Chord Progression Podcast: The Gateway to New Rock and Metal Music

For a band that has been around for almost 20 years, and only have 2 albums to their name, you would assume their influence on a genre would be minimal. But as time has proven with a few releases, and a few shows, the want and desire for more music has not died. Now with their first song released since their "Overthrown" EP in 2023, and more music still to come, many metalcore fans are curious as...

What makes a song timeless? What makes an artist's music timeless? We listen to artists from the 70's like Queen, from the 2000's like Fall Out Boy, and Bring Me The Horizon's 2013 album, Sempiternal, and they all sound of the time, but they sound timeless today. But why? Is it because they don't use common influences of the time in their music and make something fluid for fans across the years? I...

When Broadside has been around for over 15 years at this point, their core fans know their sound and casual fans have heard of them. But as costs continue to rise and staying full time as a musician becomes tougher, Broadside was going to have to do something on album number 6 to really make a splash. So did they change their sound? Did they play into what is popular and the wants of the casual mu...

The music industry is in love with artists releasing singles right now, as streaming platforms have incentivized singles being released to please playlists and algorithms for popularity and discovery. However, rock and metal artists seem to still be holding onto the album. So, who is right. What if we said that it was both? What if we said it was releasing an album to create a full body of work, b...

When the pandemic finally broke and concerts came back in 2021, we finally were able to return to mosh pits, our home away from home. Our first mosh pit back was an album release show at the West Chicago Social Club, for a band we hadn't ever heard of. Since then we hace seen that band at least 6 times, and have always wanted to bring them here. Today is the day we make that want a reality, bringi...

Over 15 years making great thrash metal is not an easy thing to do. As the world of music has changed much since the time of trash metal bands being regarded as mainstays in the pop culture music scene, something has to be done for bands to evolve their sound to still be uniquely them, but also fresh to stand out amongst the crowd. We saw Testament successfully do this in 2025 by bringing in more...

When two artists come together thanks to "band Tinder" (called Band Mix), we have a story of musicians who found another that would be just as dedicated to the band and the craft of creating music. It is what is needed in order from a band to break out from being a local act. But what else is needed beside just dedication and commitment to the music and to the band in order to be successful and gr...

Hardcore music is more popular than ever in 2026, tahnsk to the success of artists like Knocked Loose, Kublai Khan, and Drain making waves in the culture of the music scene, and playing larger & larger venues year over year. But there is something that stands out about hardcore music today that is making it so popular. The heaviness and individuality is standing strong and connecting with fans...

Rock music has always had a reputation of "live fast and die young." You saw this taken to the max with so many legendary artists in rock and metal like Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimi Hendrix, and many more. Many of those artists lived life "on the edge" and never looked back. But what about the opposite of living on the edge? What about an artists creating their own music to go after their drea...

Everyone that has ever wanted to make music and have it be their career has had dreams of making it big, of becoming a world renowned artist, and have their music reach the masses. It is something that many try, but very few ever achieve. For artists today, is there a prototype or archetype that they can follow in order to achieve their dreams? From what we have seen there is in a basic sense. A s...

If you are a part of the heavy music scene or alternative scene in any way, Warped Tour has touched your life in more ways that one. Whether it was spending all day in the summer moshing to your favorite bands, discovering new artists, or finding a sense of community where you maybe felt alone. Warped Tour was there. And when it went away after 2018, there was a void, but their legacy lived on. Wi...

Typically when music fans hear a band decided to get "experimental" on a new album, there is a stigma attached to it that makes fans question the direction. What is this new sound going to be? Is this change going to be a massive shift from what the band has as its core sound? But what would be a word for an album where a band does take those chances and has a lot of natural flowing fun while doin...

20 years ago, the world was graced with the greatest, most crude, and yet hysterical cartoon TV show ever made called Metalocalypse. Following the adventures of Dethklok, it became a cult classic that is still watched and loved by many today. And of course, the creators are more than happy to take this music on the road live to the people today. But what is the legacy of a show if it was made 20 y...

Back in 2024, Archers joined the Chord Progression Podcast after so many previous guests said this was a band that you should be listening to. At that time, they were set to release their EP "All That I Have Left." So what has happened to the band since then? Another great EP released in 2025, followed by a number of tours, and a consistent growth that led to Archers continuing to grow in the heav...

40 years into any band's career (if they get that far), it is hard to imagine them continuing to innovate, reinvigorate their sound, and create music at such a high level. We have seen great artists play the hits in the twilight of their career, and that is fine as they have earned it. But this band isn't just any other band. They are one that somehow continued to reinvigorate their thrash metal s...

Heavy music, espescially hardcore music, has continually risen not only in quality, but in prominence throught the heavy scene and culture since the early 2020's. Even we have gotten heavily into the music since that time. But why is that? And how are artists in that heavy genre continuing to contribute to this rise? Well with one of best bands in that scene releasing a brand new album to kick off...

The Gloom In the Corner is a band that a lot of diehard metalcore fans know of for their consistently heavy metalcore, and the ability to create an expansive story and world from album to album. It is like trying to make a high quality trilogy story on par with Lord of the Rings, but through albums. Following the release of Trinity in 2023 and globe-trotting tours, it is now time for the band to c...

Every single day, it becomes harder and harder for musicians to stand out and be noticed. This is due to a number of factors from increades competition from so many other musicians releasing music, following the algorithms of social media and streaming platforms, and everything else trying to grab your attention. Newer artists have it even tougher as they do not have an established brand or an est...

The Veer Union has been around for over 20 years at this point and relevant for that entire time, something that very few musicians and artists could ever say. Naturally, the band is not the same as they were back when they started in 2004. If the world isn't the same as it was back then, do you think a band should be the same as it once was? So throughout the span of 20+ years and 7 albums to the...

Music has, is, and always will be used as a vehicle to help people all across the world find some sort of emotional positivity in their lives. It helps make people feel better and more self-worth when they are feeling down and out. It makes people feel motivated when they lack the will or the drive to do something in life. It makes them feel positives in the world when negatives protrude the perce...

It has been 10 years since Capsize released their last record, A Reintroduction: The Essence of All That Surrounds Me. Since then, Capsize went away, and have released a few singles since 2022. But if we are talking about them in an intro like this, there has to be something new coming, right? Well of course there is, but what is that new thing? Is it new music? And if it is new music, what does i...

Before the pandemic, you easily knew the band Oh, Sleeper in the metalcore world. And why not, they were putting out great music at that time. But then, they were gone. At the same time, Dayseeker released Sleeptalk and started to build on some national recognition. Both bands were going in different directions when the pandemic hit. So, now that it is 2026, Dayseeker has released 2 albums since S...

One question that all young artists and bands must ask themselves is this... what sets you apart from everyone else? Why should people and music fans in general care about your band at all? Is there anything that would draw that fan into your band and into your music compared to all of the other artists out there? Well when it comes to a younger band, this band might have just discovered those pri...

What makes a band or artist go from a local act, to one that is touring the world and making music that is listened to day after day by many people around the world? There are many theories on this but on this episode, we found out the reason. It is the same reason why your favorite songs have the staying power in your mind for so many years. It is the same reason why movies and TV shows use music...

UK metalcore band Shields split in 2018 given the tragic circumstances with the passing of guitarist George Cristie. Very few thought the band would ever make music again, return to the stage, or just be around. Their return would truly be a miracle for metalcore. Well now it is 2026, and after 8 years, not only has that miracle come true, but the band has a full new album coming out. But everyone...