What starts off as punishing soon turns grueling
Mass of Amara's Earth-puncturing rhythm section contrasts sequences of clean, note-holding singing. That contrast, along with synths and glitches for atmosphere, is what melodic progressive metal is made of.
Most of this music isn't for me, but I appreciate parts of the young San Antonio band's second EP, "Through the Ether." Those parts include "Ascended." The verse riff is the album's coolest. Then the savage parts come one after another.
The rhythm section, with the low-end guitars and bass punctuating the drums, brings the highlights.
Melodic, progressive metal like this sounds highly produced, with silence-stripping and all. And the clean singer is not a character telling a story; they close their eyes and try like hell to hold the notes and make the rest more marketable.
Taste: there’s no accounting for it.
The band says this: "The inspiration behind the EP title, 'Through the Ether,' is derived from the infinite unconscious that we can tap into in a time when we are ready to heal a part of ourselves, as well as to acquire information about what we are capable of."
Mass of Amara's Earth-puncturing rhythm section contrasts sequences of clean, note-holding singing. That contrast, along with synths and glitches for atmosphere, is what melodic progressive metal is made of.
Most of this music isn't for me, but I appreciate parts of the young San Antonio band's second EP, "Through the Ether." Those parts include "Ascended." The verse riff is the album's coolest. Then the savage parts come one after another.
The rhythm section, with the low-end guitars and bass punctuating the drums, brings the highlights.
Melodic, progressive metal like this sounds highly produced, with silence-stripping and all. And the clean singer is not a character telling a story; they close their eyes and try like hell to hold the notes and make the rest more marketable.
Taste: there’s no accounting for it.
The band says this: "The inspiration behind the EP title, 'Through the Ether,' is derived from the infinite unconscious that we can tap into in a time when we are ready to heal a part of ourselves, as well as to acquire information about what we are capable of."
"Through the Ether" was self-released on June 14, 2024.
