Runemagick - Moon Of The Chaos Eclipse (2002)

The fifth album from this band from Sweden.

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

This is their second album through Aftermath Music after their split with Century Media.

The music on this album is mid-paced death metal. Or classic death metal as I see many call this type of death metal. 

Where the new death metal bands and the likes of Cannibal Corpse are both far more technical and focused on speed, Runemagick sounds more like old Massacre on this album.

The music is classic death metal with the grunts and the classic riff structure. It is still pretty melodic though and far from being at the more extreme, esoteric end of the death metal scene.

The music is decent enough and a good reminder why classic death metal is a good genre.

Check out this album if old style death metal is your thing.

2 points

 

 

After Crying - Föld És Ég (1994)

The third album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, cello, guitars, keyboards, piano, synths, flute, trumpet, narrations and vocals.

The band continued on with their brand of symphonic prog. A brand that sounds a bit alien to us here in the west and the rest of the world.

Large parts of this album is very influenced by Keith Emerson and ELP. These parts sounds like a homage to Keith and his band mates in ELP.

The other parts of this one hour long album is more like hymns in the Magyar language. Hymns performed by both vocals and a trumpet. Strange music indeed. There are also some pieces of acoustic guitars here.

The music is both weird and exotic. This in the airs of us who are used to more western music. This is another one of their albums who require time and dedication from the listeners. Easy listening music, it is not.

After a while, the qualities becomes evident. This is indeed a good album. ELP and symphonic prog fans should and must check out this album.

3 points

Inner Road. The - The Last Temple (2023)

The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added xtra symphonic orchestra instruments and female vocals.

Jacqui Taylor and Steve Cresswell has been around as The Inner Road for a while now. The debut album Visions was released in 2011 and I have reviewed most of the albums, if not all of the albums.

The quality of the albums has been pretty good.

The music on this one hour and fifteen minutes long album is gothic neo-classical music.

It is mostly guitars driven and there is a female opera voice on the top of large parts of this album. Which gives it this gothic rock sound too.

The music follows mostly one theme throughout this album. There is not much variations here. That means this album is a test of patience for the listener.

The music is decent enough. This is not this band's finest hour and they have released far better albums than this album. 

2 points

Viathyn - The Peregrine Way (2010)

The debut album from this band from Canada.

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

Two guests added guitars and female vocals.

This band released two albums before they gave up and disbanded. 

I got this album strongly recommended by a fan of progressive metal ten years ago. I therefore got the album and then forgot to review it. 

The music here is a mix of power metal and heavy metal. There is no progressive rock here at all.

The music is also very much formula based and offers nothing new to the scene. 

The music is not bad at all. The band knows what they are doing and the music on this one hour long album is decent enough. As I am keen to avoid that genre, I think I will bypass their second album.

2 points

Hawkwind - Stories from Time and Space (2024)

The 35th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A saxophone player added his saxophone on one track.

Dave Brock has been keeping Hawkwind going since the early 1970s. They are one of the veterans in the scene and the godfathers of the space rock genre.

The music on this one hour long album is a mix of psych rock and some neo-classical interludes. The music is more symphonic prog influenced than before.

The music is therefore pretty remote from the Hawkwind we know from the last century.

There are only some sporadic good pieces of music here.

The again, this is not a bad album and it is far from being their worst album. It is the old-age Hawkwind and a band nearing the end of it's natural life.

Check out this album and enjoy it as the symphonic prog influenced album it is.

2.5 points

 

 

 

Bird Race - Armies Of Birds (2021)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

This is a one-man-band run by Steve Satori who does all the drums, bass, guitars, vocals and keyboards. 

A female vocalist added some vocals.

Steve Satori has under this name released three albums through Bandcamp. I reviewed the good debut album last week and will review the third, brand new album sometimes in the next week or two. 

I really love Steve Satori's choice of art-work. That goes for this and the new album. OK, it also goes for the first album although I got my reservations...

Nevertheless.... the important thing here is the music. 

The music reminds me a lot about early Roxy Music. The vocals are also a bit like Bryan Ferry here. Mostly in the deliveries of the vocals and not so much of any likeness between Bryan Ferry and Steve Satori. 

The music also got some new romantics influences... well, a lot of it. 

The music is mostly pomp rock/pop. 

The quality is really good.... mostly good and this is an album which should appeal to progheads into more melodic but still clever pomp rock/pop.

3 points

 

 

Bardic Depts. The - What We Really Like In Stories (2024)

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band is the continuation of a band called Birzer Bandana who released some albums before they broke up. Dave Bandana does the bass, keyboards and vocals on this album. I have reviewed their albums.

I have also reviewed the first two The Bardic Depts albums

Their music is a blend of symphonic prog, art-rock and psych rock.

Take Neal Morse and blend it with Spock's Beard, Big Big Train and Pink Floyd.  

