I've reviewed these guys before, and liked them. Well, that hasn't changed. The Mugshots' brand of prog is clearly something new and different, but it's definitely prog. Yes, it's on the AOR side. Yes, it wanders towards the metallic edged stuff of acts like Giant Squid. It's quite effective however you label it, though.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Introitus
There is a bit of a punk rock energy to this. The keyboards bring the prog, but the other melodic elements do so, as well. There is even a bit of a Rush edge to this short instrumental in the closing section.
The Circus Imagine combining emo with a Rush kind of sound. Add in some space rock and other elements and you'll be in the right territory here. This is high energy, AOR prog. It's very cool. The bridge is a bit theatrical, but also very much purely prog.
Rain The energized cut is perhaps less proggy than the previous two numbers. There is a drop back section at the end, though, that's very much spacey prog.
I Am an Eye With a lot of metal in the mix, this is incredibly heavy and rather slow. It reminds me a lot of Giant Squid. This is crunchy and yet so proggy.
An Embalmer's Lullaby, Pt. 2 Hard edged and yet very trippy and proggy, this is another great cut. It has a lot of AOR prog at its core. There are some great hooks and shifts and changes.
Ophis This instrumental is high energy and often leans toward heavy metal. Yet, it's decidedly prog in a lot of ways, too.
Sentymento There is a bit more of a dark, punky element to this. Yet, it's still prog rock and space based a lot of the time.
Scream Again Mellower modes bring this into being and it works out gradually from there. As this builds it gets into some seriously metallic stuff at times. Here is another cut that really earns comparisons to Giant Squid.
Grey Obsession This is especially cool. It has some folk prog in it, along with some space rock. Overall, though, it's a psychedelic wonder.
Dusk Patrol Harder rocking, this is classy modern prog.
Pain This one is more metallic in a lot of ways. Still, it has enough prog to keep it from landing as full on metal tune. This is a slow moving number, but gets faster paced and more fierce late in the number.
Ubique The closing instrumental is a great example of modern melodic prog with a hard edge.
