Bushman's Revenge - All the Better for Seeing You (2023)

The eight album from this band from Norway.

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

The band was a raw and unpolished jazz band in the beginning. There was not much melody in their music and not much finesse and elegance either.

The band has developed their music and the result is this, their eight album.

There is a lot of eclectic prog here in addition to jazz too. There is a lot of fusion here, indeed.

Most of this forty minutes long album is jazz and pure trio jazz. 

There is some melodic parts here and they are very good. 

The overall quality is therefore very good when the many interesting details has been taken into account too. 

This is an album well worth checking out also for those into progressive rock.

3.5 points

Doors. The - Other Voices (1971)

 

The seventh album from this band from USA.

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

Some guests added bass, marimba, percussion and guitars.

Jim Morrison had passed on and the remnants of the band was just those three musicians who had underpinned and supported Jim Morrisons vocals. His 1/4 of the band, the vocals, could now be seen for what they were....... essential to the sound and music of The Doors.

Without these vocals, and taken into account that Ray Manzarek does a good job here, the band falls pretty short of the standards set on their first six albums. These albums was not great, but they always had Jim Morrison there. Hence, it now dawns on me  that Jim Morrison is one of the best vocalists ever to grace modern music. 

The music on Other Voices is not bad at all. There are some really cool songs here. There is a lot of psych rock here and the band has also returned to blues and some pop on this album. But take away their name and you have an average US rock band and a fairly decent psych rock album. 

2 points

 

 

Cross. Daniel - A Descent Into The Unknown (2023)

The debut album from this artist from USA.

Daniel Cross is a multi-instrumentalist but his instruments here is synths and programming.

Music somewhere between neo-classical music and symphonic prog is pretty popular... 

Instrumental cinematic music is also what I could label this album as. 

This album is close to thirty-five minutes long and it has two compositions.

The title track is thirty-one minutes long and is is pretty dark and gothic. It has movements too who floats into each others. The drums is programmed and the synths are dark.

The second composition is pretty forgetable. It has the most accesable melody line, though, with a far too short moog theme

The result is a decent album and one to be added to the list of mad professors and his dog. 

Daniel Cross has also released another album this year and I will review it in some days time.

2 points

 

 

Flower Kings. The - Look at You Now (2023)

The 16th album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band got support from a handful of guests who provided percussion, guitars, synths and vocals.

This is their fourth album since 2019 and the, what many assumed, as the end of the band in 2013. Their return has given us some four good albums. Their 2022 album By Royal Decree was in fact very good.

The band has returned to their original sound again after some flirting with fusion and other genres. Look At You Now is the band returning to their roots.

This means undiluted Scandinavian symphonic prog with lots of vocal harmonies and a some Swedish folk rock influences. 

We get seventy minutes of this. The quality is great throughout and this album is one of the better albums the band has ever released. I am surprised. Positive surprised by this album.

4 points

Grand Funk Railroad - On Time (1969)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

This band is one of the bigger US band in the history of rock'n'roll and popular music. They released thirteen albums and is still touring. I got these thirteen albums and will review them this winter and the forthcoming summer. 

The band is listed as heavy metal... Well, that is not the case here. Take some rhythm'n'blues, mix it with soul, mix it with some hard rock and some country'n'western. 

The music is pretty hard and must have been very hard back in those days. The music is through essentially party music with lots of life and joy.

This album became a minor hit and I can understand why. There is a lot of nice stuff on this decent enough album. 

Check it out if US rock is your thing.

2 points

Voivod - Katorz (2006)

The 11th album from this band from Canada.

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

The guitar player and original member Denis D'Amour, also called Piggy, passed away before the recording sessions could properly start. This album is therefore based on demos and guitar tracks laid down by Denis before he passed on. The three others, including Jason Newsted, just added their stuff and the result is normal studio album. 

You never really knows what you get from this band, album from album. And that is a good thing. I have learned to really appreciate Voivod and they are one of the handful of metal bands I now follows. 