The music is melodic with some mid tempo pieces. 

The sound is warm, homely as the cover art. The saxophones is adding a lot to this good humoured take on progressive rock.

The result is a good album and one well worth checking out. Ditto for their first two albums too. This band should get some more attention.

3 points

Coal & Crayon - Beneath The Moral Void (2024)

The third album from this band from Germany.

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

The band had taken a long break after their second album and this is their return. I have not heard their first two albums but that is all I know.

The music on this fifty minutes long album is a mix of post-metal as in Anathema and prog metal as in Fates Warning. There are also some pretty big djent and post-rock influences here.

The vocals is pretty good with some death metal grunts inbetween the clean vocals.

The sound is dominated by the guitars. There are some good guitar harmonies here and some good riffs.

The music is therefore pretty hard and pretty harsh. It still has some good melodies.

The result is a good album and one well worth checking out. 

3 points

 

 

Motorpsycho - Trust Us (1998)

The seventh album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, sitar, marimba, mandolin, glockenspiel, piano, organ, moog, mellotron and vocals.

A trio of guests added saw, electronics, violin, woodwinds, theremin, piano and antlers. 

The band returned again and this time with a double CD and eighty minutes worth of music.

The music is based on psych rock and garage rock. It has got some rock'n'roll, raga rock and space rock influences too.

The result is another album in the Motorpsycho universe. A universe I am trying to get familiar with. This band is truly unique and many miles outside my comfort zone. And I am reviewing all their albums this year....

The music is pretty hard at times and mostly full on with some fitting vocals.

The result is esoteric but still good. This album is a good insight into their world and worth checking out.

3 points

Ruphus - Ranshart (1974)

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

Their 1973 debut album New Born Day, see review, was a very good blend of heavy prog, symphonic prog, eclectic prog and heavy prog. It also had a mix of female and male vocals.

The band scaled back on Ranshart. Both with retaining only the male vocals and in their music.

The music on this thirty-five minutes long album sounds like the first Yes albums. 

The music is medium complex symphonic prog with some folk rock influences.

The music here is melodic. It is not particular epic or bold. It is still symphonic prog and pretty similar to what Yes once did. The use of flute is the main difference here between Yes and Ruphus.

The vocals are really good and the band too does a good job. 

The music is really good too and this is another Norwegian album from the 1970s that really has aged well and is worthy a purchase.

3 points

Mother Black Cap - Caveman TV (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests helped them out on bass, sequencer, keyboards, guitars, percussion, keyboards and backing vocals.

The band from the Norfolk of England returned again after some years of silence. I have reviewed their first three albums and they are pretty good albums.

Their music is earthly rock with some pub rock, pomp rock, psych rock and neo-prog influences.

The tracks here is pretty long with the title track clocking in at sixteen minutes. It is still not anywhere near symphonic prog. Pomp rock is the right label. There are some Pink Floyd influences on that track and the rest of this forty-five minutes long album.

The vocals is barely decent and the songs are a bit hard to remember. In short, this album is being let down by some not so good compositions and ditto vocals. The music is simply a bit too pedestrian and dull to really make me sit up and really get into it.

Sorry........

2 points

Vuoti a Rendere - Ruggine (2016)

The second and final album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, saxophones, electric piano, organ and vocals.

This album was released and is still available on their Bandcamp page together with an EP and their debut album. An album I reviewed earlier this month. An album which did not impress me. 

Their music is a form of quirky RPI with a lot of eclectic kompositions who are leaning towards both jazz, psych and beat. Some has described their music as proto-RPI.

The vocals are good here. The music is really quirky and based on a fusion of guitars, saxophones and organ.

This album is clocking in at just under half an hour. The music is decent enough. It is not an impressive album and their music is limited in scope.... and commercial viability. Collectors of RPI albums, like myself, should check out this band. The rest of you.....

2 points

New Magic. The - Bird's Eye View (2024)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, upright bass, guitars, mandolin, ocarina, piano, organ, synths, saxophones and vocals.

This album has been released on LP and as a Bandcamp album. 

This album has been released on the same record label who now release all the Munch albums. Munch is a psych and electronica band who has been around for over forty years. I may review their albums in some years time.

The New Magic's music is a mix of electronica, psych, prog and jazz. Maybe the "art-rock" label should be dusted off and put on their music. It is indeed art, this music.

The sound is light and so is the music. There is even some arty pop music here. There is also some hints of folk rock here.

The music is lush and light. This forty-five minutes long album is based on good melodies and some good vocals. The electronica elements is always present but it still feels pretty organic.

The quality is good throughout and this band is another band well worth checking out if Norwegian progressive rock is something you collect, as I do, or even like.

Check out this album.

3 points

Bird Race - Change One Thing, Change Everything (2017)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

This is a one-man-band run by Steve Satori who does all the drums, bass, guitars, vocals and keyboards. 

