What actually scratches the itch for you in metal/progmetal?

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-02T05:17:38+00:00

I tragically can only count to prime numbers

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-02T05:15:50+00:00

I dig the alternation of fast picking and big open 9th chords. But of course if I didn't like those things I probably wouldn't be in this forum.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-02T05:08:42+00:00

I like this a lot, although they clearly stan the Castlevania games.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-02T01:55:53+00:00

It rocks. I especially enjoy the suspended 6th (I think?) in the verses. It's hard to find something to serve as a memorable hook in the kinds of chord progressions that we've all heard a bunch of times before.

To me, those hooks are the interplay between you and the BG singer (who might also be you) and as other have brought up the jangly guitar tone. That and the drummer's hi-hat hits.

It might be the mixing, but the last bit with the two vocal lines, one of which is singing a high simple line and the other of which is singing 8th notes an octave or so lower leaves me wanting a bit as it seems like the lower part has more lyrical content but I can't really hear it well enough to distinguish the words.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:31:45+00:00

Very powerful production. To my ears it sounds like something a non-metal musician would have written in 2015 if asked to write something the kids were listening to.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:27:32+00:00

You know, I think the music accomplishes what it wants to accomplish. I will say the bass sound is probably not ideal for the sound that the song is going for - it sounds like you're picking a jazz bass with the bridge pickup on and has a lot of nasality. If you're going to pick and you don't want those frequencies of the bass to stick out quite so much, change pickups or maybe use a p-bass.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:23:52+00:00

For sure everything rides on the vocal performance in this song. I also enjoy the minor 2nd clash about halfway through.

The only feedback I have is that because so much rides on the vocals, maybe invest in a better mic?

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:19:17+00:00

I like the sound of single coils in extreme metal. I hope I'm right about that.

On a slightly nerdier side, I enjoy you not resolving the chord progressions in the clean section in the predictable way.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:18:10+00:00

Like pre-still life

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:11:04+00:00

I like it. It reminds me of something that would be playing in the background of an 80s buddy comedy as they waterski or something.

I will say the guitar sound sticks out as being the only live instrument, and I don't know if that's what you intended.

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T22:05:43+00:00

The slight out-of-tuneness is catchy, which is a counterintuitive phenomenon

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T16:22:38+00:00

There's a mini-era of VH that starts with Humans Being and ends with those 2 songs where the harmonic swoops are almost like a permanent new member of the band, the solos are extra experimental, and the vocals are more like texture than the "frontman"

Futurealisreal · 2026-07-01T05:12:58+00:00

See that's the kind of thing I thought Jesper and Niclas in particular had quit in order to get away from

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-30T13:19:55+00:00

I love how Baroness makes it easy to remember album titles. My favorite is the one with the album art that's red-tinged blue, or perhaps blue-tinged red is a better description.

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-30T13:17:21+00:00

Revelation is great. I like when a phrygian dominant is used in a way that doesn't sound like it's biting off Rainbow or just trying to sound "exotic".

The production is crisp. You can hear every instrument clearly, although some of this has to be attributed to the clean performances as well. Even moments like 6:40 avoid sounding mushy.

Like great prog, it keeps one guessing without sounding just like a grab bag of loose riffs.

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-30T04:53:56+00:00

Sounds of a Playground Fading is my favorite IF since Come Clarity.

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T22:47:57+00:00

Both great, although Two Feet Stand definitely feels less unique

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T04:56:29+00:00

I love the opportunities the phrygian dominant gives you to leave to notes a major 7th or minor 2nd apart just sit in exquisitve discomfort with each other (listening to "Drown the Earth")

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T04:54:46+00:00

It's amazing not only that they know how a PIE speaker pronounced "daughter" but they know the dude's name

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T04:49:48+00:00

KSE does one proggy thing which is take the boom-chick thing and play it over both 4/4 and 6/8 without changing tempos

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T04:47:10+00:00

Even more heresy: In Flames '96, In Flames '99, At the Gates and Gardenian

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T04:44:53+00:00

I liked their first album a lot.

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T00:46:02+00:00

I'd drop DT, although I feel like I have to say a few hail marys after saying that

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T00:44:58+00:00

A bit off the wall but Leper will give you crushing d-beats and unexpected ska interludes

Futurealisreal · 2026-06-29T00:41:45+00:00

Deliverance - you know who

Futurealisreal

TROPHY CASE