The band has gone back to a mix of post punk, post metal and progressive metal on this album. There are also some grunge on this album.

There are a lot of interesting details here. The sound and the vocals is good.

The songs are decent and just that on this almost fifty minutes long album. Hence...

2.5 points

Juglans Regia - Prisma (2017)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band has released four albums and two EPs through the Bandcamp platform and I intend to review their four studio albums before the end of the year.

Prisma is an around half an hour long run down the heavy metal highway. 

There are some prog influences in their take on heavy metal. But most of it is just run-of-the-mill heavy metal with a bad sound and decent vocals.

The guitars and the bass is not particular good either.

There are a couple of decent songs here inbetween some really poor, bad songs. I hope their three other albums are better than this one.

1.5 points

 

 

Making Minds - Obertura del Universo (2017)

The one and only album from this band from Mexico.

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

This album was released through Bandcamp and I very much doubt the band is still around.

The music is a mix of instrumental prog and hard rock.

The musicians is not particular good on their instruments. The guitars are pretty bad.

There is nothing here of any value that makes this album a true turkey.

Avoid.

1 point

Pixels & Sound - Alive Unaware (2023)

The second album from this band from Australia.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, steel guitars, ukulele, mandolin, guitars and vocals.

Some guests added organ, cello, vocals and spoken words.

I got this album as a link from a promoter and I have not had the chance to hear their 2021 album Sentimentalism. Both of them are Bandcamp and CDs albums.

The music on this fifty minutes long album comes across as a blend of Radiohead and Gazpacho. 

The songs are on average somewhere between three and four minutes long. Some of them are pretty poppy and punchy too. Others are laidback pastoral.

Half of the songs are good and the rest is decent. 

This is an album for those who likes a mix of pop music and some more pastoral proggy music.

2.5 points

Drudkh - All Belong to the Night (2022)

The 12th album from this band from Ukraine.

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

This is the so far final album from this band from the war torn Ukraine. I hope the members, the band and indeed Ukraine itself survives the bastardly attack from Russia. 

Their previous dozen of albums has been epic but still pretty standard black metal albums. They have been true to the black metal formula as deviced in Scandinavia a quarter of a century ago. 

That means guitars and black metal vocals dominated music. The keyboards just acts like spice now and then.

On this album though, the speed has decreased a bit and there are some more cleaner vocals too. There are also some more standard heavy metal influences here.

The music is still black metal and the quality is somewhere between decent and good. 

Black metal is not for everyone. But Drudkh is still one of the better black metal bands and a good start point to this genre.

2.5 points

Bushman's Revenge - Jazz, Fritt Etter Hukommelsen (2016)

The seventh album from this band from Norway.

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

I reviewed their 2007 debut album Cowboy Music some days ago and I intend to review their new album sometimes in the next days. These are the only three albums I got from their in total eight studio albums.

The music is power trio jazz with some fusion and hard rock influences.

It is most of all jazz and the music, as with most jazz, feels improvised. 

The music is very harsh with some distorted guitars, supported by a rock hard wall of bass and drums.

This is indeed hardcore stuff. All those forty-two minutes are unrelenting attacking the body and the mind of the listener.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. Check it out if jazz floats your boat.

2.5 points

Quásar - Quásar (2023)

The debut album from this band from Argentina.

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

Some guests added vocals on a couple of tracks.

This Bandcamp album was presented to me as a throwback to the 1970s Argentine symphonic prog scene. 

Indeed, it is. Quasar has indeed been listening a lot to the albums from that era. Their debut album is a take on this era. That's fifty years after the those days, bands and albums. There is nothing wrong with that.

There are some vocals on the opening quarter of this one hour long album. They are in Spanish and softly spoken. There is a live track at the end of this album too.

Their music is softly spoken symphonic prog in the Latin - American vein. 

There are some good keyboards solos in the music and they are adding a lof value and colours to this album.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good throughout this album. It is a more than acceptable debut album and I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

2.5 points

Dungen - Tio Bitar (2007)

The fourth album from this band from Sweden.

