High Spy - Ignition (2012)

 

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, samples and vocals.

I am reviewing a handful of their albums, the remaining ones I have not reviewed before, this spring. More reviews to follow either here or next month in # 4 of this blog.

I was not particular impressed by their second album, the 2009 album Head For The Moon. Not good enough songs, in short.

The band returns again with their blend of art-rock and neo-prog. This time with an hour long album.

The songs here are very much in the art-rock genre... far more than they are in the neo-prog. But the music still got some early Marillion inspirations.

The music is also a bit poppy and verse-chorus-verse orienated. There are some good vocals here too. There is also some samplings here from the  9/11 atrocity in New York and that song is poignant. I remember that day as the nightmare/pure horror it was. Even in Northern Ireland where I then lived. That song is good and respectful.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. This album is a small improvement from their second album but not by much. Better songs are required.

2.5 points

 

 

Whitechapel - Le masque d'Arlequin (2006)

 

The one and only album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This one hour long album is one of the more obscure albums released in the last twenty-five years here in Europe. It was released on a sub-label of Musea in France. It has also been labeled as neo-prog in ProgArchives and other places. Nobody agrees with that label.

The music here is basically heavy prog with some symphonic prog influences and some faint hints of neo-prog influences.

The vocals are in French and the music is in the French symphonic prog tradition. It is just a bit more heavy and has more catchy songs than being outright symphonic prog. 

The sound is not particular impressive, but it still an acceptable sound.

There is a lot of chugging, heavy guitars here with the keyboards playing a supporting role. 

There are also a couple of pastoral songs here which reminds me about the RPI scene. There is some RPI influences here indeed. Of the French bands, Nemo is the one I would compare this band and their music with.

The songs are pretty good and this album therefore deserve a lot more attention. There is a lot to like here although some of the songs are not up to an acceptable standard. Check out this album. An album deserving a re-release and some proper promotion.

2.5 points

 

 

Weserbergland - Sehr Kosmisch, Ganz Progisch (2017)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, electric sitar, flute, clarinet, samples, synths and programming.

Some guests added guitar, clavinet, synths, trombone, trumpet, saxophone and effects.

I have earlier in this blog reviewed their second and third album. This because I thought I already had reviewed this album, their debut album. I had not so I have now returned to this album for a review.

The music on this forty-five minutes long album is cinematic rock.

There are also some psych rock here in this funeral dirge sounding piece of music. It is really one piece of music, one theme, as there is not much variations here.

The soundscape is busy with sitars, guitars, woodwinds and electroncs filling the sound and making a busy sounding slow dirge. 

The result is decent enough. This is a good debut album and this is what it is. Check out their two other albums too.

2 points

 

 

 

 

Let See Thin - Machine Called Life (2025)

 

The second album from this band from Poland.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I have missed out on their 2020 debut album 2Years 2Late. So this album is my first meeting with them.

This album is forty five minutes long.

The music is a blend of art-rock and neo-prog. It is very much in the same vein and genre as other Polish bands like Millenium and Believe.

That means a bit somber music with some good vocals. Let See Thin's music is not as melancholic as the music from most other bands from Poland. It is still not dance in the sunshine.

The music is also pretty muscular too. It is pretty heavy at times. 

The music is also good throughout this album and this band is another good addition to the scene in Poland... and the worldwide scene.

3 points

 

 

Tangerine Dream - Quantum Gate (2017)

 

The 100th (??) or so album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of bass, guitars, violin, keyboards and synths.

This album was the first album released in the Tangerine Dream name after the passing of Edgar Froese, the founder of this band. Hence it got some media attention, this album.

Edgar Froese features on this album. A seventy-five minutes long album.

The music is left overs and unfinished ideas from the last years of Edgar's life. 

The music is also light and fluffy ambient electronica with some elements of cinematic rock. 

The music is synths dominated with some pulsating bass driving the music forwards. There are some violins and guitars too.. but not enough of them. 

The music is decent enough and one can only wonder what would have happened to these pieces of music if Edgar had not passed on before these ideas was fully developed.

2 points

 

Sleeping Green - Nola (2021)

 

The debut album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass and guitars.

This band has so far released two albums through their Bandcamp site and I got both of them up for review this month.

The music on this thirty-four minutes long album is a mix of post-rock and space rock. Most of all, this is a post-rock album.  

The music is pretty hard and guitars driven.

There are some harmonies here but the majority of the music is hard riffs.

The band and this album does not really add anything to the genre as the music here is too much run-of-the-mill. Nevertheless, this is a decent enough album.

2 points

 

 

Everon - Shells (2025)

 

The eight album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, piano, keyboards, programming and vocals.

A trio of guests added drums and female vocals.

I have had they joy of reviewing all their albums in this blog and you will find these reviews somewhere else here.

Everybody thought their 2008 album North was their final album. But the band returned again earlier this year with their eight album, their comeback album. I have no idea why this band took so long. I am just happy to see them back again as this band is a very underrated and underappreciated band in the scene. 