A female vocalist added some vocals.

Steve Satori has under this name released three albums through Bandcamp. The two other reviews will be reviewed before the middle of next month.

This seventy minutes long album takes us through various landscapes. From neo-prog in the beginning to some art-rock, French symphonic prog rock, symphonic prog, dream pop and some ambient music.

This is in short an album with wide ranging musical expressions.

The music is always elegant and classy. It is mostly beautiful harmonic too.

The vocals are good and fittingly for the music. The use of instruments are sparse but still doing the job. The music is not very complex. The music is more based on elegance than complexity.

The result is a good album and one to check out. It is albums fans of progressive rock must check out.

3 points

 

 

 

Bardic Depths. The - Promises of Hope (2022)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Numerous guests added bass, guitars, cello, marimba, keyboards, synths, piano, organ, spoken words and vocals.

I very much liked their self-titled debut album from 2020 and was looking forward to some more albums from them. The band has released two more albums since their debut album and both are up for reviews this spring in this blog.

Their music is best described as a mix of folk rock, psych rock and neo-prog. 

The music is progressive indeed. But with some Pink Floyd and folky rock influences.

The vocals is good and the band is helped by a lot of the leading lights in the British progressive rock scene. Hence the good musicianship here.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good throughout this album. Some more good songs are required before this album can be labeled as a good album. For those into wholesome melodic prog... this is an album and band well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Eons Past - Vanishing Point (2024)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

A handful of guests added drums and backing vocals.

This is a new band and the album is a name-your-price Bandcamp album. 

The music is a grungy sounding take on art rock. 

There is not much progressive rock here.... although the album is tagged as a art rock and progressive rock album. It is also tagged as a hard rock album and that is true. 

The art-rock is indeed pretty hard and grungy with some psych rock influences too. 

The vocals is muscular and pretty good. The art of writing good songs has eluded the band though on this album. The band sounds promising and they know their stuff. The next item on the agenda should be writing good songs.

This is a good band and this is a worthwhile download. Check out this album and you may disagree with my rating.

2 points

Sangre De Muerdago - Sangre De Muerdago (2010)

The debut album from this band from Spain.

The band was a one-man-band at that time with Pablo Ursusson doing the percussion, classic guitar, Irish whistle and vocals.

Three guests added violin, guitars and vocals.

This band has released six albums so far, the latest one last year. I got all of them up for reviews this summer.... off course starting with their debut album.

This, their debut album clocks in at forty minutes and contains a mix of instrumental and vocals based folk music from Spain. Galician folk music, that is. Spain's regions is pretty different from each other, culturally and politically. Spain is therefore a kingdom of regions more than a country/land.

The music is melodic but also dense and full of lush music. The music is not progressive at all. Neither is it any modern music based. The music here is based on hundreds of years of sounds, music and traditions.

The music sounds a bit alien to a person who are not from this region. I guess most people, young persons, in this region would regard the music here a bit alien.

The quality is not bad at all. It is a decent enough album and something the band, Pablo, can build on.

2 points

King's X - Manic Moonlight (2001)

The ninth album from this band from USA.

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

The band had lost their way on the last couple of albums. They seemed unsure about their footing and were confused about the poor album sales. Neither the band or their record label, the extreme metal record label Metal Blade, had figured out what to do.

So the band tried to be broaden out their sound. Become a bit harder. 

This is a heavy album. Most of their The Beatles influences has gone. They had been replaced by electronica and rap music influences. There is not much of it.

Thankfully, some of the good old King's X harmonies is still with us on this album.

The songs are pretty decent. Nevertheless, this is their weakest album so far and one best avoided unless you are a fan and want everything from them.

2 points

Magnésis - Neige en décembre (2023)

The 13th album from this band from France.

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

A guest added drums on the second track.

I have always been an admirer of this band and has tried to catch everyone on their albums. I missed out on this one due to stress and being forgetful until I got this album last month.

The album has got two tracks. They are each twenty minutes long and they are all instrumental. This is in other words an untraditional album from this band.

The instrumental symphonic progressive rock has a lot of French symphonic prog. The likes of themselves, Ange and Mona Lisa.

There is also a lot of Christmas music themes in the music. An particular on track two.

The music is fairly good. It is by no means this band's finest hour and the vocals are sorely missed. Nevertheless, it is a pretty enjoyable album.

2.5 points

Vuoti A Rendere - Baciati Dall'Inganno (2015)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band released two albums and one single through Bandcamp before they gave up. 

Their music is a form of quirky RPI with a lot of eclectic kompositions who are leaning towards both jazz, psych and beat.

There is some strong 1960s influences here and I have heard others describe the music as proto-RPI. That may be a good label.

There is a lot of saxophones and piano here. The vocals are rather good, but still quirky.

In short, this is not the conventional, usual progressive rock album. 

