• Patrick Saad’s Top Releases of August 2012

  • Katatonia – Dead End Kings

Recommended: Undo You and Hypnone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gum-xJSW-h0

Katatonia are definitely moving the Atmospheric Rock genre forward with each album. They keep putting out good albums while maintaining a high level of soulful composing, focusing on melodic layers and moods instead of aggression and standard Metal progressions. “Dead End Kings” is right up there with Anathema’s “Weather Systems” in this year’s best Atmospheric Rock releases!

For fans of: Atmospheric Rock.

  • Beardfish – The Void

Recommended: Seventeen Again and Voluntary Slavery.

I was quite surprised when I first heard this new Beardfish release. At first, the Metal riffing, the heavier more modern guitar tone and the overall aggression sounded quite weird for a Prog Rock band characterized by a 70’s Rock feel. However, this doesn’t mean that “The Void” is a bad album, in fact this is a great contrast to their previous album “Mammoth” released last year. What a great run for this band, 6 memorable releases in 6 years!

For fans of: Prog Rock and Modern Metal.

  • Rami Rouhana’s Top Release of August 2012

  • Kaipa – Vittjar

Recommended: The Crowded Hillsides and Second Distraktion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJQMcqNYwt4

While modern bands are moving to softer Rock, old bands are moving to the heavier it seems. Kaipa released an album this year, and what a great memorable album this is. “Vittjar” is their 12th album released after several albums which greatly influenced the world of Progressive music. The band still produces remarkable music and material for future generations to love, learn from and develop.

For fans of: The Flower Kings and Transatlantic.

  • Karim Koreitem’s Top Release of August 2012

  • Polarization – Chasing The Light

Recommended: Pulse, Damages and Neon Sky.

Polarization is a progressive metal band formed in Hollywood, California. This Indio-Swedish band have done a great job of writing an instrumental album that sounds complete without being boring. Going through this album, it feels like the members of the band were painting, adding strokes of paints as the songs went with the various layers of music. The guitars are as speechful as lyrics in the atmospheric melodic lines while the clear smooth bass is backed with the 8 strings guitar lows beautifully in the riffs. Finally, the ambient electronic feel makes for an enjoyable ride.

For fans of: Instrumental Progressive Metal, Scale The Summit, Animals As Leaders.