When Cracow-born indie project Seven Nation Army dropped their new EP "Power and Money", I found myself struck by the sudden urge to bite a gold coin to see if it would break my teeth. The Polish act, operating since 2006, specializes in brewing heavy alternative rock with dark electronic textures. Founder Jarek Balsamski handles guitars, vocals, synthesizers, programming, and the razor-sharp lyrics, while...

When Indianapolis-based progressive metal project Pentrilox announced "Apotheosis: The New Frontier", I genuinely didn't expect to be handed a literal digital antidepressant. But here we are. Operating entirely out of their in-house production studio, this independent outfit utterly rejects the exhausted, dystopian sci-fi tropes we've all been choking on lately. Instead, they’ve engineered a massive, heavy sonic blueprint for celestial optimism. https://open.spotify.com/album/1lXMirFmYCFLZ8CJ8LJGfi?si=oXWz-hzbSV-i2MNymOiwDA The physical force of...