Articles by Dan Upton
We continue to celebrate the 13th anniversary of antiMusic. Today Dan Upton flashes back to his most memorable review (and it was far from a glowing review!)
- Read the full Flashback: Silent Fate - The Autumn Machine review
The writing and playing are excellent, great riffs abound, and the symphonic scope places it a step above its peers. The downside is that it drags in places. Still, even with that nitpick, this is a killer prog metal album. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Xerath - II review
How often does it happen that you hear a CD from a band youve otherwise never heard and, from the first 30 seconds or so, you know youre going to love it? Astrosoniqs Quadrant is one of those CDs for me. (5 stars)
- Read the full Astrosoniq - Quadrant review
Were all familiar with the idea of musicians from well-known bands coming together to form a supergroup, and if you ignore the original release date in Bitter Black Water, thats exactly what Still Rain looks like. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Still Rain - Bitter Black Water (Sevendust, Dark New Day, Seether, Stuck Mojo, Danzig) review
This is a somewhat diverse album, hitting a cross section from acoustic passages to grooves to jarring transitions to all-out blasting. This is definitely deserving of multiple listens if youre into progressive music and death metal. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Augury - Concealed (Reissue) review
Theres a reason Souls At Zero is a classic- its not just that it was a launching point for a new subgenre, but the dense arrangements both connect with you on the first listen and keep you coming back to uncover more. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Neurosis - Souls At Zero Reissue review
Elysium isnt bad. Its just not stellar. There are some decent songs, and even discounting the disappointing closing track leaves nearly 40 minutes of solid power metal. Its worth checking out if youre into the style. (3 stars)
- Read the full Stratovarius - Elysium review
The Invalid is a strong first step into the full-length arena by Clandestine, showing a knack for strong songwriting and a great mix of metal with more adventurous electronic sounds. (4 stars)
- Read the full Clandestine - The Invalid (Features Ex-The Apex Theory) review
Sonically, theres something different about Opensight. Something about the way the guitar and bass are mixed here, a very in-your-face sound that caught me off guard the first time I spun it. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Opensight - The Voice Of Nothing review
The quickest way to decide whether Crime Scene might be up your alley is to ask the question, Do you like your metal weird, but only a little weird? Dakrya should draw a little notability just for having three vocalists, including two female leads (4 stars)
- Read the full Dakrya - Crime Scene review
The music owes a lot to classic metal with some progressive touches along the lines of Nevermore or Dream Theater. This is partly to be expected, with the lead guitarist having served duty in James LaBries band. (4 stars)
- Read the full Creation's End - A New Beginning review
Frankly, this has been another one of those CDs Ive put off writing up so I had a good excuse to keep listening to it. If youre into prog rock or more adventurous music, pick this up without delay. And, for that matter, go grab their other two for good measure. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Pure Reason Revolution - Hammer and Anvil review
It seems wholly unfair to judge this CD in terms of Linkin Parks previous work, because for the most part it seems to have little connection to it. Overall, give this one a try. It may not totally be the cutting edge album they were aiming for, but its close. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns review
Because the songs are so well constructed, this album wouldnt be a bad step for the rock fan looking to take the first steps into more progressive territory. Id say Karnivool pretty much knocked it out of the park on Sound Awake (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Karnivool - Sound Awake review
To celebrate the end of the decade, some of our writers will be sharing their picks for their favorite albums of the past ten years. We kick off today with Dan Upton. Here is his list and his introduction on how he picked them!
- Read the full Top Albums of the Decade: Dan Upton's Picks review
The stylistic progression works well, combining jarring polyrhythmic lines with groove and extending beyond that. If youre an adventurous listener unfamiliar with them, this is as good a place as any to jump into their catalog. (4 stars)
- Read the full The Fall Of Troy - In The Unlikely Event review
Drawing heavily from early jazz rock fusion and instrumental rock, Ozric Tentacles combine live guitar, bass, and percussion with synthesizers and electronic drums into spacey textures and frequent shreddy solos. (3 stars)
- Read the full Ozric Tentacles - The Yum Yum Tree review
