This band is also key heavy and not as death enhanced as the first two bands were, yet they have an absolutely beautiful technical development blueprint that ensues throughout. If there is one country that never fails to impress and create innovation in heavy metal it would be Norway. The most exciting adventure of the evening was yet to begin, however, as Leprous lit up the stage with all their amazing Norwegian glory. Basically, the only way to really describe this band is to say they might compare to some new crazy mind-bending drug you know you should stay away from, but can’t avoid the temptation because you know it’s extremely enhancing and stimulating. ![]() The bass player’s bass had a million and six bass strings and the guitarist was pouring out the prog on hyper speed as the keytar was still winning the race. There was sweat and tears put into that keytar playing and it paid off well. There were at least two other keyboards on stage as well, so as I said, the whole act was full of key tone madness, but it was very well done and super technically driven. Prior to this insanity, the keytarist has been spazing out the whole time with his speedy magical fingers and jumps into the mosh pit while continuing to play. Then all of a sudden a vocalist appears like Obi Wan Kenobi on the back drop screen and sings in a somewhat pop rock/emo vocal style that makes you nervous about what will happen next. By the way, there is no live vocalist and the first half of the set was all key-heavy progressive melodies that were very speedy in nature and completely out of this world. Apparently this Connecticut based band is labeling themselves as cinematic rock, but what I saw was keytar prog city for days with some cinematic images on the video screens in the background. Then it was time for Earthside, and if you have no idea what this band is about before you watch them, don’t worry because you will definitely have way less of an idea afterwards. Even though both these bands were full of death elements there was no mosh pit attempted here because real prog fans don’t mess around with trifles when they are busy trying to process the intricate insanity presented before them. They definitively exceeded expectations of an intelligently conceptual band with plenty of prog power to offer up for your enjoyment. This quintet had melodic to death growl vocals that were both equally as strong, while the prog riffs on the guitar were singing their own song as the drums took on a sporadic voice entirely banking on a different notation that gave the band the perfect progressive structure. Next up was east coast prog metal band Binary Code that interspersed their death metal with the more melodic elements in a very progressive mash up. Definitely an entertaining set from start to finish and a band to put on the radar in future events. The rules of progressive metal usually entail breaking many of the rules for other styles of music with odd counts and strange overlays, including a woman’s vocals sporadically placed in the backing tracks here and there for Dissona. The vocals were strong and creative while the music was filled with times of entertainingly heavy progressive interludes that warmed your technical heart. Starting off the evening right was Chicago-based progressive metal band Dissona who in this performance had three live players with no live bass. These are four solid bands with their own personal heavy prog style that resonates as much during the performance as it does after. The headliner was none other than Norwegian band Leprous with support acts Earthside, Binary Code and Dissona. ![]() The four bands I witnessed on Sunday October 16th 2016 at Complex in Glendale expanded my brain cells with the upmost progression ending in a massive implosion and total sensory overload at what I had just witnessed, and may just be, on the whole, the top contender to any previous prog-dominated metal shows I have seen, although Opeth and Devin Townsend are also high on the ranks as favorites in my world of prog. ![]() October 16th 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: Progressive heavy metal has been in existence for around thirty years now and it has since developed in numerous advanced technological ways.
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