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. I am not entirely won over, but I understand where they comes from. Check out this album.

2.5 points

Kosmodrom - Welcome To Reality (2023)

The second album from this band from Germany.

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

This band debuted with an EP in 2015 and followed it up with a full debut album in 2018. All of them released through Bandcamp.

This band's music is a mix of krautrock, stoner rock and space rock.

The music is pretty groovy and based on creating moods. It is not particular heavy or hard. But is not for the faint-hearted and or those who likes their music soft and melodic.

The music is off course guitars dominated as this band is a twin-guitars assault band. The guitars is sometimes half-accoustic too.

The quality is decent with some good themes too. This album is among the many albums in this genre and style. It does not offers that x factor you need to stand out in this genre. Nevertheless, this is a pretty good album.

2.5 points

Roxy Music - Avalon (1982)

The eight and final studio album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a trio with a lineup of guitars, strings, keyboards, saxophones, oboe and vocals.

Around ten guests added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, piano and organ.

This album ends the story, the studio album parts of the story of this band. It is one of the most important bands in the history of art rock. Their studio albums is fascinating and at times... bewildering. But that is why some of us really is into music.

This album starts with their biggest hit, one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, called More Than This. It is a brilliant piece of pop music too and it has got some art-rock influences. It is indeed a great song.

The title track is the best song. It is quite a quirky piece of art-rock. 

The rest is a mix of forgetable but still forgetable songs. This is not their best album although it sold zillion copies. This album is not the way we should remember this great band.

2.5 points

Pacific Eardrum - Beyond Panic (1978)

The second and final album from this band from New Zealand.

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

The band continued on from their debut album. New Zealand was back then some real backwaters of the modern music world. No internet and the trade relations and travels between the main rock and pop scenes in Great Britain/USA and New Zealand/Australia was pretty poor. 

Hence, you got bands like Pacific Eardrum who by all standards was outdated and out of tune with every scene and trend there was.

The forty-five minutes long album starts with some jazzy pop where the soft and passionate female vocals is dominating the soundscape. The music is bordering to both soul and disco.

The final half of the album is soft jazzy rock and jazz. 

The quality of the music is half decent. This album is neither a turkey or a decent album. It is just a forgetable album only saved by the decent jazz to be found here.

1.5 points

Miller. Rick - One Of The Many (2024)

The 18th album from this artist from Canada.

Rick Miller did the bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals here.

He got help from some guests who provided drums, percussion, guitars, strings and flutes.

Rick Miller continues to release one album a year. That is to the benefit to those of us who appreciate soft, elegant symphonic prog.

That is what we get here and for those not so familiar with his music... his music can be compared to early Genesis and Anthony Philips. There are also a lot of Camel hovering around here.

Rick Miller has also included some hints of Irish folk music on this album. 

His vocals and guitars are very good. The music is good.... but I feel that he has upped his game on this album. An album with some very good songs and compositions.

This is indeed a very good album and one of his best albums. I should know as I have reviewed all his progressive rock albums for this blog. This is an album, the album you should check out from this artist.

3.5 points

Abacus - Midway (1973)

The fourth album from this band from Germany.

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

The band continued with their fourth album. Their third album, the 1972 album Just A Day's Journey Away was a deeply unimpressive album. It was a mix of dumbed down krautrock and symphonic prog.

The band has ditched some of the krautrock and replaced it with some 1960s psych rock and some very The Beatles like beat rock. There is still some early symphonic prog here.

The music is mostly decent. It has some decent vocals and guitars.

These forty minutes are not particular interesting though. Only the organ sound is the saving grace here and elevates the album to a decent album status.

2 points

My Dying Bride - The Manuscript (2013)

The 12th EP/single from this band from Great Britain.

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

A guest added drums.

My Dying Bride's EPs is in many cases as interesting and good as their albums. Hence my reviews of most of them and a break of the rules of this blog. My Dying Bride is a special case, a special band.

This half an hour long album has four songs and they are all leftovers from the A Map Of All Our Failures album. An album reviewed a couple of weeks ago in this blog. An album I like a lot.

I guess the band wanted to make a single CD album instead of a double CD album. Or they thought these songs did not fit the theme and ambience of the album. I am not going to question this band's judgement. They had their reasons.

Hence.... this EP. An EP with three pretty melancholic songs in the A Map Of All Our Failures vein and one more death doom metal orientated song. The latter one a pretty harsh sounding song with a pretty brutal soundscape.

The songs are all good and this EP is therefore an EP every fan of this band should have in their collection. 

3 points

Virus - The Agent That Shapes the Desert (2011)

The third album from this band from Norway.

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

Some guests added bass, guitars, violin, piano and vocals.

This band was a pretty short lived band who released four albums. I don't think I have reviewed any of their three other albums. I may do that in the future... pending on whatever floats my way of other albums.

