Runemagick - Envenom (2005)

The eight album from this band from Sweden.

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

After seven death metal albums in the vein of Grave and Bolt Thrower, the band totally changed style and genre on Envenom.

No, they did not go down the commercial route. Instead, they even became less commercial. They went down the doom metal route.

The music is pretty muddy. The vocals is very growling and ditto for the instruments. That was done by intent. 

The music is a dirtier version of My Dying Bride. There is still a lot of death metal ethos here too although the music is slow. Not as slow as in funeral doom, but still slow.

The quality is pretty decent throughout and this is not a bad album at all. It is a band in transition but they still manages to carry of a decent album. Doom metal fans should check out this album.

2 points

 

 

Sleeping Pandora - Blue Sphere (2018)

The second album from this one-man-band from Germany.

Mathias Rosmann does all the electronics, computers, synths and guitars here.

I was not overly impressed by the 2017 debut album Quiet Pass. Gentle space rock, that album contained.

One year has gone and he returned with an album with much the same.

The space rock has even become more gentle, more laidback and more uncomplicated. It is not yet muzak territory, but the direction of travel seems to take it in that direction.

The music is pretty toothless with a few dissonant pieces now and then just to make the music more interesting. Those dissonant pieces is the only pieces of real quality on a forty minutes long record that fails to impress. 

Fans of gentle space rock should perhaps check out this decent album.

2 points

 

 

 

Framauro - Alea Iacta Est (2023)

The third album from this band from Poland.

The band is Ryszard Kramarski on guitars, keyboards and vocals.

He had help from some guests who added drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

Ryszard Kramarski is a very active man. Besides of this band, who has just released a new album I will review soon, he is also active in The Trk Project and the far more famous band Millenium. He has played a major part in around twenty albums this century. Most of them has been very good or good.

Framauro released the first album in 1998 and the second one in 2022. I reviewed that album and I liked it. Melodic neo-prog with a lot of psych rock influences.

That is also the case here. Pink Floyd meets Genesis and Satellite.

The music is melodic and not particular technical. The vocals is very good. 

This is barely a good album but fans of melodic psych/prog should check out this album.

3 points

 

 

Fonya - In Flux (1995)

The third album from this band from USA.

The band was a one-man-band with Chris Fournier doing the drums programming, keyboards and guitars.

Chris Fournier released seven albums under the Fonya name between 1992 and 2000. I am reviewing two of his albums this summer. 

This album is eighty minutes long and it ends with his rather cheap and nasty version of Genesis classic Los Endos.

Before we get that far, we have to endure a cheap keyboards and guitar sounding mix of psych rock and cinematic rock. Some of the music is muzak too.

There is not much to enjoy here. The Genesis cover is fairly decent and there are some good guitar and keyboards solos here. The quality of the melodies is pretty poor.

This is a half decent album and nothing more than that.

1.5 points

 

 

Look To Windward - The Last Scattering Surface (2024)

The third album from this band from New Zealand.

The band is a one-man-band, Andrew McCully, with a lineup of bass, programming and vocals. 

Some guests added their guitars and vocals.

I have heard a lot about this band during the last ten year and I presumed that I had reviewed their first two albums. That is not the case, I can now see. I need to rectify this later on, either this year or next year.

The music here is melodic prog with some folk rock and psych rock influences. 

There is a lot of female vocals here over some mid-tempo songs. There is also some ballads here too. There is a lot of Mostly Autumn vibes here.

The music is pretty good and workman like competent. It never really surprises me with brilliance... of which there is none.

The result is a pretty good album and one to check out if melodic rock/prog is your thing.

3 points

 

 

 

Ruphus - Manmade (1979)

The sixth and final album from this band from Norway.

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

This is the final album from this band. A band who I now have included in my top 5 of the best ever bands from Norway. Top 3, actually. 

Gudny Aspaas has returned again and the music is more jazzy than before. It is also pretty much mid-tempo. 

The music is in short laidback vocals based jazz/fusion. Gudny's vocals fits this genre almost perfectly as her voice is easier on the ear and covers a pretty big range. 

The rest of the band does a good job and there is some good guitars and keyboards solos here.

The music is pretty good, but Gudny's vocals adds something extra and elevates this album to a new, higher level.

The band is gigging 3-4 times a year with Gudny as the vocalist and their gigs is popular and well worth checking out. Ruphus deserve a lot of respect and has got my full respect. Get all their six albums.

3 points

Kopilott - II (2024)

The second album from this band from Spain.

The band is a duo with a lineup of guitars and electronics.

Their self-titled 2023 album was a decent space rock album. Decent but not entirely satisfactory. So I expected more of the same.

What I got is still space rock. But it is more electronica based space rock with guitar solos on the top of the electronica. The vocals has completely gone from their sound.

The music is also leaning towards krautrock.

The music is also pretty melodic and gentle. Gone is the harsh, heavy music.

The result is a decent to good album. It is a small, but significant improvement on their debut album. Check out this album if this sounds interesting.

2.5 points

 

 

Orchestre Celesti - Cornwall ! (2024)

The ninth album from this one-man-band from Italy.

Fedrico Fantacone did all the instruments here. Instruments like computers and synths.

I reviewed his first album some ten years ago but lost touch with this band after that as I was not impressed by the debut album.

The music here is neo-classical music. 

The music is also a bit wishy washy and too much muzak for my liking.

The music is light, fluffy and a bit thin on the ground when it comes to interesting melodies and details.

Neo-classical is a genre not for me either so fans of this genre should really check out this band.

But in my case........

1.5 points

Motorpsycho - It's A Love Cult (2002)

 

The tenth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, zither, mandolin, glockenspiel, harmonium, piano, organ, keyboards, mellotron, banjo and vocals.

Two guests added percusion, theremin, clavinette, mellotron, piano, organ and vocals.

Motorpsycho is a strange band who lives in their own universe. That to the benefit and joy for the rest of us as their albums are a bit of a sunray amongst pretty predictable bands and albums. Motorpsycho is thankfully a very unpredictable band. 

The band is again exploring the sound of music from the final months of the 1960s. That means we get a bit beat, west coast rock, psych rock, beach rock, garage rock, brass rock, rock and progressive rock. This time, add some rockabilly too.

The tempo is slow to mid-tempo. There is a surprising amount of pastoral music here. Some lovely, tender tunes with some good vocals on the top.

The music is really good here and the band has again surprised me with these softly spoken fifty minutes. This is an album well worth checking out.

3 points

 

 

Tea - Tea (1974)

The debut album from this band from Switzerland.

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

This band released three albums between 1974 and 1976. A sort of a comeback album with some obscure left over tracks was released in 2007. 

I am reviewing their first three albums this summer. 

This band is most known as Marc Storace (born in Malta, btw) first band. He later formed Krokus, a pretty big heavy metal band and Switzerland's biggest musical export (besides of yodeling). 

Tea was a more progressive rock band though. Heavy prog is the label here.

Marc's vocals is very good on some blues influenced hard rocking songs. Led Zeppelin springs to mind. The US hard rock and arena rock scene like Black Oak Arkansas and Grand Funk Railroad also springs to mind here.

The quality is pretty good throughout and this is an album for those into good, old hard rock. Check it out.

2 points

Rose - Hooked on a Rose (1973)

The debut album from this band from Canada.

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

This band released four albums between 1973 and 1977. The band later formed the highly successful AOR band Toronto who were very popular in Canada in the early 1980s.

Based on the debut album, I have tried to find their second album with no luck. I have however found their final two albums and they will be reviewed later this month.

The music on their thirty-five minutes long debut album Hooked On A Rose is a mix of blues, pop and acid folk rock. There are also some early Deep Purple influences here. 

The music is a bit sugar sweet at times.... Well, after the blues'n'country first song on the album. A song not really representative for the rest of the album. A catchy song, though.

The rest of the album is as described over. The vocals is pretty decent and the same goes for the rest of the album. The vocal harmonies are pretty good, though.

This band is by no means in the same class as the likes of Rush or the Quebec scene. This is still a decent enough album and well worth checking out. 

2 points

 

 

Fields Of Næcluda - Fields Of Næcluda (2019)

The one and only album from this band from France.

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

This band released this album and a live EP before they gave up the ghost and were disbanded.

Their music is a mix of post-metal, indie rock, post-rock and some psych rock.

The vocals is decent enough and the music is not particular hard or heavy. 

The music is very much leaning towards indie here as the music is mid-tempo and pretty light and fluffy.

The quality of the music is not bad at all. There is lots of lots of other band and albums with same sound as this band and this fifty minutes long album. The band has not brought anything new to the scene.

That said... This is not a bad album. It is a decent to good album and one well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Barock Project - Time Voyager (2024)

The seventh album from this band from Italy.

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

This band has now established themselves as one of the best melodic prog rock bands in the world. 

Their music is a mix of Neil Morse, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Yes, Toto and baroque classical music. 

The music on this seventy-two minutes long album is pretty complex at times. The vocals is in English and very good.

There is a lot to be happy about on this album and the band is very much delivering the goods. They are living up our expectations.

The result is a very good album and one fans of symphonic and melodic prog would love.