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

Some guests added vocals, keyboards, synths and sitar.

I have throughout their first three albums discovered a very special band who went their own way. Something that also comes across on this, their fourth album.

The band has widened their musical horizons on this album. There is still a lot of acid folk and psych rock in their music. The band has added fusion to their strings and soundscape.

There is a lot of distorted guitars from Reine Fiske on this album. Something he would later bring over to other bands and projects we became involved in.

The music is more distorted and acid on this album than on their first three album. It is more twisted and based on solos too. 

The good old Dungen is still around with the good vocals.

The result is fifty minutes with music and a good album. It is an album everyone into eclectic prog should check out.

3 points

Ghost - Infestissumam (2013)

The second album from this band from Sweden.

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

I was not impressed by their debut album Opus Eponymous from 2010. Heavy metal light is what that album contained. 

Ghost still managed to get a massive breakthrough with that self-released album. The hype around Ghost has always been massive. I am mystified by their popularity.

On Infestissumam, the band is mixing pop, rock and Blue Oyster Cult like occult rock. The music is melodic and has some football terraces chants. There is also some musicals type of music on this album.

But most of all, the music is pretty epic and gothic. It plays a lot on the Catholic Church. Which is a bit odd as there is hardly anyone in Sweden who shares the Catholic faith. Sweden is a staunch protestant and atheist country. 

The music is decent throughout. There is not much substance behind this band's standing beside of their Catholic and satanic imagery. Music wise, this is pretty poor fare.

2 points

Combination Head - Museum (2011)

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

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

A guest delivered some female vocals.

This band was a pretty short lived band who delivered three albums and then disappeared without a trace. I have reviewed their first two albums and they are pretty decent. I was not impressed, though.

Melodic neo-prog with a lot of cinematic influences and some ELP influences is what this album is about. 

A lot of the music here is instrumental. Instrumental as in a mix of fusion, jazz and symphonic neo-prog. The sporadic vocals are rather good.

The music is dynamic and has a lot of interesting details.

This is indeed their best album. It is also a good one and one to check out.

3 points

Moongarden - Align Myself to the Universe (2018)

The ninth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, chapman stick, electric violin, violin, keyboards, programming and vocals.

Three guests added soundscapes and vocals.

This band is the best neo-prog band to ever pop out of Italy. They have just released a new album too and i hope to get it soon.

Align Myself To The Universe is their previous album. The band has had a five years long break where the members has been involved in numerous other bands and albums. All of the six members in this band is very busy in other bands.

The music here is classic neo-prog with some psych and art-rock influences.

The music is pretty mellow with some Pink Floyd influences and some cinematic themes.

The vocals is good and the rest of the band does a great job.

There is no great pieces of music here, though. Nevertheless, this is a good album from one of Italy's best bands.

3 points

Nine Skies - The Lightmaker (2023)

The fourth album from this band from France.

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

Some guests added drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Nine Skies has since their 2017 debut album developed into a very good neo-prog and art-rock band. This despite of the tragig passing of one of their leading lights, mr Eric Bouillette after the release of their last album. 

The band has continued on though and the new album has been out for some weeks, converting more and more prog fans to their cause. 

The music on this album is indeed elegant, melodic neo-prog with some art-rock influences. 

The music is also complex enough to get the listener's attention for the full one hour of music. 

The vocals are good and the musicians does a good job. There is no great songs here. Nevertheless, this album is cementing their status as perhaps the finest French band in today's melodic prog rock scene.

3 points

Drudkh - They Often See Dreams About the Spring (2018)

The 11th album from this band from Ukraine.

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

Drudkh was sold to me as a folk rock black metal band. Maybe that was a correct label on some of their albums.

This is not the label I would put on this album. The music is epic, bold and slightly melodic black metal.

The music is very epic and almost symphonic. It still comes with some screaming black metal vocals. Hence, the vocals will scare off most people.

The vocals fits the music on this album and they are perfect. 

