance and being honest in the face of crisis, Downswing have tightened every nut and bolt in their machine to produce the most confident, visceral and emotional music of their career.
Having been curating their legacy since 2018, every record gets louder and broader, the breakdowns crush, the vocals are expelled with rage and the music gets more sonically expansive. For example tracks such as Drowned Out or the ferocious Thanks For Nothing skilfully balances the heavier side of Downswing with their angst filled melodic side.
The themes of addiction, self-destruction and letting go are all explored on this record, the overarching theme being losing someone you love, this esoteric influence allowing them to adapt their songwriting to playing the music they want to. Resistant of trends or shifts in taste, Downswing want to be authentic to their ideals and their creative vision, carefully constructing the songs on this album to tell stories rather than just showing off their skills.
And Everything Was Dark is an album about death and whole there is a lot of anger and regret here but it's a record about working through this and coming out the other side. Downswing define their next chapter with this record. 8/10
Avralize - Liminal (Arising Empire)
You may thing you have the wrong album when you first press play on Liminal from "Germany’s next metalcore powerhouse" as Medicine begins with a bit of 90's European dance music but it's all part of the eclectic style of Avralize, quickly following up their 2024 debut Freaks with this second full length they make their way further down the 'cyber-metalcore' route inspired by the likes of Unprocessed and Northlane.
Electronics play a huge part in what they do as do those anthemic clean vocals, it's a real modern hybrid sound with DnB, dance and synth wave all featuring heavily, giving many of these tracks such as Wanderlust, the sound of videogame soundtrack or maybe Stranger Things as Open Spaces leads into the breathy ballad Close To You, the pop side of the band very strong on the immensely funky Cyanide.
Formed by vocalist Severin Sailer, guitarist Philipp Tenberken, drummer Bastian Gölz, and bassist Valentin Noack, Avralize are right at the forefront of the 'core' scene this is what is expected of a band in the metalcore genre today. Brimming with electronic elements, heavy breakdowns and some epic, emotive vocals, Liminal is metal in 2025. 8/10
Smash Into Pieces - ArmaHeaven (Self Released)
Swedish alt rock band Smash Into Pieces play music for those who like a lot a pop in their rock. Cinematic, conceptual music that's all part of an overarching dystopian cyberpunk storyline and delivered with a myriad of pulsating synths meeting the standard guitars, modern alt rock with a few 'core' edges then.
The band have been gaining quite a following with their ambitious but accessible music, it's even led them to the Melodifestivalen final twice where they were performing for a chance to represent Sweden at Eurovision. That's really all you need to know about the band to be honest, they play bouncy, emotionally charged metal which also features guests in the shape of Elize Ryd (Amaranthe), Swedish singer Liamoo and Swedish/Japanese performer LiLiCo.
At 15 tracks it's a pretty weighty record to get you ears around and there does seem to be a few too many ballads here but with being a band with a strong pop sound they are aiming for radio play so ballads often do better as singles.
Riight in the most contemporary side of the metal/rock sphere, Smash Into Pieces deliver more of their signature sound with ArmaHeaven. 7/10
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