The band continues on from North on this seventy minutes long album. That is heavy, monumental and elegant pomp rock and progressive rock with a lot of progressive metal influences.

The music is not progressive metal though. It is more musicals and elegant pomp rock driven than progressive metal.

The male and female vocals is very good. There are some great pieces of music inbetween the good pieces of music too.

This is therefore another very good album from this band and I hope they will release albums on a more regular basis from now on.

3.5 points

 

 

 

Kraan - Nachtfahrt (1982)

 

The seventh album from this band from Germany.

The band was quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A guest did the drums on three tracks.

The band continued on with this forty minutes long album.

Kraan is a band who has never confined themselves to one genre. The have been moving around from psych rock to fusion, jazz and krautrock. They are most of all the German's answer to Gong. 

That is the side of Kraan you find on this album. Some weirdo post-punk influenced krautrock mixed u with jazz.

The vocals are in German and I guess the lyrics is bit wild, taking into account the mad delivery of the vocals. The vocals are pretty good, btw.

Then we also have some good jazz here. 

Yes, this album is a bit mad and weird. The quality is somewhere between decent and good. I have heard better albums from this band than this one.

2.5 points

 

 

 

 

Malady - Malady (2015)

 

The debut album from this band from Finland.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, grand piano, organ, mellotron, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added mellotron and flute.

This band is among the many new bands from Finland who has taken up the inheritance left by the great Finnish prog rock bands from the 1970s. Finland had and has a good scene now and Malady was and hopefully still is a part of this scene.

The band has so far released three albums and they are all up for reviews in this blog, either in this edition or in the upcoming # 4 of this blog. 

The music on this forty minutes long album is a mix of psych rock, folk rock and a bit of symphonic prog. The album has got male Finnish vocals/lyrics and the vocals are all good.

There are some good organ and mellotron harmonies here and the guitars too are good.

The music is both complex and melodic. It also has a great ambience and feel.

The result is a good album and one that makes me look forward to getting my teeth into their two other albums too.

3 points

 

 

Zonda Projeckt - Viento De Toda La Vida (2015)

 

The second and final album from this band from Argentina.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, e-bow, electric piano and keyboards.

Their debut album were very much like a King Crimson tribute or even a copycat album. The band still inserted some jazz into their eclectic prog.

Thirteen years later, the band returned again with this seventy-five minutes long album. A live album with songs never recorded in a studio. Hence, I am reviewing this album.

The music here is jazz with some fusion and eclectic prog influences. 

The band has included a jazzy take on the King Crimson classic Frame By Frame as a part of a nine minutes long improvisation. The rest of the album is jazz. Latin jazz, that is.

The sound is pretty good. The guitars and piano is good. The quality of the tracks is not bad at all.

This band deserve a lot more attention and the same goes for this album. Check out both albums.

2.5 points

 

 

 

 

Zeelley Moon - The Author and the Dreamer (2023)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a one man band with Patrick Molesworth doing piano, keyboards and vocals. 

He got help from some guests who added drums, bass, guitars, cello, violin, flute and backing vocals.

Patrick returned again six years after his decent enough self-titled debut album. An album I reviewed some days ago in this blog.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is again mainstream rock with some art-rock and neo-prog influences. There are now some psych rock influences too and the band's admiration for Pink Floyd shines through this album.

There are also some mid 1970s Jethro Tull folk rock influences here too.

The music is better this time around. Ditto for the sound.

This album is an improvement on their debut album. This band is not setting the world on fire but their albums, in particular this album, should still be checked out.

2.5 points

 

 

Eveline's Dust - Eveline's Dust (2025)

 

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

One guest delivere additional vocals on one song.

I reviewed their first three albums last year in this blog and gave them good ratings throughout. 

The band started as a Canterbury scene band before they moved to neo-prog on their second album. They returned to their Canterbury scene roots on the K album from 2019 and was hoping that they would stay there for good.

.... But my hope was dashed on this thirty-seven minutes long album.

The music is mostly art-rock here with some neo-prog and some psych rock influences. No wonder the band has self-titled this album as there is hardly anything left from the old band called Eveline's Dust.

The music is mid-tempo and pretty gloomy. That is helped by the pretty gloomy male vocals too. 

Some of the music is decent and a couple of the pieces of music here is good. This album is for me a bit of a disappointment, though.

2.5 points

 

 

Kyros - Mannequin (2024)

 

The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I have had the joy of reviewing their studio albums. The first one ten years ago in # 1, when the band went under the name Synaesthesia, and the more recent ones in this edition of the blog.

Their latests album is an one hour long album.

The music is a muscular and pretty heavy blend of pomp rock, art-rock and neo-prog. Haken from Sweden is a good reference again. 

The music is epic, bold, theatrical and complex. There are some catchy pieces of music here too. They sounds a bit like Ghost now and then.

The vocals is good and the band does a good job. 

The result is another good album from this band. Kyros must surely be regarded as one of the leading/better bands in the British scene these days. Something this album proves.

3 points

 

 

 

Hermetic Science - Deliria (2023)

 

The sixth album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass and keyboards.

