Unlike the fictitious heavy-metal band from the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, Shumaun frontman Farhad Hossain hasn’t lost skins players to bizarre gardening accidents or spontaneous combustion. But as his progressive-rock band was working on its full-length debut, Shumaun, he cycled through three different drummers.

That kind of instability could spell the end for many bands. But Shumaun powered through it — even managing to record a remarkably fluid album in the process (stream it below). Chalk that up to Hossain’s songwriting, sharpened by his years in the D.C. region’s progressive-rock scene.

Hossain has been involved in local music for more than a decade, playing in the bands Iris Divine and Encompass and serving as a session artist for other groups. When Iris Divine emerged in 2008, it quickly established itself as one of the area’s best progressive metal bands. In those days, Hossain split vocal, guitar and songwriting duties with Navid Rashid. But Hossain says it wasn’t always an ideal configuration.

“When you are in a situation like that, you have to make compromises,” says Hossain.

So when Hossain left Iris Divine in early 2012 — they remain friends and occasional collaborators — he turned his attention toward the wholly self-directed project that would become Shumaun. But soon he found that even going solo didn’t free him from certain hurdles, like picking a creative starting point.

“We started off as an ‘indie-rockish’ kind of band,” the musician says. “I had written an album’s worth of material that I scrapped before shifting to the more hard-rock direction that is now Shumaun.”

Then there was the drummer saga.

Tanvir Tomal, who had also played in Iris Divine, was Shumaun’s first drummer. Then his job took him out of the area and he left the group. So Hossain brought in Travis Orbin (formerly of Periphery, now in Darkest Hour) and Mark Zonder (Fates Warning) to help in the studio while looking for a full-time member. He eventually found one in Waqar Khan. But Khan didn’t last long, either; he recorded three songs with Shumaun before leaving the band due to professional obligations, Hossain says. Then as fate would have it, Tomal returned: He’d found a new job in the area, so he moved back and rejoined Shumaun.

This all means that Shumaun’s first album — released Nov. 13 — features three different drummers, none of which are the original and current drummer. But never mind that. The key thing is that where so many prog bands flounder, Shumaun flourishes.

The songs on Shumaun’s debut don’t meander with endless jam-bandesque solos that show off each band member’s mastery of their instrument — something that can grow tiresome to any but the most devoted prog fans. Instead, the record’s compositions are structured much more like pop songs; relatively short and exciting with catchy choruses.

The album has its moments of darkness, too. But lyrically, Hossain aims for uplifting, maintaining an optimistic outlook. The record’s theme, Hossain says, is “unity and the battle to achieve it across all spectrums of human life.” A fitting idea, considering his struggles to achieve unity in his own band.

Hossain never expected Shumaun to become his full-time group. It “started as a side project,” he says, and he “had no intention of leaving [Iris Divine] to pursue it.” But he found himself drawn to the self-directed work. “It’s a very liberating way to write,” the musician says.

Though Hossain may still return to working collaboratively one day. He acknowledges that sometimes he misses sharing the creative process with others. It could even work out again with the members of Iris Divine, who are still playing together.

“I am sure we will find a way to collaborate in some way in the future,” Hossain says. “Possibly something not metal or hard rock at all.”

Shumaun plays the NoVa Metal Family Reunion tonight at VFW Post 9274 in Falls Church, Virginia.

Stranger in the Alps, Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents, and The Low Bends
Friday, April 4 at the Velvet Lounge, $8

Local indie-folk act Stranger in the Alps released its debut album in December and has been playing in DIY spaces since then—until now. I’m not clear on whether this will be a solo performance or if main man Steve Kolowich will have guests recreating the album’s rich harmonies, but either way, these downtempo tunes are just the right speed for a Friday night after a long week. This is an all-D.C. bill with singer-songwriter Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents and Americana band The Low Bends.

Cigarette, Margy Pepper, and Olivia Neutron-John
Friday, April 4 at Paper Sun, donations accepted

D.C. ambient shoegaze quintet Cigarette embraces the area’s DIY spaces, and this is another one: Catch the band’s ethereal tunes at this Columbia Heights house, along with Olympia noise-pop trio Margy Pepper and D.C. bedroom-pop act act Olivia Neutron-John (yes, it’s my favorite local band name, too).

Lazapalooza: The Bills and Brews Craft Beer and Band Fest
Saturday, April 5 at Union Arts, $35

Get a jump-start on the upcoming festival season with this all-day fest that joins local tunes and local beer as a benefit for reporter Matt Laslo’s “Bills and Brews” Web series. The ticket price includes all-you-can-drink local craft brews (while supplies last, of course) from your favorite locals: 3 Stars, Bluejacket, Chocolate City, DC Brau, Devils Backbone, Heavy Seas, and Flying Dog. If unlimited booze isn’t enough enticement, there’s also a solid music lineup of U.S. Royalty, Pree, Paperhaus (acoustic set), Marian McLaughlin, Beyond Modern, Margot MacDonald, Laughing Man, and The North Country, with DJ sets by Brett and Ra Ra Rasputin.

Cavale, JoyCut, Pleasure Curses, Furniteur
Saturday, April 5 at the Dunes, $10

Cavale calls itself post-punk, but the D.C. duo’s fusion of electronic beats and eerie vocals sounds more like uptempo trip-hop. Devise your own description at the pair’s debut-album release show, which also features Italy’s darkwave electronic duo JoyCut, D.C. synthpoppers Pleasure Curses, and the first show from Furniteur, the new pop collaboration between Brett and artist Brittany Sims.

David Klinger
Sunday, April 6 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, free

Luce Unplugged is a concert series that pairs musicians with art: They select some pieces from the museum’s collection and perform after a staff-led talk about those pieces. This week’s performer (note the 1:30 p.m. start time!) is David Klinger of the experimental indie band Frau Eva, which is currently on indefinite hiatus.

All That Remains, Darkest Hour, Wilson
Wednesday, April 9 at the 9:30 Club, $20

If you’re wondering which one of these shows is not like any of the others, you’ve found it. Massachusetts metal band All That Remains has its own followers, but I’d like to highlight opener Darkest Hour, a local metalcore outfit that formed in our Virginia suburbs in the mid-’90s. The quintet has definitely worked its way up over the years, and it’s great to see them on the big stage on a national tour. Catch them here, because their next area stop is at Jiffy Lube Live for Mayhem Fest in August, where they’ll be sharing the stage with Ice-T’s metal project Body Count (I’m not joking).

D.C. Music Salon: DC Jazz, Deeper than Duke
Wednesday, April 9 at Shaw Library, free

Hankering for a music event that won’t require earplugs? This is for you. For this edition of the D.C. Music Salon, WPFW DJ and jazz scholar Rusty Hassan will show an excerpt from the documentary “7th & T” and discuss D.C.’s rich jazz history beyond Duke Ellington, touching on national musicians (Charlie Byrd, Billy Taylor, Frank Wess) as well as lesser-known locals and the clubs they played in.

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.