sentynel

Ash Twin Project – Tales of a Dying Sun Review

By sentynel on May 26, 2025 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 20 comments

“Metal has a long history of writing songs inspired by science fiction and fantasy, probably because we’re all a bunch of great big nerds. Outer Wilds is a singular piece of storytelling, a work that couldn’t be told in any medium other than a video game: a story and a series of revelations pieced together from found fragments, with no enforced order or progression beyond what the player finds and assembles. Imagine my excitement when I saw the obviously Outer Wilds-inspired Ash Twin Project appear in the promo queue. Imagine how quickly I mashed the “assign to self” button before any of the other fans on the staff could pinch it.” Winds and ash.

Mitochondrial Sun – Machine Dialectics Review

By sentynel on March 28, 2025 in Reviews, Electronic, 15 comments

“I am woefully, woefully late with this review. My excuse is that I wanted to avoid a repeat of my embarrassing under-rating of Mitochondrial Sun’s self-titled first album. In truth, though, it’s mostly because I’ve found it difficult to straighten out how I feel about Machine Dialectics. This is a sparse and purely electronic album; the modern classical piano and cello stylings of the self-titled don’t make a re-appearance. It’s also far from the black metal of Sju Pulsarer. There’s not even much percussion here, leaving almost entirely melodic synths of varying tones and textures. At first blush, I liked it, but felt like there was something missing.” Late but opinionated.

Tiktaalika – Gods of Pangaea Review

By sentynel on March 24, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Thrash Metal, 54 comments

“I must admit, after being really impressed last time, my initial reaction here was “oof.” The last was pretty, subtle, layered with hidden details, and referential yet retaining its own originality. This is much more immediate, heavily retro, and honestly, kinda ugly. I am of course talking about the album art. Compare the award-winning cover of Charlie Griffiths’ previous album Tiktaalika to the art on the newly rebranded Tiktaalika’s Gods of Pangaea. Album art is nothing if not an advertisement of the musical contents, so what does a cover from an 80s thrash band with some detailing referencing the previous record’s theming portend?” Tika MOAR Thrasha.

Shepherds of Cassini – In Thrall to Heresy Review

By sentynel on February 18, 2025 in Reviews, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 73 comments

“Long, long ago, around when I first joined the staff here, Shepherds of Cassini released Helios Forsaken. I didn’t discover it in time to actually write anything about it, but it quickly became one of my favorite records. Prog is still my greatest musical love. I’ve been burnt out on prog metal of late—or perhaps it all just sucks. But I still often return to Helios Forsaken. I always felt a little guilty about not having been able to bring more attention to a band that deserved to be a lot bigger. Never mind, I told myself. I’ll cover the next album! Ten years later, during which I had entirely given up hope, here we are.” Great expectations.

Beneath a Steel Sky – Cleave Review

By sentynel on January 31, 2025 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 45 comments

“Including “for fans of” is pretty common when marketing a band. But is it actually a good idea? Promo text that reads “for fans of [the biggest bands in this genre]” is the worst offender—why wouldn’t I just listen to those bands? I’d rather hear what makes this band stand out. But listing more interesting little-known bands only helps if the audience have heard of them. Anyway, this is post-metal band Beneath a Steel Sky, and they’re for fans of Isis, Cult of Luna, Cave In, Russian Circles, Mogwai… and the rather more obscure Aereogramme.” Post notes.

Sentynel and Twelve’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By sentynel on December 28, 2024 in Blog Posts, Lists, 173 comments

Sentynel and Twelve have opinions on what the Top Ten(ish) of 2024 should be. We must join with them.

Kalandra – A Frame of Mind [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

By sentynel on December 24, 2024 in Things You Might Have Missed 2024, Progressive Rock, 40 comments

“Before festivals, I like to listen to at least a song or two for every band on the lineup I don’t know so I can optimize my schedule. When Kalandra came up as I prepared for ATG, I had to force myself to stop listening and move to the next band. “Folk/prog rock, really good, definitely see,” I wrote. This was an understatement. Their set was fantastic. Some bands just have presence.” Present and accounted for.

Meer – Wheels Within Wheels Review

By sentynel on September 17, 2024 in Reviews, Progressive Rock, 57 comments

“I adore Meer. There’s something very warming about listening to them, for all that they lean melancholy rather than saccharine. Best described as symphonic/progressive pop and/or rock, their music is lushly textured, drenched in strings, and emotive, often reaching for a soaring crescendo. Meer’s previous album Playing House narrowly missed the top spot in my 2021 list.” Is Wheels Within Wheels set up for glory during Listurnalia, or will our faithful sentinel live forever with his regret?

Seven Spires – A Fortress Called Home Review

By sentynel on June 18, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 95 comments

“One of symphonic metal’s struggles as a genre is that it turns out writing a symphony is hard. Just slapping some string synths on generic metalcore and calling it a day does not Beethoven make. Which was why Seven Spires’ glow-up on Emerald Seas was so striking. Not that debut Solveig hadn’t shown promise, but suddenly their fancy music education and performance skills combined to produce something genuinely worthy of being called “symphonic.”” Forts, spires, maybe some vampires.

Look to Windward – The Last Scattering Surface Review

By sentynel on June 8, 2024 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, 23 comments

“One of the greatest feelings as a reviewer is rolling the dice on a completely unknown band and discovering they’re amazing. But you have to play to win, and I totally failed to pick up any reviews by bands I didn’t already know last year. I resolved to do better this year. There’s no magic formula I’ve found to identifying great promos, so I tend to skim the promo submissions queue and wait for things to catch my eye for whatever reason. Look to Windward immediately stood out. Prog with a name that might be an Iain M Banks reference? Perfect.” Rolling the prog bones.