There are some exciting tours happening this year in the world of Prog metal in the US...
In addition to Animals as Leaders’ successful US run with Conquering Dystopia and Chon, which is heading to Europe in the Fall, there are a few other high-profile Prog metal acts hitting the road.
One of the leading bands of the new prog metal movement, Periphery from Washington, DC, have been busy in the studio lately working on the follow up to the breakthrough album Periphery II from 2012. While the band has been busy posting footage from the studio, they also have found time to take a break and hit the road beginning September 18th in Cleveland, OH. The 20 date tour will conclude on October 11th in Lancaster, PA. Joining the band on tour will be The Contortionist, Intervals and Toothgrinder. This all North American lineup is a prog metal tour that is not to be missed.
The band’s next album is titled Juggernaut and is expected in 2015. About the new album, guitarist Misha Mansoor says, “We’ve all been in intense writing mode all year and are already itching to tour again. Drum tracking has wrapped and today the rest of us officially enter the studio for Juggernaut, so are excited to give the album cycle for Periphery II a proper send off to setup the new album.”
Adding an interesting element to the shows, which are sponsored by D’Addario and Bandhappy (founded by Preiphery drummer Matt Halpern), the band will be making available the “Juggernaut Workshops”, which are meant to provide fans with exclusive access to the band behind the scenes, both before and following the shows. Fans will also have a chance to view a show from the side of the stage. Tickets to the workshops are available now, via the Bandhappy website.
Instrumental proggers Scale The Summit from Houston, TX just started a co-headlining tour with Metalcore group Glass Cloud. The tour launched on July 15th and closes out on August 21st in their hometown of Houston. The tour is sponsored by MerchNow and will be joined by Erra, Reflections, and The Monuments. Scale the Summit are still touring in support of their 2013 release The Migration, which is the band’s 4th album and best selling to date, debuting on the US Billboard Top 200 album chart./o:p
Scale The Summit lead guitarist Chris Letchford also released his first solo album called Lightbox on July 15th. The album marks a departure from the groups’ traditional Prog metal sound. The Jazz album contains the single The Star Boys. Featured on the album are members of The Reign of Kindo including Steven Padin on Drums and Danny Pizarro on Keyboards. The album can be found on iTunes and his own Bandcamp site.
Roie Avin is the Editor of The Prog Report website.