This trio has released some of the strangest albums I have ever reviewed. I am not sure if they are progressive rock at all. Well, they are not progressive rock. They are eclectic neo-classical music albums.

This album clocks in at just over forty minutes and we get a lot of ELP and Trace influenced music here. The Pink Mice should also be included here although their music were more cheesy and sunny than the music on this album.

The music on Deliria, which comes as nine different pieces in this suite, is pretty dark and brooding. 

Piano and keyboards is the main instrument here.

There is no denying that this music is not particular good. The music is too pedestrian. Nevertheless, the gloomy soundscape adds some quality to this half-decent music. 

I admire the band for their guts and original approach to their craft. This album is only a half-decent album though...

1.5 points

 

 

 

 

Far Cry. The - Once There Was (2025)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards, synths and vocals.

I reviewed their 2021 debut album If Only... in August last year and was not won over by that pretty good album. That album has a mix of cinematic rock and neo-prog.

Four years has gone since the release of that album and the band is back again with this sixty-five minutes long album.

The music is classic progressive rock. It is a blend of neo-prog and symphonic prog. References are Yes, Genesis, Kansas and a bit King Crimson.

There are still around five minutes of cinematic prog here. Those are an interlude between two major pieces of music. 

The music is mid-tempo and pretty complex throughout. The music is also at times pretty hard too.

The vocals and guitar solos are good here. Very good at times. Ditto for the sound.

The music is at times a bit too pedestrian for my liking. There are also some great pieces of music here. The major problem I have got is the quality of the music which is not always good.

This is a very good album which I am sure fans of classic progressive rock will love. Get this album.

3.5 points

 

 

 

 

 

Fish - Raingods With Zippos (1999)

 

The sixth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Fish did all the lead vocals here.

He got help from numerous guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, fiddle, violin, cello, keyboards, harmonium, piano, organ, narration and backing vocals.

Fish returned again two years after the good Sunsets On Empire album, his best album up to that point.

Raingods with Zippos is an one hour long album. It comes in two parts with some cathchy opening tracks. Thankfully, these soulful songs has not been killed by brass and woodwinds. Hence, they are pretty tasteful good. Full of life too.

Then this album takes a bit of an unexpected turn....  

Fish now starts to deliver his best vocals ever on a half an hour long suite.

This suite deliver some mid-tempo to slow melancholic music with some good strings, guitar solos and great vocals. Music bordering too symphonic prog.. well, this is symphonic prog. This on Fish own terms.

This is a good suite and an endearing one who showcases a far better side of his talents than previously showcased. 

The result is an album less chasing the trends and a more prog rock orientated album. A good album indeed and one that betters his previous album. Check out this album.

3 points

 

 

 

 

Tangerine Dream - The Seven Letters From Tibet (2000)

 

The 50th (??) album from this band from Germany.

The band was a duo with a lineup of Edgar and Jerome Froese doing all the synths and computers.

I know very little about Tangerine Dream and the development and the different phases of their music and career. From what I gather, this fifty minutes long album, their first post-millenium album, was a break with their 1990s tradition of more disco and techno dominated albums.  

The album title reminds me about the famous book and movie of Heinrich Harrier, the conquerer of the Eiger Nordwand (the most infamous big wall climb in Europe) and his years in Tibet after escaping the POW camp in India. A classic book I have read many times.

The music is really positive and uplifting. I was expecting a lot of Tibetan and Asian music here. I was wrong. The music is mostly ambient with an European soundscape throughout. Hence, I am left a bit disappointed.

OK, there are some, but still far too few references to Tibet here as the music takes in the massive ambient landscapes of the Tibetean plateau. A vast barren landscape thousands of meters above sea level.

The music is still bright and is full of light.

The music is also decent enough but does not offer much else than ambient landscapes. This is not a bad album at all.

2 points

 

 

 

Zonda Projeckt - El Llanto Secreto de la Luna (2002)

 

The debut album from this band from Argentina.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, ebow guitar, chapman stick, guitar synths, keyboards and effects.

A guest added guitars and effects.

This is a new band to me who has released two albums. Both of them are up for reviews in this blog this spring.

This album is seventy minutes long and the music is a blend of latter days King Crimson and jazz.

There is a lot of eclectic prog in their music and the King Crimson influences shines through in their guitars and the rest of their sound.

There is also a lot of jazz, not to mention fusion, on this album too. In particular on the pieces of music which is driven by long guitar solos.

The sound is good with the exception of the three bonus live tracks which is not up the standard set by the rest of the album.

This album would be of special interest to all King Crimson fans. The music is pretty good and this is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

 

Zeelley Moon - Zeelley Moon (2017)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a one man band with Patrick Molesworth doing piano, keyboards and vocals. 

He got help from some guests who added drums, bass, guitars, narrations and backing vocals.

This is a new addition to the art rock scene in Great Britain. They have so far released two albums and both of them are up for review in this blog.

The music on this almost one hour long album mainstream rock with some neo-prog and art-rock influences.