The quality of the music is decent to good throughout this album. I am not a big fan of black metal. But Drudkh has become my favourite black metal band based on this and previous albums. Check out this band.

2.5 points

Bushman's Revenge - Cowboy Music (2007)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band has so far released seven albums and I got three of them up for review this autumn. I am looking into getting the rest of them too.

No, this is not country'n'western. This is jazz.

Well, raw and harsh jazz with some metal and eclectic prog influences.

Most of the music is very harsh jazz with a lot of dissonance and avant-garde ideas. There are also some pastoral pieces here.

This album is long.. fifty minutes long and it takes this forum of power trio jazz to it's limits. I would say, almost too long. Nevertheless, this is a decent album which has not set the world on fire. 

If dissonant raw jazz is your thing....

2 points

Chronicles of Father Robin. The - Book 1 (2023)

 

 

The Songs & Tales of Airoea Book I: The Tale of Father Robin (State of Nature)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, glockenspiel, bass, guitars, mandolin, organ, piano, synths, keyboards, flute, electronics and vocals.

Four guests added backing vocals, mellotron, clavinet, organ, electric piano, synths and keyboards.

This band debuted twenty years ago on some festivals before life in general postponed any further activities. The band was more like a ghost in the scene than a real band during these twenty years as the members got involved in bands like Jordsjo, Samuel Jackson Five, Tusmorke and Wobbler. Then the members reunited again and made a strictly limited box (500 x) with three LPs.

This box is one of the most ambitious and eccentric projects og all time in Norwegian progressive rock. Perhaps also in the worldwide scene too. But thankfully, these three LPs has also been made available as single CDs and download albums through their Bandcamp site. That also means the second album will be released in some weeks time. The final album will be digitally released early next year.

In the meantime, the progressive rock scene is listening to this album.

The music takes us both back to the 1970s and the contemporary Scandinavian prog rock scene. Even the Italian progressive rock scene. There is indeed a lot of RPI in their music.

The music is a mix of progressive folk and symphonic prog. It is complex and bombastic. It is also pretty eclectic and it has a lot of good vocals, both male and female vocals.

There is also a lot of vintage organ and mellotron here. The guitars are mostly half-acoustic. 

There is a lot of contrasts here. The contrasts between hard music and pastoral vocals is what makes this album into a very good album......... Although I get the feeling most other reviewers and fans will elevate this album to a classic album status. They may be right and I am pretty sure this album will be a hot topic when the Norwegian progressive rock scene will be debated in decades to come.

Check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Radiohead - The Bends (1995)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Three guests added strings.

Their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey exploded onto the scene due to the (excellent) hit single Creeps and their excellent live performances. The rest of the album was decent enough indie rock.

The band was not happy about the direction on Pablo Honey. So they changed direction and went for art-rock. The same direction and genre later populated by the likes of Marillion after their change of vocalists. 

Art rock it is.... despite of thei band being thrown into the same piece of musical territory as Oasis, Blur, Verve adn Suede. Yes, Britpop. Radiohead hated this label. They still do. The reason is that they never ever was a part of that scene.

The music on The Bends is sophisticated, well crafted and intelligent art-rock. The album includes a couple great songs too. Street Spirit and High And Dry is these two songs.

The overall quality of the songs are good. The music is pretty complicated at time and this is by no mean an indie rock album. The band really delivered some art on this album. Art copied by many bands in the neo-prog genre too.

Check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Doors. The - L.A. Woman (1971)

The sixth album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests added bass and guitars.

The Doors was and will always be associated with the flawed genious that was Jim Morrison. A vocalist whose charisma shines through on everyone of their songs. Their other musicians was brilliant musicians and song writers. But they did not have that charisma and The Doors was all about charisma.

Jim Morrison was by now a fat alcholic. When this album saw the light of day, he was a dead alcoholic, succumbing to alcoholism in a seedy bathroom in a seedy bar in Paris, France. He is buried in Paris and it says alot about Jim Morrison and indeed the six The Doors albums he took part in that his grave is one if the most visited tourist attractions in Paris, one of the greatest cities in the world.

