Black Map

A muscular American prog metal/hard rock trio with an impressive pedigree, San Francisco's Black Map is the creation of <a href="spotify:artist:1DsdDxHs1zAwOgWDPgNS7l">Dredg</a> guitarist Mark Engles, <a href="spotify:artist:0GQXHlIz6zMT0IeXQq26Pt">Far</a> drummer Chris Robyn, and <a href="spotify:artist:3znQrZD4FIpdDlhWLHqbGG">Trophy Fire</a> vocalist/guitarist Ben Flanagan. While Driver, their 2014 debut EP, offered gritty vocals and overblown distorted guitars, by the time they issued their first full-length album, ...And We Explode, they had begun crafting more deliberate hooks and prog riffs. On 2017's In Droves, their sound showcased clean, melodic vocals with detuned, multi-pedaled, hook-laden guitar riffs and syncopated prog drumming. They dug into harder-edged prog and alternative metal for 2022's Melodoria.

Black Map was formed in 2014 in San Francisco. They came together as the trio's respective primary bands were on hiatus and discovered a solid penchant for writing together. The group issued their debut EP, Driver, shortly after forming, with their full-length debut, ...And We Explode, appearing from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Minus+Head+Records%22">Minus Head Records</a> just eight months later. It drew favorable reviews from critics, who made comparisons to bands like <a href="spotify:artist:4DFhHyjvGYa9wxdHUjtDkc">A Perfect Circle</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6Ghvu1VvMGScGpOUJBAHNH">Deftones</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:56dO9zeHKuU5Gvfc2kxHNw">Chevelle</a>.

The trio moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22eOne%22">eOne</a> for their Aaron Hellam-produced sophomore long-player, In Droves, which arrived in 2017. Garnering an even larger array of positive reviews, Black Map hit the road and played the American music festival circuit for the lion's share of the next 12 months, racking up more than 150 gigs in the process. Between festival dates, they booked studio time with producer <a href="spotify:artist:3Wx36s9vPKc18yZopjMWPU">Mike Watts</a> in Long Island, New York, and cut three songs. They recorded a fourth with Hallam upon returning home, and the tracks were all released as the prog metal-oriented Trace the Path EP later that year. The band toured across 2019 before being sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Black Map reunited in 2021 and spent many hours writing at home in San Francisco. They booked time in several studios across the Bay Area. Deciding to produce themselves, they enlisted Zach Ohren (<a href="spotify:artist:0lVlNsuGaOr9vMHCZIAKMt">Machine Head</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6kQB2RN7WwryMdJ1MoQh1E">the Ghost Inside</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2Ivw6FhAZpa7kiAXWztCq5">Set Your Goals</a>) as a guiding light and co-producer. That September, they issued the pre-release single "Chasms" on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Minus+Head%22">Minus Head</a>; it served as the opening track for 2022's ten-song Melodoria. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi