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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Scotty Seed Hallow's Eve Review by Gary Hill This is clearly not the tightest fit under progressive rock. A lot of people will likely disagree with the decision to land it there. I like to stretch the limits of what people consider as proggy, though, and the experimental nature of this is very much a modern take on the concepts of progressive rock. While a lot of this is techno or industrial in nature, I'd argue that much of it has about as much in common with the Rock in Opposition movement (at least in terms of throwing rules out the window) as it does with Nine Inch Nails. This is dark art rock. I wish I'd gotten this one sooner because it would have fit very well in the October issue with its Halloween ties. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2020 Volume 6. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review

Intro_ I Can Live There are trippy textures, sound samples and a real techno vibe with processed vocals to this short introductory piece.

Hallow's Eve There is a textural quality to this early. It's dark and electronic. It moves toward heavier sounds for a time before shifting to weird, psychotic zones that are downright unsettling.

The Mask Electronic art rock is at the heart of this cut. It has some electronic dance music vibes along with techno textures. There is a dark moodiness to this cut.

Boogie Man's Knife The opening keyboard textures on this are decidedly proggy. The cut works outward with distorted, processed vocals over the top, creating a dark artsy vibe. This is largely freeform and tastefully strange with some definite techno in the mix. It shifts to screaming insanity further down the road before dropping back to the opening key sounds to end it.

Sorry, You Had to Go While this is decidedly industrial, it also has a real art-rock based weirdness to it. It's dark and noisy. It's a bit like Nine Inch Nails goes truly experimental.

Villain This definitely earns a parental advisory. It has a lot of electronics at its core. It is like a techno version of hip hop to me. It's dark and moody.

Scary_ Interlude There is an alert warning text running as the main concept here, but it gets strange electronics added to it and warping it as it continues. This is experimental and odd. It's also cool and fairly short.

Smile for Me Noisy and incredibly strange, this is about as experimental as you can get. It's dark and psychotic. It is pounding and has some weirdly processed vocal elements.

Pig There is a glam rock element on this. The cut is echoey and the most purely rock based number here. It has some hints of punk rock and psychedelia, too. It's a driving tune that is one of the highlights of the set. It is still suitably strange.

Eden Techno concepts drive this number. This is dark and has a lot of 80s styled keyboard sounds. It reaches toward EDM at times.

I Smell Blood Weird and very dark, this is electronic techno based with a experimental concept to it.

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