The music on this album contains of nine decent blues and rock songs and then the final, great songs ever to come from the band and Jim Morrison. Yes, it is Raiders Of The Storm.

Although the title track was a minor hit, it is not a good song. Neither is this a good album.

This is the final Jim Morrison album. The rest of the band staggered around for two more albums, both to be reviewed next month, before they gave up the ghost. Jim Morrison then got a sainthood status and Oliver Stone cemented this status with the hit movie The Doors.

This album is....

2.5 points 

 

 

Combination Head - Progress? (2008)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added drums, percussion and vocals.

Their 2006 self-titled debut album was an ELP and Triumvirat worship album. It was not a good album.

The band has totally changed direction on Progress?. 

Take neo-prog, add some electronica, some pop/rock, some ELP worship remnants and a whiff of folk rock. This is what we get on these forty-five minutes.

The vocals is both male and female. They are good. The sporadic organs are very good. The sound is good and the guitarists does a good job.

There is not many interesting details here and the quality is not up there yet. I do understand why this band did not get any breakthrough with this album. The music is not good enough.

This is still an improvement on the debut album and one to check out.

2.5 points

Maypole - Maypole (1971)

The debut album from this band from USA

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

This band was quite popular around the release of this album. It got plenty of airplay around the world and sold well. A second album was then recorded. But the band then broke up and the second and final album was released by small record label some years ago. 

The Real has also seen some re-releases and is also called just The Real on one of the many re-releases. 

The music is a mix of psych rock, blues and hard rock. References are Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly.

Most of the songs are heavy. There are some more mid-paced and slow pace music here too. But not many. 

The music is pretty good too and this is an album fans of old hard rock should check out. There is no good songs here but the album is nicely ticking over and it is an entertaining album. 

Fans of good old 1970s rock should check out this album.

2 points

MaterialEyes - Inside Out (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

I reviewed their first three albums in # 2 of this blog and was not overly impressed by their music. The music was a bit too uncomplicated art rock bordering to standard rock/pop. 

The band returned again with some more live friendly music. The band has also taken a couple of steps towards neo-prog.

I would now label the music on this album as melodic neo-prog. Yes, there are still some pop/rock here too. But the band has gone in the right direction here. And there is even some pieces of more eclectic instrumentals who are breaking up what could have been a too straight forward sounding melodic album.

We are not talking about complicated music. The quality has improved too. The vocals are good.

The band is nowhere near the elite of British neo-prog bands. Nevertheless, this one hour long album gives the listener some melodic cleverly crafted neo-prog. 

Check out this album.

3 points

Moongarden - Songs from the Lighthouse (2008)

 

The fifth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, chapman stick, mellotron, keyboards, piano and vocals.

Andy Tillison did the vocals on one of the songs.

Moongarden is very probably the best neo-prog band from Italy. They have released ten albums.

The members of this band, which has evolved to a some sort of a super-group over the years, also run their own RPI bands too.

Moongarden has always had this British take on progressive rock and neo-prog. There are some RPI influences here though. 

The songs are between three minutes and eleven minutes long. The album clocks in at seventy minutes too.

The music is pretty complex but yet pretty melodic. Andy's vocals on one of the tracks is noted and pretty funny, make that very good. The overall quality of the vocals is also very good. 

There is no outstanding great songs here. This is a good album throughout and one to really please all neo-prog followers. Even fans of the 1970s symphonic prog scene will really enjoy this album.

3 points

Modern Rock Ensemble - Night Dreams & Wishes (2019)

The second and so far latest album from this project from Ukraine.

This is a one man band where Vladimir Goraschencho did the percussion, guitars, synths and keyboards. He also composed everything here.

He had help from around twenty guests who provided drums, woodwinds, strings, bass, timpani, guitars, synths, choirs and vocals.

For some reasons, this band has been labeled as neo-prog. Nothing could be further from what comes out of my speakers. And there is nothing wrong with the speakers in my office. 