3.5 points

 

 

Arcansiel - Hard Times (2024)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

This is the comeback album from a band who everyone thought were gone and done. Their first three albums had not really been impressive and there was not much demand for a new album from this band.

The band were always and still is a neo-prog band. Their music is both rooted in Genesis, Pendragon and Marillion. 

On Hard Times, there is also some pretty strong Yes vibes. Not at least on the long songs here. We get two songs between eleven and eighteen minutes plus two eight minutes long songs. Yes, the music is indeed a mix of neo-prog and symphonic prog.

The sound is contemporary and fresh. The vocals is good. 

The quality of the music is good to very good. Mostly very good and I am really surprised by this album. This is an album you should check out.

3.5 points

Ruphus - Flying Colours (1978)

The fifth album from this band from Norway.

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

A guest added violin on one track.

The band returned with the same musicians and more or less the same type of music they introduced on the previous album, the 1977 album Inner Voice.

That means laidback jazz and fusion with a lot of funk too. 

Sylvie Lillegaard's vocals is almost perfect for this type of music. They are also very good.

There is a lot of interesting details in the music and these forty-two minutes never really gets boring. The best song is The Rivulet who also introduce some riveting, captivating violins. 

The overall quality is good to very good. This band is now pretty close to being my favourite Norwegian band now.

3 points

Kopilott - Kopilott (2023)

The debut album from this band from Spain.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, synth and vocals.

This is a new band on the scene, having already released two albums. A review of their new album will follow in some days time.

Their music is space rock. It is guitar based and the sound is pretty good and clean. There are some synths here. Synths who are supporting and adding textures to the acoustic and mostly electric guitars.

There are some decent vocals on one track here.

This half an hour long album does not include any remarkable music. The band has chosen a well trodden path and is adding nothing new to the scene. This is still a decent enough album and well worth checking out if space rock is your cup of tea.

2 points

Sangre De Muerdago - Noite (2018)

The fouth album from this band from Spain.

The band was a one-man-band with Pablo Ursusson doing the classical guitars, drum, shaker, hurdy gurdy and vocals.

Three guests added shaker, bodhran, flute, viola, harps, crickets and vocals. 

Pablo Ursusson has been exploring Galician folk music and language on the Sangre.. albums. Not much of the music is rock music, if anything.

Noite, a surprisingly short album title for Pablo who has given other albums faaar longer album titles, is a pretty lush folk music album with lots of vocal and instruments harmonies. The music is far more lush than the album title. 

The mood is melancholic and sad. 

The result is a fifty minutes long album with some decent and some good pieces of music. It is an album well worth checking out if folk music and folk rock floats your boat.

2.5 points

Tasavallan Presidentti - Tasavallan Presidentti (1969)

The debut album from this band from Finland.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, piano, saxophones, flute and vocals.

This band released five albums from 1969 to 2006. An archive studio recordings album from 1971 was released two years ago. I will review all their six albums this summer and fall.

This band is regarded as the second most important prog rock band from Finland, just beaten to the top by Wigwam, a band whose albums I reviewed ten years ago. 

The band had an English vocalist called Frank Robson and that was their trademark. Not at least on this album where his very good vocals is prominent.

The music is somewhere between fusion, brass rock and blues. 

The sound is good and the music is decent enough. The band laid down a marker with this album and it is a more than acceptable debut album, taken into account it was recorded and released in the 1960s.

2 points

Flow - Flow (1970)

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, piano, electric piano, harmonica, saxophones, flute and vocals.

Three guests added additional percussion.

This band is most known for being Don Felder's band before he joined Eagles and then wrote Hotel California, one of the greatest songs from the 1970s. The album was released on a small label and sold next to nothing. Don Felder's wrote extensive about this band and album in his self-biography released some years ago. A good read, indeed.

Don described this band as an avant-garde jazz combo who withered away in substance abuse. That is not far off the truth.

Take psych rock, a bit of folk rock and add jazz. Then add some avant-garde jazz too.

The sound is not too bad. The music is a bit all over the place and not that interesting. The music is sorely lacking in quality. The music is still slightly charming and has some good flutes. 

Don Felder did the right thing by jumping ship by moving to California and a stint as the guitarist in then the mediocre Eagles. He then wrote Hotel California.... 

Eagles fans should and must get this half-decent album. 

1.5 points

Fonderia - Dinamo (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

I did not expect this album and I was therefore pretty surprised to learn that Fonderia had returned after a thirteen years long break.

I reviewed their first three albums in ProgArchives back in 2010 and I liked them a lot. They were some of the albums that opened my eyes to fusion, jazz and some more non-linear music. More challenging music, in other words.

The fifty minutes long Dinamo gives us music somewhere between fusion and progressive rock. It is more stripped down music than on their first three albums. 

The music is dynamic mid-tempo and well performed. It is not really that interesting though as it does not offer up anything special.

This is a decent enough album but nothing more than that. Their first three albums is far superior to this one.

2 points

Flame Dream - Silent Transition (2024)

The seventh album from this band from Switzerland.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, organ, keyboards, piano, flute, saxophones and vocals.

A guest added electric guitars.

This band released six albums in the 1980s and I reviewed their first three albums in # 2 of this blog back in May - June 2017. Their fourth, fifth and sixth album is impossible to find. They also got poor ratings by other reviewers so I have not missed anything.

I was very surprised to find a brand new album from this band in my inbox. 

The band was regarded as a poor man's version of Yes when they were active back in the 1980s. I also compared them to Genesis too in my reviews of their first three albums.

The hour long Silent Transition sees the band returning to their Genesis influences. There are some Yes influences here too. But they are not as many as on their first three albums. 

The music is mainly melodic art-rock with some good symphonic prog influences. 

The vocals and the piano is very good. The other musicians does a good job with some good details and melodies.

The band has in this album managed to release their best album so far.

3 points

 

 

King's X - Three Sides of One (2022)

The 13th album from this band from USA.

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

This is their comeback album after a fifteen years long break. I have noticed that the comeback is still on as the band is now touring USA, medium to small venues. 

It is a crying shame that their first four albums did not break the band and made them into a multi-million albums selling band. And it is so unfair too. That would have changed their history and the albums they released after 1995 and to this date.

This album is almost fifty minutes long and it sees the band visit old grounds. That is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Old sins is being repeated too many times here.

There are also some very good stuff on this album. An album which also sees the band developing their sound and values from the early 1990s. The Beatles is a good influence and they are back on this album. 

This album feels a lot different from their other albums. The reason may be that the band has grown up. The anger and bitterness is mainly gone. The music is hard rock, but not so bitter and twisted as before. There are space for some warmth and happiness here too.

The result is a good album from a one of the best cult bands in today's scene. This band is on my top ten list of favourite bands.

3 points

Simon Says - Tardigrade (2008)

The third and final album from this band from Sweden.

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

This band is a semi-classic band in the Swedish symphonic prog scene. Their three albums are all regarded as important albums in this scene.

Tardigrade takes us through a seventy-five long journey in a landscape surrounde by the likes of Kaipa, Yes, Genesis and in particular..... The Flower Kings.

The album has a mix of short songs, ten minutes long epics and one half an hour long epic. This album is best, and must be, when listened to from the first tone to the final tone. It is one piece of music, seventy-five minutes long.

The sound is great and the vocals is very good.

The best piece of music this band has ever written, Brother Where You Bound, is this half an hour long epic and it is simply great. The rest of the album is good to very good.

This is indeed a very good album and one fans of symphonic prog should include in their collection.

3.5 points

Tangent. The - To Follow Polaris (2024)

The 13th album from this band from Great Britain.

Andy Tillison plays all instruments on this album.

This is a solo album from the band owner and the engine room in The Tangent. It is still released under this name for reasons I can well understand.

Andy has found his style and his own niche in the progressive rock scene. That is a bit of art-rock with a touch of Canterbury prog.

The music is mainly performed with synths and vocals. There is a lot of vocals here.

The pieces of music here is pretty good. This being a solo album means the music is a bit limited in scope.

The result is still a good album. It is not an overly exciting album but Andy knows how to write some good music and that is exactly what he has done here. This is not one of the best The Tangent albums though.

3 points

Spooky Tooth - It's All About (1968)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band released eight albums between 1968 and 1999. They were active until fifteen years ago before they finally were disbanded due to band members passing away. I am reviewing all their eight studio albums this summer and autumn.

The band was never really a progressive rock band. Nevertheless, they were pretty influential on both the progressive rock and the heavy metal scene. Judas Priest covered one of their most known tracks. 

Their debut album, the subject of this review, was also released as Tobacco Road in some territories. 

The music here is a mix of beat, rock, blues and psych rock. 

There is a couple of decent songs here. But most of the songs on this forty minutes long album is pretty poor and half decent. It is not an album that has aged well.

1.5 points

Spinetta Jade - Alma De Diamante (1980)

The debut album from this band from Argentina.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, organ, mini-moog, synths and vocals.

This band, lead by Luis Alberto Spinetta, released four albums in the early 1980s before they gave up and were disbanded. I got the four albums up for review this summer.

Hmm.... The music here is a mix of jazz, fusion and soul.

Jepp, a good fusion/jazz intro leads directly to some laidback soft soul and folk rock Spanish vocals songs. Very odd and perhaps something usual in Argentina back then. 

The fusion is very good. The folk rock sounding soul, which dominates this album, is not so good or good at all. 

The music sounds a bit dated. The quality is still somewhere between decent and good. This is still an interesting album and an unusual sounding album. One of a kind. 

2.5 points

Arcansiel - Still Searching (1990)

The second album from this band from Italy.

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

This band released three albums in the 1990s before they resurfaced again this year with a new album. I will review the new album later this month.

Still Searching consist of the twenty minutes long title track, an opus, a ten minutes long opus and two shorter songs. 

The music is very much in the early Marillion, hence Genesis vein.

There is a lot of saxophones in their take on neo-prog and that sets the band apart from most other neo-prog bands. The sound is also rather thin and not as muscular as I personally would have preferred.

The title track is very good at times. OK, a bit Marillion copycat but still a very good opus. The remaining songs are decent to good.

The result is barely a good album. Nevertheless, it is a good album and one to check out if early Marillion floats your boat.

3 points

Lady Lake - Not Far from Llyn Llydaw (2022)

The third album from this band from Holland.

The band was a trio with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, electric violin, electric cello, organ and minimoog. 

A guest added a trumpet on one track.

I reviewed their first two albums back in 2020 for # 2 of this blog and I was not impressed by them. Both of them were very influenced by Camel.

The band continues to perform and release their brand of instrumental symphonic prog. Camel is again an influence. So is ELP too. There is though some more folk music and some more fusion influences from the like of Jean Luc Ponty.

There is a lot of electric violins and organs in their music. Ditto for minimoog and church organs.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is pretty epic and monumental at times. The music is also sometimes pretty gentle.

This is by far their best album. Although the music is sometimes a bit cheesy, it is still a good album and one to check out if symphonic prog and fusion is your thing.

3 points

 

 

Macroscream - Macrophonix (2024)

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

I have reviewed their first two albums in # 1 of this blog and I liked both albums. Solid to very good modern RPI.

The band has always been somewhere between art-rock, neo-prog and RPI in their music. That also goes for this fifty minutes long album.

The sound is contemporary and the vocals are in English. I would prefer Italian vocals, though.... 

The music has some jazzy edges in some of the pieces of music here. The vocals is good and the music is both mid-tempo and elegant. The keyboards has a vintage organ sound. There is some pretty strong early Marillion influences in some of the pieces of music here.

The result is a good album from a band I really like. This is one of the better modern RPI bands these days.

3 points

 

 

King's X - XV (2008)

 

The 12th album from this band from USA.

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

Five guests added backing vocals.

The band continued on despite of lack of any commercial success. They had carved out a niche for themselves and they had got a good fanbase. 

The band returned to much of their roots on this album. Clever melodies somewhere between psych rock, hard rock, gospel, blues, soul and funk. 

The music is hard rocking throughout. The ballad Repeating Myself showcases the band's ability to still write great songs. There is lots of quality in this band. A true class band.

There is a lot of good songs here and a couple of mediocre songs too. This album is a return to some sort of form for this band. It comes recommended.

3 points

Simon Says - Paradise Square (2002)

The second album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band was back from a seven years long break. A break they had spent playing in other bands.

Their 1995 debut album was a Swedish symphonic prog album in the vein of both Kaipa and The Flower Kings. 

The band has moved a lot towards the likes of Genesis and Marillion on this album. There is still some Swedish symphonic prog left, though. A lot of the sound and music is now neo-prog.

There is also some pop sensibilities in their music.

The music is pretty muscular and dark on this one hour and five minutes long album. 

The vocals is good and so is the music too.

This album is a good album from a rather obscure Swedish symphonic prog band. Check out this band and this album.

3 points

Trojka - Strobem​ø​rke (2024)

The third album from this band from Norway.

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

Some guests added strings and woodwinds.

This band debuted with an album in the Canterbury prog genre. The band's second album had some more pop music. But it was still a good album.

The new album sees the band moving towards indie pop. There is still some Canterbury prog.... make that Canterbury jazz.... in their sound and music. 

The lyrics are in Norwegian, in the dialect spoken in Bergen, Norway. The vocals are good. 

Their music has lost most of the edge from their first two albums. It is still a pretty good album who still falls a bit short. The reason is that the songwriting has not been good enough here. 

This is still an interesting album and well worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

 

 

 

Runemagick - On Funeral Wings (2004)

The seventh album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band was still trading in the death metal genre. The music here is not overly technical too.

Their brand of death metal is indeed rooted in the early 1990s Florida scene.

Nevertheless, the band was still on a move towards more doom metal. The music was becoming more gothic, more darker.

This album is also seventy-five minutes long and it has got some more ambient stuff too. 

The sound is darker too and the vocals more muddy. 

The music is pretty decent throughout. This is not their finest moment. Nevertheless, it is an album death metal fans will appreciate.

2 points

 

 

Sleeping Pandora - Quiet Pass (2017)

The debut album from this one-man-band from Germany.

Mathias Rosman did the drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and programming on this album.

Sleeping Pandora is his vehicle and he has released eleven albums under this name since 2017. All of them is up for reviews in this blog this year.

His music is dreamy space rock. 

His take on space rock is pretty gentle. It still got some muscles. It is still melodic and pretty gentle. 

There is a lot of reverbs and echoes in his guitar playing. Most of the music on this eighty minutes long album is guitars based. 

It also feels like the six pieces of music here is based on jams and written and created based on open microphone in a studio jams. There is not much melody structures here.

The result is an acceptable debut album. It is worth the attention of space rock fans.

2.5 points

Arcansiel - Four Daisies (1988)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band has so far released four albums and their latest album was released some weeks ago. I got three of their albums up for review this month.

The band is one of the first Italian neo-prog bands.... if not the very first one. Bands like IQ, Pendragon and Marillion was the big bands in the genre back then.

The saxophone and clarinet adds a unique sound to their take on neo-prog. The music is also pretty pop based too and not overly complicated. There are some Genesis influences but that is all. The music in this forty minutes long album sounds more like a pop music influenced Marillion than Genesis.  

The vocals is pretty good and there are some good melodies here. The sound is a bit poor and most of this album is decent enough. It is an acceptable debut album from a largely forgotten band.

2.5 points

Hatton. Guy - Feedback Alley (2017)

The second album from this musician from Great Britain.

Guy Hatton does the guitars, synths and programming here.

Andy Tillisson from The Tangent added some synths on the final track.

Guy Hatton was a studio technician on some of the more obscure extreme metal and punk albums from the last century. That includes some albums from the cult label Peaceville, a record label I really like.

He debuted in 2011 with his first album and has altogether released four albums. 

The music is instrumental guitars driven music somewhere between fusion and symphonic prog. Camel springs to mind. So does Jan Hammer.

The music is not the most innovative and exciting on this seventy minutes long album. A Name-Your-Price album from Bandcamp, btw. The drums and bass is programmed and sounds like it too. 

Nevertheless, this is a decent enough album and a worthy download if fusion and the likes of Camel floats your boat.

2.5 points

Exdirectory - Forgotten Dreams, Forgotten Tales (2024)

The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

This is a new name to me. They have previously, in 2020 and 2021, released two EPs through Bandcamp.

Their music is not easy to label. 

Their base camp is psych rock. Then add a lot of indie rock and some mainstream rock, post-rock, krautrock, art-rock and neo-prog. 

The vocals is good and the music is melodic. The music sounds fresh as a piece of fresh salad from the vegetable desk in a local supermarket.

The music is also slightly melancholic too.

The art of good song writing is yet to be mastered by this band. Hence... I am afraid this album falls a bit short. Nevertheless, this is an acceptable debut album and a good basis for further albums and touring.

2.5 points

Abacus - Highland Warrior (2021)

The eight album from this band from Germany.

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

A female vocalist added vocals.

This is the latest album from this band from Germany. A band who has so far been all over the place when it comes to muscular, melodic art-rock.

We get a concept album about highland warriors in Scotland. I live in Scotland so this is right up my alley.

Here is an observation: Abacus is a through and through German, teutonic band. This is now dawning on me when I am listening to this album. When going back to their first seven albums, that is also the case. Whatever type of music and themes this band record and publish, it has got this teutonic, German identity.

Hence, my thoughts are wandering off to krautrock and German heavy/power/speed metal. There is indeed the same identity running through these genres. Add Abacus to this list, too.

Their take on Scotland and the highland warrior has one leg in Bavaria and the other leg in the Scottish highlands. No matter how much female vocals in gaelic (the language in the Scottish highlands) they add  to this, in essential German rock album. 

The music is melodic art-rock and the quality is decent enough. Fifty minutes of decent music is what we get here on this concept album. The art of good song writing has completely eluded this band and this album. That is my gripe with this album, I am afraid.

2 points

After Crying - Show (2003)

The sixth album from this band from Hungary.

The band was an eight piece big band with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, guitars, cello, violin, trumpet, grand piano, keyboards, synths, programming, narration and vocals.

Around a dozen guests added woodwinds, narration and vocals.

This is the second to last album from this band from Hungary. I reviewed their final album Creatura for # 1 of this blog back in November 2012. I was not impressed by that album.

But back to Show again. I guess this is the soundtrack for a show the band had. This seventy minutes long album sounds like a soundtrack, rock opera or a musical.

There is a lof of musicals like songs here and lots of neo-classical music performed with grand piano, strings and woodwinds. The English vocals are both male and female. Some of them are pretty operatic too.

The music is very, very varied. 

It is never really good though. It is a decent enough album though.

My impression of this band ? Their first three - four albums means this band a band to check out. Show is an album well worth avoiding though.

2 points

 

New Grove Project. The - Assorted Affections (2024)

The third album from this band from Sweden.

The band is an eight piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band album debuted in 1997 and included the likes of Roine Stolt back then. That album was followed up by their second album in 2005 and Roine Stolt had left the band by then. 

Both albums was critical failures and I therefore did not expect to see or hear anything more from this band. But I was wrong...

The thin female vocals here reminds me about dream pop vocals. Ditto for the music and sound who are a crossover between dream pop and art-rock. The music reminds me a bit about the last albums from Beggar's Opera.

The music is not particular complex or proggy. There are some rather good guitar solos here.

The music is rather pedestrian too. The music is not too bad as there are some good things here. 

This is their best album so far. 

2.5 points

Motorpsycho - Phanerothyme (2001)

The ninth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, mandolin, clavinette, piano, organ, keyboards, minimoog and vocals.

Numerous guests added woodwinds, strings, theremin, clavinette, minimoog, piano, organ and vocals.

You never really know what you get from a new Motorpsycho album. They were back then pretty different from each others.

On this album, the band is exploring the sound of music from the final months of the 1960s. That means we get a bit beat, west coast rock, psych rock, beach rock, garage rock, brass rock, rock and progressive rock.

The music is not particular hard. It is more in the 1960s sound and mood. The sound and mood is also pretty innocent and sweet. Ditto for the vocals.

The result is a good forty minutes long album. One charming album, it is too. 

Check it out if psych and/or the late 1960s music is your thing.

3 points

 

 

 

 

 

Ruphus - Inner Voice (1977)

The fourth album from this band from Norway.

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

A guest added some percussion.

This band has been hopping between the prog rock and jazz/fusion genres on their first three albums. 

Their first two albums were within the symphonic prog genres with some folk rock and heavy prog influences. Their third album was a fusion album.... and...

..The new album is a fusion album. Fusion with a lot of jazz influences.

The vocals are female vocals and they are really good. Sylvi Lillegaard has a good jazzy voice and her vocals perfectly suits this music.

The jazz/fusion here is pretty laidback and funky. There are a lot of good guitars here too.

The result is a good album. It is an album well worth checking out.

3 points

Sonus Filial - Sonus Filial (2024)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, saxophone and trombone.

This half an hour long album was recorded back in 1975 and the band was active in the mid-1970s before they folded. This album has now been picked up by a record label in Finland who has released it in two 50 x LP batches. 

A copy has also been posted on Youtube, which is why you are now reading this review. 

The sound is pretty good on this jazz album. Yes, this is a jazz/fusion album. It is more a jazz album than a fusion album, though.

It is not a particular melodic album. Neither is this a hardcore dense uber-technical jazz album. These four albums has got a nice variations of trombone, saxophone and guitar solos. There is not many of these but there are still some solos here. The music is full of small details and these are good details.

The result is a decent to good album. Those more into jazz will probably lap up this album in joy more than those of us who comes from a prog rock background. Jazzheads, check out this album.

2.5 points

Solberg. Ivan Grand - Lie Detector For Upgraded Strings And Orchestra (1999)

The one and only album from this guitarist from Norway.

Ivan did some guitars and composed all music on this album.

He got help from some guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, cowbells, accordion, grand piano and keyboards.

This is a new artist and album to me. It was posted by Ivan himself in a Facebook forum at the beginning of this year and I downloaded it and put it on my list of albums to review. The time has now arrived....

The music here is electric guitars based jazz and fusion. There are four guitarists here. Ivan and three pretty well known jazz and fusion guitarists. Frank Gambale, Allen Hinds and Brett Garsed. Virgil Donati is on drums too. In short, the musicians here are in the premier league.

And the result is this seventy-five minutes long album which is full of jazz and fusion. More jazz than fusion, it has to be said.

The guitar solos really, really smokes big time and should give those into guitar solos one heck of a great time. 

The piano, drums and the bass is also impressive. 

This album is a good album for progheads who want to explore the fusion and jazz genre. It is a very good album indeed and one to check out.

3.5 points

Poor Genetic Material - Possibilities (2024)

The 16th album from this band from Germany.

