Progressive Metal [5/5] Album of the year

Progressive Metal/Rock [4,5/5]

Progressive Power Metal [4,5,5] So good. Easily their best effort since The Inner Circle. It's quite slow, sometimes even dark and needs a few spins to really sink in. However Englund is in great form, Danhage and Ekhdal's presence is again easy to feel. Just another Evergrey's trademark. Best songs? King Of Errors and The Great Collapse, simply amazing.

Extreme Progressive Metal [4,5/5]

Progressive Metal [4,5/5] Guys just DELIVER. Every single time. I think this album is, ovarall, a tiny bit weaker than March Of Progress. It's not that catchy and song-oriented and more atmospheric. The opening Watchtower On The Moon is classic, proggy and melodic Threshold, but later it gets darker. The Box and Siren Sky are two absolute masterpieces of modern prog. Damian Wilson just nails it.

Progressive Power Metal [4,5/5] Long wait but definitely worth it. A bit softer than previous albums, but I love the melodic approach. I'd maybe change some parts (church-like choirs...), but overall it's a perfect mix of metal and melodic/symphonic elements. Power-prog doesn't get much better than "Godmaker".

Progressive/Art Rock [4,5/5] This is epic. Will elaborate soon.

Prog

Devin Townsend Space County Metal [4/5]Ethersens | Your Wandering Ghost | Progressive Metal [4,5/5] I'm not gonna lie, I discovered Ethersens just this year. But this is fantastic! I really like this "darker", slower progressive metal. Great atmosphere here, maybe a bit depressive, but I feel some kind of space here behine the guitar barriers. This album has various reviews, from "terrible" to "amazing". Surely not for everyone, it took me at least three listens to get into this kind of music.

Symphonic Groove Metal [4/5]

Progressive Rock [4/5] What can I say, I just love Neal Morse :)

Melodic Death Metal [4/5] I really like Insomnium, but this is so much better than I expected. I absolutely love "Above The Weeping World", but I think their last two albums (especially the last one) were a little bit repetitive. Great to see Insomnium trying out some new directions, maybe a bit softer, but new (clean vocals etc.). Evolution is the key! The guitarist from Omnium Gatherum does a great job and the production is just flawless. After a few months I have to admit that certain songs bore me a bit (Black Heart Rebellion, Lose To Night), but killers remained killers. Very good, recommended.

Symphonic Death Metal [4/5] At first I wasn't too impressed and had a feeling "Titan" is a bit step backwards. However after few spins this album really grew on me. Orchestra is powerful, choirs fit perfectly and the metal part is quite varied. Only thing I don't like is the mastering -- such a complex music deserves much better dynamic range. My favorite songs: Prototype, Ground Zero, The First Immortal

Progressive Rock [4/5]

Progressive/Tech Death Metal [4/5]

Progressive Metal [4/5] "Anhedonia" was great, this is even better! Teramaze have changed throughout the years, starting as a thrash-prog band and ending as a 100% progressive band. The love for solid guitar work remained though, they're so dense here that you can actually sweat a bit. It's not an easy-listening album, songs are quite complicated with many layers. Guitars (already mentioned) are outstanding, same as keyboard work and vocals. Mixed perfectly, sounds amazing. This is top quality prog medal by a very underrated band. Just try it.

Progressive Power Metal [4/5]

Instrumental Post-Rock [4/5] I'm not a big fan of instrumental music, but this VERY good. Short album (36 minutes), perfect to listen in the evening. I like the progressive elements blending in with classical post-rock sound. Very atmospheric recording from this little known project. And the sound is very clean, production definitely a pro here.

Melodic Death Metal [4/5] Probably gonna rate it higher after a few spins. Reminds me a bit of last year's Persefone, but without clean vocals. Music here is great, varied with nice build-ups and some progressive inspiration. As for now, the second-best MDM album of 2014

Progressive Death Metal [4/5] I more or less agree with MS review of this album. Nothing too original, however it's well-crafted, sounds great and powerful, based on groovy riffs (no blasts here). I think some clean vocals would add value to this recording and bump it to 4,5-5 star territory. I really liked In Vain's "Aenigma" last year, and this is a similar style. Good hour of solid progressive death metal.

Progressive Power Metal [4/5] Energetic melodic prog from this Swedish band. Pretty good variety, so it doesn't get boring. Some nice solos, both keyboard and guitar and I really liked the vocals here. If you like bands like Circus Maximus, Anubis Gate or Seventh Wonder, give it a go. It's not as complex as usual prog albums, but songs are really catchy. And it's a debut!

Avantgarde Metal [4/5] Damn, this is crazy! As avant-garde as it could possibly be. There's EVERYTHING here: some powerful growls, clean vocals, acoustic passages and even a saxophone. Funeral Blues is hell of a song. Great album overall, strongly recommended.

Progressive Power Metal [4/5]

Some kind of rock [3,5/5] One of major disappointments of the year for me. I'm a big fan of their old stuff, but at the same time I really like their new albums (and I LOVED Weather Systems). I found this one quite boring (and this comes from a prog-10+minutes long songs-metal lover). There are some good songs here, reminding me of their last two albums, but the romance with electronics left me unconvinced.

Progressive Metal [3,5/5]

Progressive Metal [3,5/5] An interesting progressive band from Tunisia. They started playing Dream Theater covers, now finally got their own material. Nothing revolutionary here, but it's an enjoyable experience.

Symphonic Death Metal [3/5] An OK album but nothing more. Orchestral parts sound really good, growles parts are good too, but everything apart from that is just standard, well-produced stuff. Not bad by any means, but nothing particularly outstanding either.

Progressive Metal [3/5] This is a very interesting debut from Germany. Melodic progressive metal, strongly influenced by our usual suspects, but definitely with its own identity. The sound is very good and clean plus lyrics are great and the story interesting (it's a concept album). Initially I gave 4/5, but after a few listens I somehow got bored.

Progressive Power Metal [3/5] Sound is quite good for a low-profile band and songs are varied. Female vocalist is actually a highlight here and you can definitely see some potential in this band. However I couldn't shake off the "I have already heard it somewhere" feeling. Not a bad effort overall, solid album, but kind of forgettable.

Symphonic Power Metal [2,5/5] Poor man's symphonic power. As cheesy as it gets, I didn't like it.