As with their debut album, the music is a mix of neo-classical music and musicals. Off Broadway musicals, that is....

The musical bits has a mix of grim male vocals and some melodic female vocals. Their songs are down the folk rock end of the musicals spectrum. Les Miserables kind of musicals.

The neo-classical music is big, bold and not particular interesting. This eighty minutes is a bit bereft of original thinking and ideas. 

It is a decent album, though. 

2 points

Big Big Train - Ingenious Devices (2023)

The 16th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was an eight piece big band on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, accordion, mandolin, keyboards, flute and vocals.

This album was released after the sad, indeed tragic passing of the vocalist David Longdon in a car accident last year. One of the more more tragic events in the progressive rock scene this century. 

The music is three re-arranged songs plus a short eighty seconds long instrumental and then a live songs with another vocalist. 

It is not a proper, proper studio album with brand new stuff. But this stuff is still unique enough to be new for everyone outside the band. 

David Longdon's vocals are beautiful, beautiful and brings a tear to this reviewer's eyes. 

The music is pastoral symphonic prog with a lot of neo-prog influences. There is lots of strings here, underpinning the vocals.

The music is very beautiful and elegant. It is also very good.

I am not sure what their plans are. But if this is their final studio album, they are going out on top.... although as the result of a tragedy.  

3.5 points

 

Zappa. Frank - One Size Fits All (1975)

The 16th album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the guitars and vocals here.

He got help from some guests who added vibes, percussion, marimba, drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, synths, flutes, harmonica, saxophones and backing vocals.

Every time I am confronted with another Frank Zappa album to review, I wonder what this album will take me. 

Frank Zappa has mainly left his puberile era behind him and started to release albums with musical merits. Some of them in the jazz genre and some more in the rock genre.

On this album, Frank Zappa has taken the best from every genre and era he has visited and put it into a forty-three minutes long album. He has finally mature... Just like a bottle of fine wine.

The music is funky, bluesy, a bit whimsical and a bit jazzy. There are some very, very good guitar solos here. It is most of all a solid rock album. A bit whimsical and quirky, but still a solid rock album.

The vocals is really good and the music is flowing. In retrospective, it is obvious that Prince has been listening to this album. A lot, is my guess. The inspirations is scattered all over his music. 

The songs here are really good. Very good, in fact. I have been told that a lot of people has this album as their favourite Frank Zappa album. I am not surprised.

3.5 points

 

 

Elder - Lore (2015)

The third album from this band from USA.

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

I am continuing my reviews of all their albums. Seven albums, that is.

Elder is a very active band on the tour scene. They had a breakthrough with this album... sort of a breakthrough. Even I became aware of them.

Their music is a mix of stoner rock, space rock and psych rock. The music is not as fiendish cold as stoner rock and it has adopted some of the warmth of from the space rock.

The music is pretty epic too. Epic and bold.

It is also pretty melodic, despite of it being a bit harsh and heavy.

The vocals is good and the music is very complex at times too.

The result is a good album and one to check out. 

3 points

Combination Head - Combination Head (2006)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Two guests added drums on various tracks.

This band released three albums between 2006 and 2011 before they split up.

The band got my attention when I discovered that they were listed as a neo-prog band in ProgArchives. Hence, I got their albums and they are up for reviews this fall.

There is nothing that reminds me about neo-prog on this, their debut album. The band has gone down the road of ELP, Triumvirat and Trace worshipping here. 

Instrumental symphonic prog with some neo-classical music influences in other words. 

The music feels a bit calculated and cold. It is mostly performed by a mix of keyboards and guitars. 

There is no fireworks or fire on this forty minutes long album. This is a decent album but nothing more than that.

2 points

Trojka - I Speilvendthet (2017)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

Some guests added percussion, vibraphone, strings, flute, saxophone and synths.

I reviewed their 2019 second album Tre Ut three years ago for # 2 of this blog and was pretty surprised when a Norwegian progheads forum published a link to their first album too. I promptly got this album too. The reason is that I really liked Tre Ut and it's Canterbury prog.