It is based on some good vocals, piano, keyboards and guitars.

The music is very melodic but also slightly muscular. The music is also mid-tempo throughout.

The music is workman like straight forward and does not have any real interesting details. The quality is simply not here.

This is a decent enough album which does not sparkle and offer up any nice surprises.  

2 points

 

 

Nuova Era - 20.000 Leghe Sotto i Mari (2025)

 

The sixth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The return of this band after a thirty years long break... or so I thought... I have now learned that the band released their fifth album nine years ago. An album I have now ordered and will review later this spring. I must have had a brainfade as I am a bit of a fan of this band.... Yes, a proper brainfade.

20.000 Leghe Sotto I Mari, the album reviewed here is a fifty-three minutes long album in the classic RPI mould.

We get some great Italian vocals on the top of some mid-tempo and pastoral RPI.

The sound, although updated, is in the classic 1970s style. That means some good folk rock, Italian pop and symphonic prog influences. 

The pastoral parts sounds like Angelo Branduardi. The more mid-tempo parts sounds like Banco and PFM. 

The result is a great album. My only gripe is the lack of a signature song, a superb song.

This is a highly recommended album and surely one of the better RPI albums of the year.

4 points

 

 

Kyros - Celexa Dreams (2020)

 

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I reviewed their debut album ten years ago for # 1 and then their second album Vox Humana (2016) a couple of weeks ago in this edition of the blog. Both of these albums are very good.

The band returned four years later with this one hour long album.

The music here is muscular and pretty heavy progressive. It is also epic, monumental and bold. There is indeed a lot of pomp rock here mixed in with heavy prog and progressive metal. The music is also elegant throughout this album.

The Swedish band Haken is again a good reference. 

The vocals is again good. The music is very good throughout this album. There is some catchy pieces of music here which is drawing in the listener.

Their music may be a bit un-british brash and bold. But this is still a very good band and this is a very good album.

3.5 points

 

 

 

Hermetic Science - These Fragments I Have Shored... (2008)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, mallet and keyboards.

Hermetic Science is one of the more... ehh.. weird bands I have encountered in my thirteen years or so in this blog. Something I have noted in my reviews of their first albums.

Their music is hardly progressive rock. It is more like neo-classical music. Or cinematic rock. Or a mix of all this..... 

Yes, this fifty minutes long album contains mainly neo-classical music with some symphonic prog and cinematic rock influences.

ELP and Trace is good references. The band called The Pink Mice is the band I am most of all reminded about here. The difference is that the music here is not as cheesy as most of the music from The Pink Mice. 

The music is mainly being performed by piano. The other instruments are playing a supporting role during these onslaugths of the piano. The music is mid-tempo to fast. 

The music is very complex here. Complex and not particular good, I am afraid.

This is a half-decent enough album. I am not won over by this band.

1.5 points

 

 

Roberge. Jacob - The Passing (2025)

 

The debut album from this artist from Canada.

Jacob did the drums, percussion, bass, bouzouki, keyboards and vocals himself.

He has help from some guests who added bass, guitars, violin, cello, keyboards, trumpet, programming and backing vocals.

This is a new name on the symphonic prog scene and this one hour long album has already got some world wide attention. 

Jacob was inspired by the likes of Genesis, Yes and Pink Floyd to make this album. And so he did.... 

The music is very melodic on the beginning of this album with lots of strings and vocal harmonies. There are some progressive metal too and the music becomes a bit more muscular and harder after a while.

The music is not particular complicated and technical. It is mostly melodic throughout. 

The vocals is good throughout. There are a lot of very good piano pieces incorporated into the music. The music is rather clever and well put together.  

The result is a good album from an artist many has described as a young prodigy. I hope to hear more from Jacob Roberge in the future.

3 points

 

 

Magnum - Kingdom Of Madness (1978)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals.

A guest added vocals on a couple of tracks.

This is a band that should have interested me decades ago. I bought one cassette, Wings Of Heaven, on it's release but did not fancy it as Iron Maiden and extreme metal was my thing back then. I have now decided to review all their albums and reviews will be added on a regular basis.

I am not entirely sure what to expect from their albums...........

Their forty minutes long debut album gives us a blend of heavy metal, hard rock and pomp rock. There is also some quite substantial folk rock hints here too.

The music is pretty linear and does not offer much deviations from the chorus-verse-chorus formula. The vocals is pretty good and there is some good stuff here. Most of the music here is decent though.

This is a decent enough debut album which is still mired in the heavy metal scene. Check it out.

2 points

 

 

Leprous - Aeolia (2006)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths and vocals.

I am reviewing their nine albums this year and their debut album is a good start. I reviewed their third album Bilateral for ProgArchives back in August 2011 and liked that album.  

This one hour and five minutes long album was self-released. This was before they hit the big times. 

The music on this album is a mix of vaudeville art-rock and progressive metal. There is even some extreme metal and post-metal on this album.

An eclectic mix, in other words. 

The music is also quirky and is kicking in all directions.