The band had members from other bands like Inferno, Ved Buens Ende and Ulver. It was a kind of a supergroup.

The music is pretty avant-garde post-metal. Good references are Ulver, Ved Buens Ende and in particular; Voivod.

The music is pretty dissonant. The vocals are pretty operatic. They are also good. Ditto for the dissonant guitars.

There are some decent and some good stuff on this forty-five minutes long album. It is an album for the post-metal fans and not so much for the progressive rock fans.

2.5 points

Rain & Anne Marie Ottersen - Camp (1977)

The one and only album from this project from Norway.

The project was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, organ, piano and vocals.

This project was a theater musical from the biggest theater in Norway. The main character was the then and now, in Norway, famous actress Anne Marie Ottersen. She was backed up by Rain, the creators of this musical. Rain has also released a couple of psych rock albums. See review of their album Norsk Suite somewhere else in this blog.

It is pretty obvious that Janet Hay = Janis Joplin. Another name was given and a court case avoided. That is my guess based on the music, lyrics and the promo info around this musical.

The music is.... well, musical like. Anne Marie's vocals is surprisingly good although not on par with a more talented vocalist. But she is not making a fool out of herself and this project. 

The rock and pop on this forty minutes long album is decent. It has some psych rock influences, due to Rain's background as a psych rock band. This album is a bit of a charmer. Nevertheless, it is being let down by some poor sound.

1.5 points

Hjemlengsel - Nimmermeer (2024)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is a duo with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, accordion and vocals.

Two guests added flute and cello.

This band released a selftitled EP back in 2010 before they returned with this one hour long album. Both releases mainly released on Bandcamp. Hmmm.... I need to get that EP and review it based on what I have experienced on Nimmermeer.

The music is a blend of funeral doom, melancholic post-rock and progressive rock. 

The music is mainly instrumental with a couple of pieces of vocals adding some spice to this album.

The emphasis is on feelings, sadness, gloom, doom and sorrows. The duo has succeeded in this. There is still a lot of doom metal chugging on the guitars here. But there is more to this and the guitars than just repetition chugging guitars. There are also some half-accoustic guitars and proper guitar solos and themes.

This is here where the progressive rock genre comes into play. There is a lot of prog rock here. The music is also pretty bold and epic at times.

The themes are all good. They are pretty melodic and not as esoteric as I thought they would be. The music is eclectic though.

The result is a good to very good album and one to check out. I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future. 

3.5 points

Roxy Music - Flesh + Blood (1980)

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was reduced to a trio with a lineup of guitars, strings, keyboards, saxophones, oboe and vocals.

Around ten guests added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, piano and organ.

The original band, Roxy Music, had been disbanded by Bryan Ferry. Only Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera was being kept onboard. The others were reduced to session musicians.

The music here is also pretty fragmented. From anthems like Oh Yeah to new romantics stuff to art-rock and disco.

The above mentioned Oh Yeah is by far the best song here and among the three best ever Roxy Music songs. That song alone elevates this album a couple of notches. The opening song In The Midnight Hour is also a very good song.

The rest of the album is not so good. Most of it, that is. There are some more good pieces here too.

The quality is uneven throughout. Nevertheless, this is a rather fascinating album and a good one too.

Check it out.

3 points

Pacific Eardrum ‎- Pacific Eardrum (1977)

The debut album from this band from New Zealand.

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

This band released two albums during the two years this band was around. That is all I know about this band. A review of their second album will soon be added too.

The music is a mix of pop-rock, funk, soul, r'n'b and fusion.

The vocals is mainly female vocals. There is a lot of male vocals too.

The music is very commercial..... anno 1977. It is even today pretty commercial. The music is also groovy with some very good vocals.

This music probably filled the dance floors back then on these two islands down under. It has a positive vibe and surely added a lot of joy to the cultural scene in that country. Some of the music is slightly cheesy, though.

It is still a decent album and worth checking out.

2 points

 

 

Pyramid - Beyond Borders of Time (2024)

The second album from this band from Germany.

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

I am pretty sure I have reviewed their 2019 debut album Mind Maze. It now seems like this is not the case and I will therefore add that album to my to-review list for this summer.

The band's music is instrumental space rock. The band is a trio, a power trio.

The band forms their pieces of music, it wrong to call them "songs" as there is no vocals here, around one or two riffs. Then they expands on them and add a lot of groove and guitars. Both distorted and clean guitars.

This music is pretty simple but also very effective. The band has also added some interesting melody lines too, to be fair to the album and the band.

The result is a good forty minutes long album which will please everyone into space rock. It is also a proof how cool and good space rock can be. 

3 points

Runemagick - Requiem of the Apocalypse (2002)

The fourth album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band had left Century Media. The small Norwegian label Aftermath Music then signed them for this and some more albums.

This album is one hour long and sees the band on the path from a sraight death metal band to a more doom metal band.