The band is indeed a Canterbury prog band and that is also very much the case on their debut album too. A good reference is Supersister and their first two albums.

The nine songs here are really quirky and underpinned by some really good Norwegian vocals and the exceptional elegant use of vibraphone. 

This give the band and indeed this album it's very own identity. 

There are some not so good songs here inbetween a couple of very good songs. This is still a good album and one you can get from their Bandcamp page. I am really looking forward to their new album to be released early next year. Add this band to the long list of very good Norwegian progressive rock bands.

3 points

 

 

Soft Machine - Other Doors (2023)

The 13th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, saxophones, fender rhodes piano, flute and electronics.

A guest added bass on two tracks.

This band started out as Soft Machine Legacy before they reverted back to Soft Machine again. This because most of the band members had been members of the good old Soft Machine many decades ago. Soft Machine Legacy should have kept the Soft Machine name from the very start too. This in hindsight. 

The "new" Soft Machine, and indeed Soft Machine Legacy, has seen the band become a more jazz band than a fusion band. 

The jazz is dense and it is at times pastoral and the music is not as melodic. The music is also pretty avant-garde at times.

The music is also good throughout. The musicians does a great job on this album who sadly became the Nucleus/Soft Machine drummer John Marshall's final album before he passed away some weeks ago.

3 points

 

Moongarden - Moonsadness (1994)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

Three guests added guitar, flute and lead vocals.

Moongarden has just released their new album, their tenth album. I have, to my shame, only reviewed three of them and is reviewing three of their albums this fall. Starting with this one....

The band is one of the bigger neo-prog bands in Italy. They have been, and rightly so, associated with the RPI scene too although their music is not RPI. Their music is more British influenced neo-prog.

The band took their first steps, babysteps, on this album. A forty minutes long album.

The sound is very much a mix of the 1980s neo-prog sound and some 1990s neo-prog sound. The songs are pretty poor.

There are some good details here though. Nevertheless, this is a decent album and one they could improve on.

2 points

 

 

Modern Rock Ensemble - Touch The Mystery (2016)

The debut album from this project from Ukraine.

The band is a one-man-band with Vladimir Gorashchenko on electric sitar, guitars, synths and vocals.

He got help from around twenty guests who added drums, bass, percussion, strings, guitars, woodwinds, synths and piano.

This is a bit of a ambitious project who has so far released two albums. Both are up for review here, starting with this album.

There are two vocals tracks here. That is one English and one Russian language version of the opening track who then closes the track again. 

We get a mix of cinematic music and neo-classical music between these two tracks. 

The album is one hour long and it is a bit wishy-washy. There is not many interesting details here and the music is not good.

This is a decent enough album, hiding behind some cover arts who are promising more than the music can deliver. 

2 points

Southern Empire - Another World (2023)

The third album from this band from Australia.

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

Half a dozen of guests added woodwinds, violin, flute, guitars, vocals and narration.

This band was formed by Sean Timms, the leading light in the Australian prog rock scene, after the demise of Unitopia, one the best ever bands from down under.

Southern Empire has on the first two albums claimed this crown and their claim has been a strong one.

Another World gives us a mix of pomp rock and neo-prog. There is also some AOR, art-rock and progressive metal here.

It is my understanding that this is a rock opera and there is indeed some musicals sounding music here. This album also includes a pretty long neo-classical piece. 

The music is very epic and bold. It has a symphonic prog feel too.

The music is also very good and it ticks most of the classic album boxes. Some of the songs could have been better. Nevertheless, this is a very good album from the best band down under.

3.5 points

Drudkh - A Furrow Cut Short (2015)

The tenth album from this band from Ukraine.

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

This band got the prog rock community's attention for their mix of black metal, folk rock and progressive rock on some of their albums.

That was some albums ago.

What we get on A Furrow Cut Short is black metal.

The black metal is fast and furious. It is also pretty epic. The vocals is raw and screamo.

