sleepmakeswaves, the Australian rock group, release their latest energy packed album which places them on a par with contemporary prog bands from Europe.

Release Date:  5th April 2024

Label: Birds Robe Records

Format:  CD / Vinyl / Streaming

With four studio albums and a live album under their belts, the new release from the Australian rock group is an energy packed record which places them on a par with contemporary prog bands from Europe.

sleepmakeswaves present a musical storm of heavy metal rock with plentiful amounts of cosmic thrashing. Relentlessly pulsating on the three  opening tracks they do nothing to suggest any relation to their group name. However by Black Paradise the beat is more steady rather than the staccato  complex timings of the previous tracks, the sounds are smoother .

The lush keyboard opening on Verdigris  has a ‘floating through the cosmos feeling’;   a gentle simple piano melody concludes it before Terror Future bounces us back with  an upbeat  rhythm and echoing guitar riffs develops into a bop foot tapping track . The lyrics lead into a more chaotic instrumental to close this adrenaline fuelled track .  

The title track has its hypnotic melodic phases  blended with  powerful shimmering guitar storm showing that Sleepmakeswaves are much more than just a thrashing metal prog group. Indeed they can have gigantic riffs and menacing percussion but the lighter moments have waves of tempered harmony. This Close Forever, with twangy guitar developing into  wild thrashing chords and pounding percussion is a climactic ending to the album as we turn full circle to the atmosphere created by the opening track.

This is my first experience of  sleepmakeswaves music and  of antipodean prog. I hope it isn’t my last as this stunning album show Prog is as alive and as good as the best of contemporary European  prog. 

Current members Alex Wilson – bass guitar, keyboards, piano, Otto Wicks-Green – guitars and Tim Adderley – drums, create a soundscape well worth exploring.

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