The vocals is good and there is some good music here too. This album falls a bit short, though. It is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

 

Minus Two - SWF Session 1972 (2010)

 

The one and only album from this band from Germany.

The band was a duo with a lineup of drums, percussion, keyboards and vocals.

This band was active as a quartet between 1971 and 1972. Just before the band recorded this session for SWF in 1972, the two other band members quit the band. Hence the name, strange name of this duo of Gunter Kuhlwein and Walter Helbig.

There is a live track with the quartet added on as a bonus track at the end. 

The rest of this thirty-seven minutes long album is keyboards and organs dominated. The music is indeed heavy, heavy influenced by ELP.

But where ELP had several other strings to play on, bass and guitars springs to mind, plus the three genious musicians in that band, Minus Two is a bit more bareboned and restricted by their not entirely sufficient talents.

There is a lot of vocals here and they are decent enough. The same goes for the music too which is in the German symphonic prog tradition. 

This is a decent enough album and well worth checking out.

2 points

 

 

Le Syndrome du Pouick - Ce Qu'il Reste, Ceux Qui Restent (2011)

 

The one and only album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin and vocals.

This is one of the free download Bandcamp albums out there and therefore worth taking a risk on.

The album is just over half an hour long and the music is a mix of art-rock, indie rock, psych rock and some post-metal.

The vocals is mainly female vocals. We also get a couple of brutal post-metal with male death metal growls.  

Most of the music is rather elegant and mid-tempo. The vocals are in French and they are good. There are some good details scattered around this album. The main problem here is the quality of the songs. Most of them are not up to required standard.

This album still deserve downloads and some attention. The band is no more but this album lives on. Check it out.

2.5 points

 

 

Mostly Autumn - Seawater (2025)

 

The 15th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flutes and vocals.

A guest added uillean pipes on the first couple of tracks.

This band is veterans and to a large degree a genre-defining band. They were among the inventors of keltic progressive folk rock. They were and probably still is the biggest band in that scene.

Heather Findlay was the vocalist back then. She departed and went for a pretty successful solo-career. Olivia Sparnenn took over her role a decade ago or so. The lead vocals duties is shared between her and Bryan Josh, the leading member of this band.

Seawater is a seventy-seven minutes long album. The title track alone is twenty minutes long.

Mostly Autumn is true to their own formula on this album. The keltic folk rock has more or less disappeared although there are frequent hints about their past as a keltic folk rock band throughout this album.

Their music is art-rock here as it has been on their last half a dozen of albums. The vocals are dramatic and slightly operatic. I include both the very good male and female vocals here. There are some symphonic prog references in their music too.

The quality of their songs is not up to their normal high standards. This is still a good album and one enjoyable one too. It is a bit of a hint about how great this band was during their best days. 

3 points   

Myrath - Karma (2024)

 

The sixth album from this band from Tunisia.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Some guests added guitars, strings and woodwinds.

The band is a pioneering band when it comes to blending power/prog metal with North-African and Arabic folk music... and pop music. 

The band continues with this blend on the fifty minutes long Karma.

The difference is that the folk music has been watered out with some more North-African pop music. The progressive metal has also largely gone, replaced by heavy and goth metal.

The music is not as intricate and complex as on previous releases. The band has mostly ditched their power metal too.

The vocals is very good and the strings and the simplified songs makes the music pretty catchy. Catchy but not as good as on the previous album.

There is still some good stuff here. But there is not enough of that here. Hence..

2.5 points

 

 

Borknagar - Fall (2024)

 

The 12th album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A guest added cello, double bass and violin.

The band returned again after some years of inactivity. A couple of new members has replaced older members. Some strings has been added to their sound and music.

The music on this one hour long album is again a mix of viking metal and some progressive rock.... although not quite progressive rock. 

The band ditched their black metal on the previous album, the 2019 album True North and went over to the viking metal camp. There was some strong Bathory, the Hammerheart era, influences on that album. These influences has been carried over to Fall too.

The music is still brutal and has some black metal vocals in addition to the clean vocals.

The melodies on Fall has been simplified too and most of their progressive rock has gone. They have been replaced by art-rock and psych rock. Mostly the latter one. 

The result is a pretty good album. A killer signature track is missing and that is my only gripe with this album. 

This is a band well worth checking out.

3 points

 

 

Shepherds Of Cassini - In Thrall to Heresy (2025)

 

The third album from this band from New Zealand.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, electric violin, keyboards and vocals.

This is the third album from this band and my first meeting with their music. I am seriously considering getting their first two albums too based on this album. If I do so, reviews will be posted later this year.

Their music has been described as post-metal by several reviewers. Something I agree with. Tool is a good reference, indeed.

The music on this one hour long album is complex and pretty bold at times.  

The music varies from extreme metal with death growls to some more folk rock pastoral pieces. There is also some avant-garde ambient stuff here. Not long pieces but still, they are here.

This album is full of contrasts. Contrasts also helped by the frequent use of electric violins. That gives this band some originality and personality.

The vocals is good and the music varies from some decent to good stuff. This is an interesting album for those into post-metal and prog rock in general.

