Hey, not sure if anyone is reading this, but it’s all good either way. I have, once again, been silent for almost an entire year since my last major post. I spent a lot of time during early 2025 writing posts and feeling inspired, only to get 95% of the way there and then not see a point in doing the last 5% to get it ready for the site. I had an entire article written about the new You Win Again Gravity album within 3 days of its release, only to sit on the mostly-completed article for months until I didn’t feel like posting it anymore.
I think this is an issue I have in many parts of my life, and as I’ve found this past year, it also applies to writing music. I’m good at starting lots of things and getting excited about them, but I’m so bad at following all the way through and seeing things to completion. I’ve spent the past year working on myself as a musician, and it made me realize some things about this site. I originally made TheProgDrummer because I wanted to write about bands I cared a lot about, and “give back” in some way to the scene (so much that’s done). I also wanted to connect with other people about music I’m super passionate about, and I did at least make one friend through my posts here. I also recently received an email from someone plugging their band, which I absolutely love to see, and very much welcome. What I’ve realized, though, is that I was somewhat disingenuous about the Drums part of my site. It’s true that I play drums, and I’m alright, but I’m not great. I’m definitely not an expert. I also think my article about drum sticks is a piece of shit post where I was just hoping to get some web traffic and clicks on amazon affiliate links (I’m deleting it right after I write this post). All of this is to say, I want to start over with the drums part of my website. I spent the last year growing as a musician and practicing harder than I ever have before, and while I still don’t think I’m great, I definitely can share what I’ve learned so anyone else who finds this place can make the process easier on themselves.
I recently heard someone say that when you write about something, you eventually write enough and learn enough that you become an expert on the topic. I’ve been absorbing drum culture and prog and hardcore drumming for a long time, and I’m definitely not an expert, but I have a lot of knowledge that I could share, especially if I continue to learn now and share new things I come across.
This year I’ll try to share some of the things I learned about drums in 2025. Of course, I’ll also try to pick back up with sharing sick music with the world, even if one or no people see it.
Here are some of my top albums from 2025:
- Don’t Leave Me Here pt. 1 – You Win Again Gravity
- Your Neighborhood – The Toxhards
- Knowing the Ending – Mesker
- A Search That Never Ends – Knife Dance
- Mend – Eidola (This one grew on me)
- Bite Reality – Cafuné
- I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven – The Callous Daoboys
- The View From Up Here – Saving Face
- Burnout – Good Terms (this was technically December ’24 but I listened in 2025 so)
Check these bands out, have a good 2026, stay tuned for more from me.