The music is still rooted in death metal, the Florida style death metal, but it still has some more melodic and some more doom metal influences.

That makes the music not particular brutal, the usual death metal standards of brutality applied. Most people will say the music is far too brutal.... but not when it comes to this genre.

There is still a lot for a death metal fan to enjoy here. There is also some more doom stuff here which is a pointer for where this band was heading.

The result is a decent album which has a lot to offer. Check it out if death metal floats your boat.

2 points

After Crying - Megalázottak És Megszomorítottak (1992)

The second album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, cello, violin, keyboards, piano, synths, trumpet, bird voices, narration and vocals.

They got help from around ten guests who added guitars, strings, woodwinds and vocals.

I think it is fair to label After Crying's music as one of the more esoteric musical outputs in the progressive rock scene and history. Their music is weird to say at least.

The weirdness is largely due to the band's fusion of neo-classical music, the Magyar folk music and symphonic prog. That sounds strange to my ears. My ears is used to the more Western pop and rock approach to music. The opposite of what we get from this band and their culture.

I don't mean anything bad or negative about that. Music like we get from the likes of After Crying is one of the main reasons I have been running this blog for more than twelve years. 

The album starts with some piano and then some distorted violins before vocals and a bigger soundscape, a pretty dark soundscape follows. Woodwinds and some more pastoral and more dark esoteric music somewhere between eclectic prog and neo-classical music continues to the end of the album.

I have been listening to this album quite often lately and it is a good album although it is well outside my comfort zone. The music on this forty minutes long album is indeed far away from what I am normally comfortable with. It has been challenging me and it has taken me time and effort to get it. 

If esoteric, eclectic music is your thing and you want to be taken outside your comfort zone.... this is an album for you. 

3 points

Thule - Graks (1997)

The fourth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, synths, samples, keyboards and vocals.

Two guests added saxophones and vocals.

Thule is one of those mythical bands in the progressive rock and art-rock genres. They are also popular among extreme metal musicians and fanzines. Their reputation has been forged by their location, Honningsvaag which is 35 km from the North Cape, the most northern point in Europa and in the Arctic region (yes, I have been there... done the 35 km on a pushbike..... one of the best experiences in my life) and through their legendary 1990 album Natt. An album many regard as a masterpiece.

Their first three albums plus the one recorded under the name Ultima Thule was recorded on a small budget. Somehow, the band got a pretty big recording budget and the band spent the money on recording Graks.

The unrestrained Thule offers up a cold, gothic piece of psych rock. There is also a lot of progressive rock. 

There is also a lot of influences from their Natt opus floating around in their sound and music.

The vocals is really dark and gothic. Ditto for most of the music too. Some of the music is both dark and playful. Strange, but Thule manage to sound both playful and pithc dark black at the same time. Living in a town in the Arctic region and all that.....

The songs are all good. There is a lot of very good pieces here too. Most of the music is also fascinating and spellbinding. I think I am under the spell of Thule. Does that worry me ? Nope. 

Check out this album and grab yourself a copy of Natt too. These two albums compliments each other.

3.5 points

Visaggio. Mike - Starship Universe (2006)

The one and only album from this artist from USA.

Mike Vissagio did the programmed bass and drums in addition to keyboards and vocals.

A guest added drums too.

Mike Vissagio has been active in some local US bands all his life. This though is his only solo-album.

The music on this one hour long album is heavy influenced by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Add some Yes and AOR influences too and you get this album.

The music is very heavy keyboards driven. The sound is still pretty organic and good. There is a lot of vintage keyboards here.

The keyboards sound is still pretty similar to Keith Emerson's sound.

The music is decent throughout with some cover neo-classical and film themes thrown into the mix in addition to some original pieces of music.

ELP fans will love this album. Ditto for fans of keyboards driven neo-classical music. Check it out if this sounds interesting.

2 points

 

 

Guillotine Spring - Eclosion (2024)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band rose from the ashes of the British band Galley Beggar. I am pretty sure I have reviewed at least one of their albums. Indeed I have.... I reviewed their third album Silence And Tears (2015) back in June 2015 for # 1 of this blog.

Their music was acid folk rock. Guillotine Spring continues down this genre with Eclosion. 

The vocals is mainly female vocals and Maria O'Donnel has a very good voice. There are some male backing vocals too.

The music is songs based. The few instrumental pieces here are good and add a lot of acid to this acid folk rock album. Ditto for the vocals  too.

The songs on this forty-three minutes long album are all good. That makes this a good album and an album all fans of acid folk rock and folk rock in general should check out.

3 points

 

 

Inner Prospekt - Unusual Movements (2024)

The 14th album from this band from Italy.

The band is a one-man-band with Alessandro Di Benedetti on drums, keyboards, programming and vocals.

He got help from a sextet who has provided bass, guitars and saxophone.

