Usually, all the prog albums that come through Metal Temple are snagged by Dave "That Metal  Guy" Campbell before anyone can even blink. This time he did me a kind mercy and allowed me to snatch up this album . . . or I'm getting faster . . .  or he's getting slower. Either way, I'm glad to check this album out. Love ya, Dave!!

I've seen ELECTRIC SUN DEFENCE described as both Progressive Post-Metal and Dirty Progressive. Personally, I like Dirty Progressive better, though it does sound bit like an insult, which makes it twice as funny regardless of your political leanings. So, I get the 'prog' reference. I mean, their songwriting does get fairly complex. I also get the 'dirty' because this shit can get discordant and dissonant as a black metal church burning. Yeah, so Dirty Prog it is.

ELECTRIC SUN DEFENCE releases their debut album, "Estuary," via Road to Masochist records on May 8, 2026. I should say this is more of a project than a band, which btw is another prog flag. They seem to have originated as THE MASSACRE CAVE, a band (or project) that included both current members (multi-instrumentalist Joe Cormack and drummer Pete Colquhoun) plus two others including Ben Cormack, Joe's brother. Not that any of this has any relevance on "Estuary," but this album is good enough that most listeners are going to want to hunt down everything else these lads have ever recorded. Yeah, that good.

Anyway, there's a lot going on with this album, as you might expect. Joe Cormack says "Lyrically, the estuary becomes a metaphor for inevitability: the idea that all effort, motion, and resistance ultimately move toward the same end. Life isn't framed as a clean, purposeful river, but as something far less controlled." And you start getting that sense even with the intro track, "Shimmer," an atmospheric piece that sets the mood so well you'd think it was a full-on field recording of an actual estuary . . . only it isn't. I mean it's a little bit of silence and then some water sounds but then a whole lot of synths, but it's so immersive that I had to listen to it again because I swear it was all just water sounds.

And speaking of hallucinating, I might as well get to it now, "Spiderweb" (track 6), is a really nice piece with that 1950's recording of that chick tripping balls, describing what she's seeing and feeling during an LSD therapy session. And if you're thinking this album is all avant-garde compositions with spoken word narrative and layers and layers of synth atmosphere, I'm glad to debunk that notion. Starting as early as track two, "Estuary," the shit gets heavy . . but in a controlled way—again, Dirty Prog. Lots of oscillation going on in this album, between clean and harsh vocals, melodic and discord melodies, acoustic breaks and aggressive assaults. As you go along, your thoughts and emotions start to rise and fall with the music, drawing you deeper into each story . . . a clear sign of some bewitching songwriting.

This whole album is nothing but great tracks, but my fav list includes "Choke Leper" with some bass drops near the end that will abuse your subwoofers and "Estuary" because it pretty much encapsulates the entire album . . . which is pretty much the definition of a title track. "Fountain of Blood" is also excellent. With that title, you'd think it would be the heaviest track on the album, but it isn't. That comes later. In fact, it comes right after the most mellow track on the album, "Dysmorph" with "Phantom Limb Amputee" and "In Bestia"—two twin pile drivers of pain and angst.

Great stuff, this album. Thank you Dave for letting me have a swing at it, but most of all thanks to Joe and Pete for putting together such as masterwork album. Be it project or band, ELECTRIC SUN DEFENCE, Estuary, is highly recommended.