Marcus Rezak

There are probably few bands that list Wilco, John Coltrane, Megadeth and Chris Thile all among their influences.

Chicago-based The Hue, however, lists all of these and more.

Described as an “aggressive progressive” metal band, The Hue, which consists of Brian Gilmanov on drums, Kyle Meyers on bass, and Jared Rabin and Marcus Rezak on guitars, has been influenced by musical trends all over the board.

“I like bluegrass a lot,” Rabin, who began playing violin at around the age of 5, says. “Classical and bluegrass are more expressed in the songwriting. The songs sound more metal when we're expressing it, but often, they really are influenced by something less obvious.”

The Hue's music sounds dense and layered — a frequent giveaway for bluegrass. The instrumentation, on the other hand, is almost confrontational with its opinionated electric guitars and often frenetic drumming.

Growing up in the same North Chicago suburb, the band mates knew each other from youth but went separate ways for their college years — Rabin to DePaul University in the city as a jazz studies major, and the other three to Berklee College in Boston, also to study music.

“It just sort of came together,” Rabin says of their formation as a band, which happened after all had finished college and come back home.

Because there are two guitarists in The Hue, and because of the focus on complexity of the music, each member of the band frequently has a lot of autonomy.

“We really try to diversify the roles,” Rabin says of the guitar parts. “There's a lot of room for responsibility and creativity.”

The songwriting process is an effort that all members are involved with, with varying degrees depending on the piece.

“Everyone brings in their vision for a tune and has specific things in mind for the rest of the group,” Rabin says. “Whether or not there's room for individuality depends on the composer.”

The Hue, which performs Saturday at The Beanery with Escherbach in what will be Escherbach's last show of the year, has been intimately acquainted with this process over the past several months, as the band just released its first album, “Beyond Words,” which took about eight months in total to produce.

“There were days when we'd be in the studio for 36 hours,” Rabin says. “But it was cool — it was the most time we've been able to stretch out and get comfortable in the studio.”

“Beyond Words” is emblematic of The Hue's loyalty to progressive rock.

“It doesn't sound like verse-chorus-verse-chorus,” Rabin says. “Or if it does, it's presented differently. It's more of an epic thing that builds on itself compositionally.