Alessandro contiues on from last years albums. His take on progressive rock is a mix of RPI and symphonic prog.

The symphonic prog is pastoral and slow. There is some musicals 'esque like songs here inbetween more instrumental symphonic prog pieces.

Alessandro has a good voice and the vocals is very good. The music is good throughout. It is a bit too pedestrian at times and that is my main gripe with this album.

Inner Prospekt is a band/project very much recommended to all symphonic prog and RPI fans. 

3 points

Gillan Band. Ian - Scarabus (1977)

The third and final studio album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This is the final Ian Gillan Band album before Ian Gillan returned to the hard rock and heavy metal genre with a new band named Gillan.

This is also the final album from his dabbling in the fusion genre. There is not much fusion here, though. Most of it is r'n'b, soul and mainstream hard rock. There is a lot of Deep Purple references on this album. Too many to be ignored.

There is still some fusion here. But not enough.

The result is a disappointing forty minutes long album. An album not living up to it's good reputation.

Although the music is barely decent, it is still an album well worth checking out due to it's reputation.

2 points

 

 

Carpet - Collision (2024)

The fifth album from this band from Germany.

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

I have been reviewed a couple of their previous five albums, They are all good albums.

Their music is a mix of psych rock and art-rock.

Melodic rock with some progressive rock influences, lots of vocal harmonies and some woodwinds added to spice up the music.

The music is mid-tempo and not particular heavy or hard. There is a lot of muscles in their music and the music is not soft my any means. 

There is indeed some underlying menace in the music. 

The vocals and the guitars are good. The only thing letting this album down is the quality of the songs. This three quarters of an hour long album is ticking along quite nicely, with a mix of decent and good songs. Mostly decent and therein lays the problem with this album.

This album is not their finest three quarters of an hour. It is still worth checking out.

2.5 points

Motorpsycho - Angels And Daemons At Play (1997)

The sixth album from this band from Norway.

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

A trio of guests added saw, electronics, violin, piano and guitars. 

The band returned again with their take on psych rock. 

Their take on psych rock incorporates some electronica, eclectic prog/rock and a lot of space rock. There is also some garage rock and surf rock in their music.

 Motorpsycho has indeed created their own universe. A universe where anything goes. 

The result is this one hour long album.

The musicians does a great job on some decent to good songs. Songs that grows on the listener. 

This is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Ruphus - New Born Day (1973)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, piano, flute, saxophone and vocals.

Ruphus is widely regarded as one of the best Norwegian bands from the 1970s. They released six albums in the '70s and they are all up for review here in the coming weeks.

The band is still around and does some sporadic gigs around Norway every year. But there is no plans for any new records. Most of the band members are also busy in other bands and that was the case from the very start of this band. Ruphus is to a large degree a supergroup.

This album started it all and it is an intriguing album.

The music on this half an hour long album is a mix of folk rock, eclectic prog, symphonic prog and heavy prog.

Jethro Tulls meets Gentle Giant and Yes. Those are the references here.

The vocals is both male and female vocals. There are plenty of flutes here and the music is really complex and at times a bit hard. 

The band uses this half an hour to explore their genres and produce some music that really stands out and is original. 

This is also a very good album and one that will keep the generations of progressive rock fans fascinated and satisfied. A couple of killer tracks is the only missing here. 

Check out this album.

3.5 points

 

Witness to the Reform - Goodbye xx (2016)

The one and only album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This and two singles was released through Bandcamp as a name-your-price releases. That means free if you want. 

It is tagged as a progressive rock album. Hmmm.......

The album, which is only twenty-seven minutes long, takes off as heavy metal album. NWOBHM to be more precise. Or Iron Maiden with Paul D'Anno as the vocalist.

The music moves a bit closer towards desert-rock and art-rock at the end of the album.

The band does a good job on some songs which is pretty decent. The vocals are pretty beefy and good.

The result is still only a half decent album. If you want to add a free album to your digital albums collection, you can do a lot worse than adding this album to that collection. 

1.5 points

Visions of Atlantis - Wanderers (2019)

The seventh album from this band from Austria.

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

Two guests added keyboards.

This album was given to me by a workmate as she thought Nightwish was proper progressive rock. 

This is Visions Of Atlantis from Austria though but their music is in the same vein as Nightwish.

That means a mix of symphonic metal and heavy metal. The vocals are mostly female vocals but with some supporting male vocals.

The music is pretty melodic on this one hour long album. It is also formula heavy metal based. It offers me no surprises at all. 

The band is doing a good job. The music is not bad at all. It is a decent album. It gives the symphonic and heavy metal fans what they both expect and want. 

It is a decent album indeed. Nevertheless, this band is not for me.

2 points

Sic Mundus - Illusions (2023)

The debut album from this band from Poland.

The band is a duo with a lineup of bass, keyboards and programming.

