I got sick of just listening to the same stuff I love over and over again. The Google Play suggestions I was getting, frankly, sucked. I then remembered that I used to follow a blog (that has since shut down) that would review any music that the artist sent to them, and I remember that I found some really nice stuff through that. With that blog gone, I figured there is another way I could go about this - Bandcamp.

Since I've mostly been in a prog metal mood, I've been searching Bandcamp for Progressive Metal, New Arrivals, Digital Format and just looking at the things that crop up. There is some unpleasant stuff there, sure, but once again, I was amazed at just how much great and fantastic music there is out there, hidden in plain sight.

So in this thread, I'll just start posting the gems I find with a brief description. Mostly prog metal because that's what I'm into right now, but who knows. Comments and other submissions from bandcamp encouraged, and if you like what you hear, why not give the artist some love? They could surely use it more than those that are sitting on the stream revenue of a hundred million spotify plays.

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Sands of Time by Scardust

This Israeli bands is one of my favorite finds so far. They combine beautiful over the stop symphonic metal with plenty of prog elements, a healthy dose of more jazzy progressions, and an amazing female vocalist that can transition from soft lyrical falsetto tones to full rock voice to outright growls seamlessly. Standout tracks are "Sands of Time" for its beautiful singing and "Arrowhead" for its great proggy madness.

(This post was last modified: 01-27-2020, 07:48 AM by Roavin.)

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Limbo by Ok Goodnight

This 5-piece show quite a bit of musical talent, though. You'll find proggy riffs, chilled piano parts, and great VGM-inspired vocals packaged into quite an accessible format. While not all of the tracks on the album fully vibe with me (even if I can appreciate their musicality), their first single release "Think Again" at least is worth a listen or ten or a hundred (as are quite a few others). Interesting trivia: The singer, Casey Lee Williams, is the primary vocalist for the RWBY soundtrack.

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Letters Never Sent by Stowing Away Home

Ok, I wanted to post this one a long time ago but never got around to it. The reason is quite simple: This EP is too good. If you're into mathy instrumental prog, this EP is for you. The tracks are heavy, but still very much real, with real drums and real syncopation, and they all evoke a sort of dystopian beauty that I can't put into words. I've probably listened to this a three-digit number of times in the past year. The only downside of this EP? It's too short.

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