Spotify Friday Progressive Metal # 57 – Prometheus: Aggressive and Intricate Heavy Prog Metal from Austria

Prometheus is a fairly new Austrian trio fronted by guitarist/vocalist/madman Matthias “Waldo” Waldner, a man who’s unique vision of crushing power chords, manic punk energy, angular rhythms, harsh guttural rock vocals and some absolutely killer grooves into what the band’s fans call “soundtrack” metal (yeah, I’ve really got no idea what the heck that’s supposed to mean either.)  Maybe this music is meant to accompany you on a road-trip kinda film where the main dude just lost his job or his wife just kicked his lazy ass outta the house and he just needs to clear his head a bit (ok, that works for me).

Anyway the band was originally a solo project of Waldo’s that got going a couple of years ago but he added a rhythm section and thank God he did, the drummer is a pounding beast! They put out an album and an E.P. and came out with Endless last year.  I haven’t heard the earlier stuff but Endless will definitely appeal to those of you looking for a stripped down muscular approach to progressive metal.  Most of the songs are really heavy and Waldo’s manic voice is intense.  He’s got a great range and can go from clean singing all the way to the occasional death vocal (but usually it’s a pretty standard guttural rock style of singing.)

Like a lot of great albums, the music on Endless has a ton of variety.  As a heavy, groove based band, they can headbang with the best of ‘em.  Chaos Remains will leave you with a damn big headache after all of the head pounding you WILL be doing (the drummer, Gernot has some unbelievable footwork here).  But then they have songs like Because of You which starts as a soft rock ballad before ending in a slow dramatic fashion. And, if you don’t think this at all describes a “prog” group, just give a listen to Empty Shotgun Shells, with some wild and tricky guitar lines over a ton of rhythmic variety and even a short piano section in the middle.  Of course an album like this needs to end wildly so we get the heaviest song on the album, Total Rage Reloaded.  If Prometheus has this much energy on stage as on the album they must be one hell of a live band.  If this sounds like your kind of thing you can listen to all of Endless via the Spotify playlist below.

Prometheus – Official Site

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Prometheus On Spotify