Tag Archives: progressive rock

New EP “Games” by Split Parasite

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Games was released in December, 2022

Split Parasite is an alternative rock band from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The group was formed by guitarist and vocalist, “Ghosty” Sam Baker, and drummer and vocalist, Aaron Bushong, both of The Great Flood Catastrophe fame. Split Parasite produces a catchy mix of progressive, alternative rock, in the vein of bands like Incubus and Deftones. Their debut self-titled EP was released in April, 2022, and is followed by their latest release, Games.

Games dropped in December. It was recorded and mixed by Caleb Lewis of Champion O.I. Records. Caleb also provides additional guitars for the band’s live performances. Vocals were recorded by Ghosty Productions. Bass work was provided by Ryan Hart, also formerly of The Great Flood Catastrophe.

  1. The Weather 3:12
  2. Soft Division 2:55
  3. Games 4:13
  4. The Worst Thing is to Live Without 5:05

The EP clocks in at 15 minutes with four riffy tracks. Opener, The Weather, sets the standard for the EP with a killer guitar sound, progressive drums, and great vocal harmonies with some clever wordplay. Check out the cool 7/4 timing on the verses and that headbanger outro. Soft Division establishes serious groove, accentuated by creative guitar patterns, an incredible low-end bass tone, and some nice synth tones recorded by Bushong. Don’t miss innovative chord progressions and a heavy, Deftones-style changeup on Games. Closing track, The Worst Thing is to Live Without, features some super tasty vocal harmonies and an awesome chorus riff. Listen for a Baker’s nice guitar lead at the end of the track, underscored by Bushong’s tasty shuffle pattern on drums.

Games is a seriously groovy and creative EP from start to finish, and is a great followup to their Self-Titled EP. You can find it on Spotify. The band is active on social media and Youtube. There’s been no announcement of a physical release or future show dates, but hopefully we’ll be hearing more from the group, with fingers crossed for a full-length album.

A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand, the heavy new album by Humanotone

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A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand was released on March 11

Humanotone is a one man musical project, produced and performed by multi-instrumentalist, Jorge Cist, who is based in Coquimbo, Chile. His music is a progressive dose of muscular stoner rock and shares the same psychedelic vein as heavy hitters such as Elder and Swan Valley Heights. Jorge just released Humanatone’s second album, A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand, an impressive follow-up to 2017s self-titled debut.

Flourishing Fall consists of six richly layered, flowing compositions, five of which range from eight to over 12 minutes in length. Initially written between 2017 and 2019, the songs were structured and recorded between May and October of 2021. According to Jorge, “All the songs were inspired by the sea and are a way of thanking the healing power it had on me during rough times.”

While listening to this album on repeat on a recent bus trip through the Rocky Mountains, I realized why this album stands out: It seriously flows! Similar to the ocean or the mountain ranges passing before my eyes, the album has a natural quality, indefinable by words alone. While many similar progressive rock albums can tend to get bogged down in their own complexity, Flourishing Fall flows seamlessly from riff to riff like crashing waves or thunder on mountain peaks.

In addition to performing vocals and instrumentation, Jorge also recorded and mixed the album in his own Massive Void Recordings studio and created the artwork using pointillism technique on 140g Canson paper. Make sure to also check out the artwork produced for the album’s first single, Light Antilogies. A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand is available on Bandcamp, where the entire discography can be downloaded for under five dollars. While there, you can also link to videos and social media.