PROG AROUND THE WORLD 2021

Many countries are famous for their music scene, and sometimes strongly connected with stereotypes or a genre. Others are maybe not on the radar as a typical rock / metal nation, but discovering a band in a new area often brings even more to light. 

The idea behind “Prog Around the World” is to travel musically and find new bands on this trip, or learn more about those who might be familiar already. Below, you can find all destinations I visited in 2021. Welcome to jump on this journey, check the bands out, and feel free to spread the word if you like it :-) 

CRYPTEX - Germany

We start in Germany with the amazing progband CRYPTEX. I had the opportunity to chat with their guitarist André Mertens. Check it out here

OBSIDIAN TIDE - Israel

Next up, we visit OBSIDIAN TIDE in Tel Aviv. The trio plays progressive melodeath, and caught my attention with their great debut album "Pillars of Creation" back in 2019.  Find out more about their work here

 THEORY - Denmark

Let's travel Northwards to Århus, which is the home of THEORY.  The quintet offers sophisticated, powerful, yet melodic progmetal. Welcome to read the interview here

ASTRAKHAN - Sweden

We head over to Sweden's capital Stockholm and visit the progband ASTRAKHAN. They just released their third studio album "A Slow Ride Towards Death", and I had the great pleasure to chat with Per Schelander about it. Find out more here

KONOM - UK

From Sweden, it's not too far to the UK, where we meet with two members of progband KONOM. They just released their self-titled, sci-fi themed debut, welcome to read our chat here

KHIRKI - Greece

Our musical journey takes us to Greece now. We visit the trio KHIRKI, who offer a great mix of pure rock'n roll with some musical surprises. Their debut album "Κτηνωδία" is out since May 20th, 2021, welcome to check them out here 

PLAGUESTORM - Argentinia

For the first time, we cross the Atlantic to South America, which is the home of PLAGUESTORM. This project is the brainchild of Sebatián Pastor and just released his 2nd album "Purifying Fire". Learn more about his work here

THE VICIOUS HEAD SOCIETY - Ireland

How about a little trip to Ireland? We meet Graham Keane, who is the mind behind progmetal project THE VICIOUS HEAD SOCIETY, and released his second album "Extinction Level Event" on May 28th, 2021. Check out our interview here

JESTER'S TEARS - Germany

Sometimes, good things are very close - You're welcome to follow me to my home town Munich and get to know JESTER'S TEARS, who came up with one of my favorite releases of 2020, "Perception". It was their first album in 20 years, read more about them here

EXISTEM - USA

We're heading to Kansas City (Missouri) and meet progmetal act EXISTEM. Even though they're around as a band for over 10 years now, I just discovered them recently for my listening pleasure. Welcome to read my chat with their bassist Ben Chipman here 

FOTIS DELINIKOLAS - Greece

Let's fly to Greece again, the home of guitar wizard FOTIS DELINIKOLAS, who caught my attention in spring with his solo album "Alma" (out since May 28th, 2021). As he expresses through his music in a mesmerizing way, I was curious to learn more about his work. Welcome to read our chat here

WITHIN PROGRESS - Greece

We stay in Greece for a while and head from the capital Athens to Thessaloniki: WITHIN PROGRESS is a fieve-piece prog band, and release their debut album "Inner" on October, 21st, 2021. I had the opportunity to ask them some questions, check out their answers here

AEONS - UK

Our journey takes us northwards again to the UK, more precisely the Isle of Man. Progmetal act AEONS released their beautiful beast "Consequences" on September 10th, 2021, and had some great stories in store about the band's development, topics and their local music scene. Learn more about their work here  

ALTESIA - France

French progband ALTESIA crossed my musical path already with their amazing debut "Paragon Circus" in 2019. The release of their second album "Embryo" on October 16th, 2021 was a good reason to make a stop in their home town Bordeaux. Check out what they have to tell here 

PLEXIMENTS - Siberia

Guitarist and composer Evgen Tsibulin caught my attention with his project PLEXIMENTS and its debut album "The Maze Within", a (mainly) instrumental piece of excellent progmetal. We meet him in Tomsk city, welcome to read our chat here

FIERCE DEITY - Australia

Are you familiar with Tasmanian stoner powermetal? Just follow me to the beautiful Australian island and get to know Jonathon Barwick, the mastermind behind FIERCE DEITY, who released one of my favorite records this year with "Power Wisdom Courage" (out since September 3rd, 2021). Welcome to read our conversation here

CRIMSON BRIDGE - Portugal

The melodeath band released their debut album "In Pitch Black" on September 7th, 2021, which caught my attention due to its unique sleeve, and quickly convinced me with their genre-bending, powerful music. Learn more about their work here