I’ve talked about Chronologist on the site before, and not without good reason. This fearsome foursome straddles the country, with members from both Massachusetts and Texas, and they pack a pretty damn strong punch within the instrumental metal sphere. Now, before you immediately close this article and smash your computer in rage at the current glut of instrumental bands, lamenting that your favorite website is buying into this trend, I have something to point out to you: Chronologist is fucking good. They’re really, really good. Seriously, take a listen for yourself and have it confirmed for you that your time was not wasted.

One listen of “Key Chains” should be more than enough to confirm that this group has a lot going on in the songwriting department where other groups may fall behind. The guitar melodies are catchy, the rhythms punch and groove, swaying just off-time, and the whole band sounds tight and cohesive, bringing forth a vision of a unified whole working together to bring something truly evocative out of their music. Perhaps best likened to a more riff-oriented, slower-moving version of fellow New Englanders Save Us From The Archon or a less overtly technical version of Scale the Summit, these guys manage to scratch that instrumental metal itch perfectly.

Chronologist also manages to do something that’s relatively rare within the instrumental prog scene: they write actual songs. Like, full songs, with compositions that make sense as more than just riffs thrown together with afterthought transitions or simple chord progressions with five minutes of guitar noodling over them. Every track on their upcoming debut Cartographer has both an emotional and conceptual arc to it, starting at point A and ending at point B in a manner that’s logical, satisfying, and fun along the way. So what are you waiting for? Jam this shit and get ready for a great musical adventure with Cartographer, which will be available for your listening pleasure on December 2nd.