Discovering new, exciting bands from around the globe has become one of my favorite occupations, that's the reason why I'm always curious to listen to music by young bands that are just starting out. Especially during this time, bands work and sound different from each other and one will notice soon which bands are here for the long run and which not. There is this certain energy in their music, regardless of genre. One extremely hard working band that have given 100 percent from the beginning are Sweden's melodic death metallers Deals Death. Another nice example are Distorted Harmony, an extremely talented progressive metal band from Israel, that put out their second record at around the same time last year. It's not only about what exactly the bands play, but with which intention - dedication and the iron will to reach more and more people will eventually be reflected in their music: This is the energy, the hunger I'm talking about.

Neck Of The Woods are hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia and play progressive metal inspired by acts like Between The Buried And Me or Misery Signals. They released a demo back in 2013. Since then, their goal has been very clear, their direction incessantly to the top. Their eponymous self-titled six-track EP is set to be released on the 22th of May, a record that fans of the afore mentioned bands should, based on multiple reasons, definitely check out.



If you decide to give Neck Of The Woods EP  a go, you can expect a very special kind of "heavy": the band's sound is consisting of closely intertwined riffing and guitar melodies played by two guitarists, technical drumming and punchy gutturals. The music's perpetual vivacity reminds me of a river that just flows on and on - there's always something going on.
This record is heavy enough to please any tech death or thrash metal fan ("Torch"), surprisingly complex and multilayered to attract any progressive metal fan ("Disavow") and last but not least, the songs are well-balanced, capture different influences and even allow the listener to drift off sometimes as well.
All in all, this EP is well-made and a great release by a young, independent band. I do recommend to give this album multiple listens, though - it's simply impossible to process everything at once. And even after numerous passes, one will still discover something new.

Talking about energy, one can definitely feel it here. I for one hope to hear more from this band soon - they have the best chances to acquire renown in the progressive metal scene. After all, it's just a matter of time and persistence.