2.5 points

 

 

Overhead - Zumanthum (2002)

 

The debut album from this band from Finland.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, synths, flute and vocals.

Two years ago, I reviewed a couple of their albums and both of them were good albums. I refer to my reviews somewhere else in this blog. I have now got their remaining four albums and they are all up for reviews this spring.

The music on this one hour long album is heavy prog. References is Rush and a bit Porcupine Tree. There is also a lot of good old Finnish prog here and a good reference is Wig Wam.

The music is a mix of hard music and some more mid-tempo music.

The vocals is decent enough but could have been a lot, lot better.

There are a good organ sound here and the guitars reminds me about Alex Lifeson in Rush.

The songs are good and has a lot of interesting details and hooks. Hence, this is a good debut album from a pretty underrated band.

3 points

 

 

 

High Spy - Head For The Moon (2009)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was on this album a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals. 

This is the follow up to their 2006 debut album Rebirth. An album I reviewed last month in this blog. It is a pretty good album.

The band continued on with their poppy neo-prog on this almost one hour long album. 

The music is in the 1980s vein of British neo-prog when pop music met symphonic prog. The result is this British take on neo-prog.

The music is catchy melodic without many symphonic prog influences.

The vocals is good and ditto for the sound. 

The quality of the music is only decent with a few, handful of good pieces of music here. There are also some pretty dire pieces of music here. The result is a less than impressive album. A decent album but nothing more than that.

2 points

 

 

 

Miles From Pangaea - In/Pulse (2011)

 

The second and final album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and synths.

A guest delivered female vocals on one track.

This forty minutes long album is the follow up to their self-titled 2009 debut album. That was a decent album who blended in psych, post-rock and jazz. 

The band has retreated a bit on In/Pulse and gone for a blend of post-rock and psych rock here. This before the final ten minutes of this album which is a mix of avant-garde electronica and psych rock. 

The vocals is voices without any words and is wailing female voices.

There are some decent stuff here. But most of it is very forgetable and pretty bad. 

This band is at best only a footnote in the history of US post-rock and psych rock. Both their albums are available from their Bandcamp page.

1.5 points

 

 

Magister Dixit - Cellule De Crise (2006)

 

The third and final album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, violin, piano and vocals.

The band returned after their second album which I reviewed earlier this month in this blog. A good album in the zeuhl genre.

Their albums are very short and could have been a lot longer. Twenty-eight minutes is bordering to ripping off the record buyer. 

The music is again softly spoken zeuhl. The jazzy end of the zeuhl spectrum comes to the forefront here. Despite of being labeled as a jazz album by many others, this is still a proper zeuhl album.

The tempo is fast. The music is rather light and fluffy.

The vocals, both male and female vocals, are fast and a bit staccato. They are in the proper zeuhl tradition in other words.

The music is good throughout. The band should have delivered a proper length album and that is a major problem with this album. Hence....

2.5 points

 

 

Jemma - Jemma (2023)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band was a ten piece big band/orchestra with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, synths, flute, saxophone, trumpet and vocals.

This is a new discovery to me and I am putting it into the new albums que as a friend in ProgArchives made me aware of this album and wanted a review.  

This fifty minutes long album has female Italian vocals and lots of woodwinds. It is a jazz or a fusion album then... Well, not quite that although the basis of their music is jazz.

Blend this jazz with some folk rock and dream pop and you are there.... somewhere in that ballpark.

The music is slow and gentle. It has a lot of details too. There is not much vocals here but it is very effective. The violins too is very good and among the main attractions on this album.

The instrumental pieces here are very good. The album has a good ambience and the band/orchestra does a good job on some not so great songs.

The overall result is a very good album and one to check out if light and pastoral jazz is your thing.

3.5 points

 

 

 

Myrath - Shehili (2019)

 

The fifth album from this band from Tunisia.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards and vocals.

Some guests added violin, viola, nay, gasba, acoustic guitars, clarinet and vocals. 

This band is a pioneer in the metal world as they were the first band to incorporate Arabic and North-African folk music in their progressive power metal. 

The music on this fifty minutes long album is a bit strange. It has commercial rock, progressive metal and folk rock. 

That is folk rock from Northern Africa. As far as I understand it, the band has taken a song from Morocco and recorded it here with their own take on this song.

The commercial rock pieces, which is also pretty gothic too, is not particular good. The rest of the album is pretty good. The vocals is good throughout. 

The band takes a lot of chances on this album and it is most certainly an album that breaks down barriers and genres. The music is pretty good and this album scores high on originality. That makes this a good album, indeed.

3 points

 

 

Borknagar - True North (2019)

 

The 11th album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again after a three years long break. The break was used to slim down to a quintet and some members who had been with the band since the start quit the band.

Simen Vortex Hestenes became the main vocalist now, after taking over from Andreas Vintersorg Hedlund. This band is Øystein Brun's band and he has been the constant song writer in this band.

The band has also jumped from black metal to viking metal on this one hour long album.