The band is a seven piece big band on this album with a lineup of didgeridoo, drums, percussion, bass, guitars, mellotron, piano, organ, synths, flute and vocals.

This band album debuted in year 1999 and has released albums almost on an annual basis. I have reviewed some of their albums in this blog, # 1-3.

Their music is a mix of neo-prog and art-rock. 

This is also the case on this album.

The vocals is good and the music is midtempo and melodic. The sound is good.

The music is not really that exciting and the songs are a bit on the anonymouse side of the spectrum.

This is therefore a workman like album and the quality is somewhere between decent and good. I am not won over by this album. 

2.5 points

Abacus - European Stories (2016)

The seventh album from this band from Germany.

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

This is a band who has never really impressed me. Their six albums has consisted of a mix of art-rock and pomp rock. 

Hence... this album's first ten minutes comes as a positive surprise. ELP like symphonic prog, it is. There is still some pomp rock here and the album also changes into a more AOR rock album after these ten minutes. 

 Nevertheless, the ELP influences is always there throughout this hour long album. There is also some neo-classical stuff here and some ethnic stuff from around Europe. This album is a collection of countries and their sounds from around Europe. A good story and each song has their own ethnic identity.

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

This is by far their best album and one to check out. A bit tolerance towards cheese is required, though. Check out this album.

3 points

 

 

 

After Crying - After Crying 6 (1997)

The fifth album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, cello, keyboards, synths, trumpet, flute, spoken words and vocals.

The band got help from a thirty piece big symphony orchestra.

You never really know what you get when listening to an album from this band. One of the more eclectic bands in the prog rock scene, btw. 

Their love for the late Keith Emerson and his ELP has always been a constant factor in their music. 

This seventy-five minutes long album sees them really go for an album pretty close to Keith Emerson's solo album and the ELP albums.

The vocals are good and the music is slightly cheesy. The small symphony orchestra adds a lot of muscles to these pieces of music on this album.

The songs are slightly crossing into the more cheesy musicals genre too. But most of the music is close to Emerson and ELP.

The result is a good album and an album Keith Emerson fans should and must check out. 

3 points

 

 

Azure - Fym (2024)

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of bass, guitars, mandolin, theremin, keyboards, grand piano and vocals.

Some guests added drums, congas and woodwinds.

I reviewed their first two albums in the # 2 of this blog back in July 2021 and I gave them a good rating. Both of them. They are both good, solid heavy prog albums with some strong symphonic and neo-prog influences.

The band is back again this year with the third album. An eighty minutes long album.

The music sounds like a rock opera. That means music with a mix of symphonic prog, neo-prog and heavy prog. Hence the band has moved slightly away from the brand of prog rock they played on their first two albums.

The music also sounds like musicals and the vocals and music is pretty theatrical. 

The vocals is good and the band does a good job on some good songs. There is a lot of dramatic, good guitar solos here.

The result is a good album and one that will win the band a lot of new fans, I guess. Check out this album.

3 points

Sangre De Muerdago - O Camiño Das Mans Valeiras (2015)

The third album from this one-man-band from Spain.

Pablo C. Ursusson does the drums, shaker, hurdy gurdy, guitars and vocals.

Three guests added drums, harp, viola, guitars, dulcimer, flutes, backing vocals and female vocals.

Their debut album has some very lush folk rock/music. The band, make that Pablo, went for a bareboned, stripped down sound on their second album... and the result was a pretty poor album. So I wondered what Pablo would come up with on the follow up album. And where is the progressive rock in their sound as this band is on ProgArchives. 

Pablo has returned to most of the colours and lush sound he introduced on the debut album. There are a lot of male and female vocal harmonies here. The flutes is also very good here. Ditto for the acoustic guitars.

The progressive rock aspect is not particular present here and the band is more a mix of a lush folk music and folk rock band on this three quarters of an hour long album. 

That said, the music is decent enough and this is quite an enjoyable album. Melodic and enjoyable. This is album is an improvement on the two first albums.

2 points

King's X - Ogre Tones (2005)

The 11th album from this band from USA.

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

The band returned again with a new album. 

The music on their previous albums has not lived up to the expectations created by their first four albums. Four great albums. The band got lost in various attempts of becoming commercial acceptable after poor sales figures of their best albums. 

The band got lost, in other words.

Ogre Tones sees the band trying to return back to some of the basics from their first four albums. The music is mostly hard. Nevertheless, you still find some The Beatles and Rush harmonies here. There are also some Jimi Hendrix, without the heavenly guitars, and Led Zeppelin here.

This album is therefore an improvement on the previous three albums.

That said, the quality of the songs are still found wanting. A bit found wanting. This album is still a step in the right direction and a good album. My faith in this band is being restored....

3 points