Beardfish
Mammoth
Inside Out

And here’s the second of the ‘beard’ bands I promised, Sweden’s Beardfish, a 10-year prog rock institute with five previous albums under their thumb, each of ‘em wild n’ weird monuments to certain grand masters like King Crimson, Yes, and Gentle Giant. Mammoth doesn’t really offer any wholesale changes to Beardfish’s hippy-jazz blueprint, but what it does offer is a deft heaviness not heard on previous albums. In fact, songs like “The Platform” and “Green Waves” — the former complete with metal vocal growls — certainly deliver on the album’s name by delving into Porcupine Tree territory. Hell, even “Akakabotu” has some balls, despite the fact that it’s six minutes of sax-driven muzak. I know not everyone’s into prog, but if you are, you’ll get all you can handle on “And the Stone Said, ‘If I Could Speak’” and “Without Saying Anything (feat. Ventriloquist),” both of which will put a little extra beard onto your fish. Or fish into your beard. Whatever, man, it’s the end of the year.

Listen to “Green Waves” from Mammoth!

#6 Priestess – Prior to the Fire

This one was a long time coming, almost four years in fact, and it blew every expectation I had right out of the water. After releasing their debut, Hello Master, Priestess was rolling quietly along until everything exploded; they signed to a major label, toured with some of the biggest bands in the biz, received increased radio airplay, and lent songs to smash hit video games. Fame, however, didn’t change them. In fact, they steered so clear of a commercial sound on Prior to the Fire that their label wouldn’t put it out. So that delayed things a bit, but Priestess finally found another way to release the album and despite the brilliance and success of Hello Master, there’s no doubt that Prior to the Fire is the album Priestess had always wanted to make. Stoner rock, progressive rock, classic rock, heavy metal…it’s all riffs and it’s all here in full bearded surround sound glory. And it’s completely perfect. This is my band, no doubt about it.

Listen to “The Firebird” from Prior to the Fire!

(more…)