A handful of guests added drums, guitars and vocals.

This band is a new band in the progressive rock scene in Poland. A large scene. 

Their music is ranging from melodic prog in the vein of Pink Floyd to some art-rock and neo-prog in the vein of Marillion to the harder prog and metal like Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater. There is also some djent here.

The sound is modern and muscular.

The vocals are also muscular. They are also pretty good. 

Most of the music here is hard and comes with some good guitar solos. Including one from a Riverside guitarist.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. This is an album the band should be happy with and then build on. I hope we will hear more from this duo/band.

2.5 points

Inner Prospekt - Canvas Three (2023)

The 13th album from this band from Italy.

The band is now a one-man-band with Alessandro Di Benetti doing the drums, samples, keyboards and vocals.

He got help from a trio who added bass, mandolin, guitars, piccolo flute, gamba and zyther.

Inner Prospekt is a symphonic prog project and the debut album was released back in 2014. 

The music on this album is pastoral, pretty slow symphonic prog with some art-pop influences.

There is a lot of vocals here and some good guitar solos. 

The music is gentle throughout. It is also good and this is an album well worth checking out if pastoral symphonic prog is your thing.

3 points

Gillan Band. Ian - Clear Air Turbulence (1977)

The second 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 handful of guests added woodwinds. 

Ian Gillan had left Deep Purple and were a bit lost. So he formed this band and the first album, named Child In Time, was released in 1976. It was an album with soul and r'n'b music. I should have reviewed it and I may do so this summer if I can find it.

Ian Gillan Band released two more albums, Clear Air Turbulence and Scarabus, in 1977 before Ian Gillan split the band and formed a new band called Gillan. That band was a hard rock band. Deep Purple came calling again some years later and Ian Gillan has mostly been occupied with that band since the 1980s.

There is still a lot of r'n'b on this album and some soul. But the album has also a lot of funk and brass rock influences. Chicago is a band that has very clearly influenced and coloured this album.

I were hoping for some fusion on this album as it has been sold to me as a fusion album. There is very little fusion here. It is still a colourful album very much rooted in the US black music scene. This before that scene broke down the colour barrier and became mainstream.

The music is very varied and all over the place. It is still a decent album and well worth checking out. 

2 points

 

Steady. Matt – The Dragon's Refrain (2024)

The debut album from this artist from Great Britain.

Matt Steady did the bass, guitars and vocals here. 

He got help from some guests who provided drums, bass, violin, pipes and female backing vocals.

Matt Steady has been advertising his free CDs for a while on Facebook and other places. The description, uplifting celtic folk rock and prog rock, tempted me to order one and it duly arrived in a promo CD packing. Very kind of Matt and I am grateful for the CD.

Having no expectations that the CD would deliver on the promises, music wise, I was surprised to discover that the music is what was promised.

Uplifting celtic rock with some progressive rock, yes. But let me expand and add my views too. 

The first minutes of the CD has a long guitar solo and that reminded me a lot about what Andy Latimer & Camel did on the Harbour Of Tears album. There is indeed a lot of Camel influences. Camel fans should therefore right here and now order this free CD. 

There are some vocals orientated celtic folk rock here too. The vocals are good and the songs decent. Horslips springs to mind here as a comparison.

There is a lot to enjoy on this seventy minutes long album. The quality is good throughout and this album is a nice addition to a folk rock and prog rock collection. Order it from Matt Steady's homepage.

3 points

Roxy Music - Manifesto (1979)

The sixth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added drums, bass, harp, piano, keyboards and backing vocals.

The band was unravelling at this point with Bryan Ferry running the band at the same time as having a fairly busy solo career too. This is the final album with the original members. The two final albums, soon to be reviewed here, would be Bryan Ferry and hired musicians. Some of them were the original members, though. But as session musicians.

The music on Manifesto is a mix of art-rock, pop, a small dip into the disco scene and some brass rock. 

The music is rather sophisticated and classy. On the surface, that is. The quality is not particular great and this album is by far their worst album.

It is still a bit of a fascinating album as nobody has ever done art-rock/pop as Roxy Music once did. Hence, this album must be checked out too.

2 points

King's X - Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous (2000)

The eight album from this band from USA.

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

The band continued down the road to no fame or commercial success. They were on Metal Blade, the home of so many death metal bands. Bands like Cannibal Corpse.

King's X music could not be more different than the music of the 'Corpse. Hence, nobody did not know how to grapple with this band. That continues to this day and I do not have the answers here.

It did not help that King's X then delivered their, by far, weakest album in this album.

The expression/word "lacklustre" is the one that best describes this album.

The album suffers from the lack of any energy, vitality and good songs. It also suffers from the lack of any hope. It sounds like the band had given up the ghost by now.

None of the songs are any good. They are decent enough but not good. 

Sad, sad, sad.

2 points