There are still some harsh black metal like vocals here. Most of the music is far more melodic this time and in the epic viking metal vein. There are still some pretty brutal stuff on this album.... and some progressive rock too.

The keyboards and guitars are good here. Ditto for the vocals.

The opening couple of songs are good before the music drops somewhat in quality. Some of the pieces of music here is a bit too pedestrian and not so engaging.

The result is a pretty good album who just falls a bit short. It is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

 

 

Moonsoon - East of Asteroid (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is a one man band with Helge Nyheim doing the drums and vocals. Daniel Hauge is listed as a member of the band too but he does not play any instrument or contribute on vocals. 

Helge and Daniel has got help from some guests who has provided bass, guitars, synths, saxophones and backing vocals.

The band comes from Bergen on the west coast and the members are involved in Apollon Records, the label who has released this album. Both Helge and Daniel has been involved in the scene for decades.

The music on this forty minutes long digital album, LP and CD is a blend of art-rock and neo-prog.

Take Pink Floyd and blend them with Airbag and Porcupine Tree. 

The music is mid-tempo with some melancholy and soul. The sound is muscular. There are some Gilmour'ish guitar solos scattered around this album. Ditto for saxophones which adds a dystopian feel and sound to the album. The vocals is pretty good.

My only gripe with this album is the song writing who could have been a lot better. Nevertheless, this is a good album indeed. Let's hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

3 points

 

 

Kraan - Flyday (1979)

 

The sixth album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, moog and vocals.

I have during the last sixteen years reviewed their first five albums plus a couple other albums for ProgArchives and # 1 + # 2 of this blog. I have now got the rest of their albums and will review all of them this year in this blog and the, from next month, upcoming # 4 of this blog. 

Kraan is one of the most important fusion and jazz band ever to come out of Germany and indeed Europe. 

Kraan has always been a more ethno-music band than a classic jazz/fusion band. The result has been some good albums among their first five albums. 

On this forty minutes long album, the band blends fusion with jazz, krautrock, African ethno music, funk and psych rock. There are indeed strong influences from the likes of Osibasa and early The Soft Machine here.

This album more a krautrock album than anything else. The music is very playful at times.

There are some good vocals here and the band does a good job on some pretty decent songs. The sound is also good.

This is a pretty good album although it is not one of their better albums.

2.5 points

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hermetic Science - En Route (2001)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, sitar, mallet and keyboards.

I reviewed their second album, Prophesies (1999) last month and quite liked that eclectic neo-classical music album. It had some weird takes on Rush and ELP songs in addition to their own material.

The fifty minutes long En Route only have original material. The music is still eclectic neo-classical music in the vein of ELP at their most eclectic neo-classical music pieces.

Hermetic Science takes ELPs most eclectic music and runs further with it... into some really eclectic landscapes. In this respect, they also sounds like the Dutch band Trace. 

But no bands has taken eclectic neo-classical music further towards weirdness than Hermetic Science. The music here is very, very out there eclectic.

The music is still melodic with lots of church organ sounding keyboards. There is also a lot of staccato rhythms here.

The weirdness of this music is my abiding memory of this album (and their previous album). It is a decent album in it's own right although it has a bit of a kitsch feeling.

Check out this album.

 2 points

 

 

Miles From Pangaea - Miles From Pangaea (2009)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and keyboards.

A guest added saxophones.

This band released two albums before they were disbanded. The second and final album was released in 2011 and I will publish my review of that album later this month.

The band plays a mix of space rock, post-rock and psych rock on this almost one hour long album.

There is a lot of post-rock like guitars on the top of some space rock. 

At the end of this album, there is even some pieces of music where the band blend psych rock and jazz.  

The music is therefore pretty eclectic throughout this name-your-price Bandcamp album. 

The quality is decent enough without really being impressive or good. It is still an interesting album and worth a download and some quality time.

2 points

 

 

Magister Dixit - Eldorado Ré Mi Fa Sol La Si So (2000)

 

The second album from this band from France.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, bells, piano, flute and vocals.

This band should not be confused with the far more famous Canadian black metal band with the same name.

Magister Dixit is a zeuhl band and I got their final two albums. I have yet to find their self-titled debut album from 1999. My review of their third album will be posted sometimes later this month.

This half an hour long album was recorded live in a studio and only contains new stuff. Which is jazzy zeuhl. 

Their music is far more lighter and less muscular than what Magma has ever done. The music is very sunny compared to Magma's esoteric dark take on the genre.

The music still has all the zeuhl hallmarks. It is super fast and maniac. It has some manic female and male vocals. It really throws a punch, this rather short album.

The result is a good album and one zeuhl fans or even those with a passing interest in this genre should check out.

3 points

 

 

 

Pymlico - Core (2025)

 

The eight album from this band from Norway.

The band was a seven piece big band on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and saxophones.

The band returned again, three years after their seventh album Supermassive.

I have followed this band with interest and have reviewed all their albums. 

The band started out as an instrumental symphonic prog band in the vein of Camel.

Supermassive saw the band change more towards fusion. 

