Archive for category prog

Echoed Illusions

photo by Matthew L. T. Hepworth

Echoed Illusions is a band from Sandy, Utah with a fusion of several styles including punk and hardcore with a slight progressive edge.  They have recently recorded a full-length album called Beyond the Line with producer Gregg Hale at Lincoln Street Sound Studios, and many listeners might compare them favorably to Coheed and Cambria, Rush, or Saosin.  Three of the four members of Echoed Illusions are LDS:  Joel Clark, Michael Howell, and Takami Kowalski, and they currently have one member on a full-time mission for the Church, Matt Petrucci.  Joel, Michael, and Takami recently got together to answer a few questions I sent to them, and they talk about their influences, their lineup changes, and the themes you can expect to hear in their songs.

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American Hollow – Whisper Campaign review

Recommended if you like: Tool, Dream Theater, Dredg
Recommended tracks: “Blow Wind! Bring Forth Storm!”, “State of Decay”

American Hollow, with their debut album Whisper Campaign, represents a genre and attitude that is underrepresented on Linescratchers as well as in modern music. With a somewhat aggressive and complex musical approach, coupled with soaring vocal passages and dense lyrical topics, American Hollow delivers atmospheric metal for the thinking rocker. Read the rest of this entry »

American Hollow

American Hollow, a progressive rock/metal band from my beloved Eastern Kentucky, has been causing quite a stir in the Salt Lake City area. After leaving Kentucky for greener musical (but not literal) pastures, they found themselves in the Wasatch Front, looking for a new singer. They found one in Jimmy Holman, Latter-day Saint born and raised in Mississippi. A convert to the Church, Jim brought a broad swath of personal influences to American Hollow, including Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, and Bil Bev Devoe, as well as grunge bands such as Nirvana, Alice and Chains, and Soundgarden. Jimmy is an enthusiastic front-man and lyricist, and brings his spiritual nature to a complex and experimental band. Read the rest of this entry »

Hourglass wins PerfectProg.com poll

“Oblivious to the Obvious,” Hourglass’s 2009 release, has won a poll for “Prog Metal Album of 2009″ at PerfectProg.com!

Check out the news here.

Hourglass

hourglassPROG METAL

Rarely do we at Linescratchers get the chance to feature good prog from the LDS community. It seems like a rare genre nowadays, with its long instrumental passages, difficult technical pyrotechnics, and odd time signatures, and yet there is still a large and extremely loyal market for prog in the United States and Europe. This is why our interview with Brick Williams from Utah-based prog metal band Hourglass is such a treat. Brick is a full-time guitar instructor in the Salt Lake area (with somewhere between 55 and 60 students a week!) and a full-time songwriter, guitarist, and lyricist for Hourglass. It’s a tough job, but we’re glad somebody’s doing it.

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