the safety fire

"wise hands"

one of the best progressive metal bands out of UK recently, this song is an example of the wide breadth that great bands possess. Wise Hands is an indie/post rockey selection of ambient melodies and high soaring vocals, one of my favorite songs of this genre. but the real gems of The Safety Fire are the rest of their catalog of complex super heavy prog metal songs filled with polyrhythms, atypical cords, and incredible vocal interplay.

chon

"mountains of creation"

two kids on guitar that create some amazingly intricate math rock-inspired jams. sort of like Fall of Troy on steroids if they were also instrumental and used only major scales. this song has some crazy catchy riffs and dizzying guitarwork. one of the best parts of Chon is that they literally pull off every riff live.

vildhjarta

"dagger"

these Swedish juggernauts churn out massive djent tracks with the deepest chugging riffs, oddest polyrhythms, and most tinkling'ly high note accents. they use a healthy mix of dark ambient melodies in the background, prominent on this song but more on others. the grooves are difficult to understand at first but easy to get into. this is the soundtrack of nightmares

animals as leaders

"tooth and claw"

one of the best songs off their newest and possibly greatest album, The Joy of Motion. this album saw a slight departure from Tosin's previously shred-focused songs, and an embracing of melody instead. and like all great djent bands, an ever-increasing appreciation for TONE. produced by nolly getgood of Periphery and co-written by Bulb himself, there's almost nothing wrong with this record. tooth & claw is one of the heavier tracks with some classic djent grooves mixed in.