The fifthy minutes long Core sees the band blending instrumental symponic prog with cinematic rock, fusion and jazz. 

The music is dominated by the saxophones who is the main solo-instrument.

The music is a mix of mid-tempo and faster jazz and fusion. 

The music is pretty good throughout. There is not really enough good music here to make this a good album. Hence....

2.5 points

 

 

 

Hanford Flyover - Source (2023)

 

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a duo with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This is the follow up to their 2021 album Hanford Tape Sessions. A good album and I have reviewed it in this blog last month.

Source is a ninety minutes long album with extended and radio versions of some songs previously not released before.

The music here is a mix of acid folk rock and psych rock.

The music is pretty jazzy throughout. There is a lot of female vocals here and they are good.

The music is really melodic too... although with a quirky bite too. Melodic and quirky, that is the two words best describing the music here.

The music is also good. Their best album so far is Hanford Tape Sessions followed by their debut album. Source is still a pretty good album and well worth checking out. My only gripe here, and a loss of half a point, is that this is not a proper album. Hence....

2.5 points

 

 

Gilmour. David - Luck and Strange (2024)

 

The seventh album from this artist from Great Britain.

David Gilmour did the vocals and guitars here.

Some guests added drums, bass, guitars, strings, harp, keyboards and vocals.

David Gilmour follows up the less than impressive 2015 album Rattle That Lock. 

Nine years later and he has again returned with a mix of folk rock, rock and psych rock.

The music is very softly spoken. The major difference here between these two albums is the Pink Floyd influences on the new album. They are pretty obvious, although not dominating here.

The music is slow and a bit too pedestrian. The introduction of a female main vocalist on a couple of songs does not save this album from it's mediocrity.

There are some good and some decent pieces of music here. I very much prefer Pink Floyd's studio albums to David Gilmour's studio album. His studio albums is not particular interesting.

2.5 points

 

 

Via Modesta Valenti - Suite for The Last Prophet (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards and vocals.

This is not really an album as it is only twenty-three minutes long. It is a new RPI band though. Both the album and the band has got a lot of attention and this is why I have decided to review this album.

The music here has been labeled as RPI in ProgArchives. I am not sure if I agree with that. Nevertheless, the guys in ProgArchives is more knowledgable than me in this matter. Hence... respect.

The music is art-rock with some soft, light male English vocals. There are still some Italian lyrics throughout this album.

This album is divided into twelve songs although it is claimed this is one piece of music, the whole twenty-three minutes long album.

The music is mid-tempo with some guitars and keyboards underpinning the vocals. There is a lot of vocals here. 

The music is not particular good... or interesting. The music is pedestrian and is lacking both in good melodies and details.

This is a decent enough album but just that. I am not impressed.

2 points

 

 

 

Fish - Sunsets On Empire (1997)

 

The fifth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Fish did the lead vocals here.

He got help from a lot of guests who provided percussion, drums, bass, guitars, strings, French horn, harmonica, keyboards, samples, electronics and backing vocals.  

His previous album, Suits from 1994, was a pretty dreary pop/rock album. So I did not have much hope for this album, then.

The music on this fifty minutes long album is a blend of rock, folk rock and art rock.

The music is quirky most of the times. The songs are not necessary linear and straight forward sounding. There is a lot of playful music here.

His Scottish roots also slips through here and becomes a part of this album.

Fish vocals is very good throughout and it seems like he has found himself on this good album. Some better songs would have benefited this album.... and that is my only gripe with this good album. 

3 points

 

 

 

Tangerine Dream - Quinoa (1998)

 

The 46th album from this band from Germany.

The band was a duo with Edgar & Jerome Froese on keyboards and electronics.

This album was originally a fan-club EP before it was fleshed out with additional, new material and then got an official release.

The music is electronica through and through.

The music is also melodic and has some good melody lines. 

There are a lot of cinematic rock in the music on this album.

The music is dynamic and has some good details. The percussions here, computer generated, are creates the speed and the dynamic melodies.

The music is a bit too pedestrian at times. In particular during the third and final piece of music here. Nevertheless, this is still a good album. It is also one of the best Tangerine Dream albums I have heard so far.

Check it out.

3 points

 

 

Sorrow - Death of Sorrow (2023)

 

The second and final album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

I very much liked this band back in 1992 when they released their debut album Hatred And Disgust through Roadrunner Records. This was during the death and doom metal era where these two genres, mostly death metal, was at it's peak. 

Sorrow was one of the best band in this doomy death metal scene. A scene that, as the name of the genre suggest, populated by a few bands who combined the brutality of death metal with some slow doom metal. 

Xtreem Records released Death Of Sorrow, their farewell album, two years ago and I jumped on the chance to finally hear something more from this band.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is still brutal doom with a lot of death metal influences. The vocals is death growls. The sound is surprisingly good.

There are a lot of decent to good ideas here. The music and sound is very much rooted in the 1990s death and doom metal and is not proggy at all.

The result is a decent enough album and well worth checking out if brutal doom metal is your thing.

2 points