We get one hour of black metal here. The music is not bad at all and this band is among my favourite black metal bands. This is not a long list, though. But their take on black metal is one I can live with.

This is a decent album. But beware, this is not an album for prog rock purists.

2 points

Voivod - Voivod (2003)

The tenth album from this band from Canada.

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

The band is celebrating their tenth album with this, a self-titled album. Releasing ten albums is a major achievement. In particular in the genres this band is jumping between.

The original vocalist Snake has returned again and the band has recruited the ex Metallica and Flotsam & Jetsam bassist for this album. You can even hear his bass on this album. 

His bass is indeed adding a lot of value to a much changed landscape from the previous two albums. We are back in grunge and stoner rock again. There are even some heavy metal influences here.

The music is pretty avant-garde. This is still Voivod and the same philosophy. 

The music is pretty melodic though. But this is not a melodic album. The music is still quirky and eclectic. This also very much helped by the snarling vocals.

The music is also very hard at times.

The result is a good album. It is not one of their best ones. But it rocks and there is enough details here to really make this album both interesting and good.

3 points

Führs & Fröhling - Diary (1981)

The third and final album from this duo from Germany.

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

Detlef Wiedecke was the drummer on this album, taking over from Eduard Schicke.

The Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling released altogether seven albums. Four as Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling and three as Fuhrs & Frohling. The last one was released in 2011. All of them in the krautrock, neo-classical and symphonic prog genres.

The forty minutes long Diary sees the band in a landscape somewhere between neo-classical music and symphonic prog. 

There are a lot of Eloy influences here. But most of all does the Mike Oldfield influences shines through on this album. Tubular Bells is an album which must have inspired this album a lot.

The result is a decent enough album and perhaps their weakest album. 

This trio, even as a duo, called Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling is still well worth checking out. Start with their first two albums, their two best albums. 

2 points

 

 

Malesh - Hermitage (2020)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

A guest added tabla on one track.

This band has so far released two albums through their Bandcamp page and they are now a quartet.

The music is Middle-East folk rock influenced post metal. And there is not a single RPI tone or influence in their music.

The music is very cinematic and has a lot of space-rock influenses too. It is also medium heavy and hard.

There is some light and shade on this album..... contrasts. Most of this thirty-five minutes long album is cinematic with some space rock filling in the gaps. 

The result is a good album and one to check out. It is a Bandcamp album and some time on their webpage is well spent time.

3 points

ArcaMiri - Spine (2022)

The second full length album from this band from Italy.

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

I have in # 2 of this blog reviewed their EP and their 2019 debut full length album. I noted that their music was a mix of eclectic prog, RPI and jazz.

The band has still the same lineup.

The band has made a subtle change when it comes to the music.

Most of the eclectic prog, the King Crimson and the Piccho Dal Pozzo and Stormy Six influences has gone. 

The band has instead gone down towards a mix of RPI and vocal jazz. That means female vocals.

The band is far from being a run of the mill RPI band and most RPI fans will find this music a bit outside their musical preferences.

The music is pretty good though. My only gripe is that there is not enough good music on this one hour long album. It is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Hanlon's Razor - Stockholm (2023)

The second album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

I was not particular impressed by their 2021 debut album Paradigm. Art-rock meets King Crimson. That and some pretty decent but still disappointing music.

Dutch neo-prog and progressive rock has a pretty good name & reputation in my office. Hence, I normally get albums from The Netherlands only based on their good name. 

Hanlon's Razor has moved on from Paradigm and their music is more a mix of art-rock and neo-prog on Stockholm. There are some heavy prog here too and some Porcupine Tree influences are very evident here.

The music is very muscular. This forty-five minutes long album is an improvement on their debut album... but not by much. The quality is somewhere between decent and good.

It is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Cross - Da Capo (2014)

The tenth album from this band from Sweden.

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

A guest added more keyboards.

This is not really a new studio album with new songs. Song 1 has been taken from their second album and songs 2-5 is from their third album. They are re-arranged and re-recorded.

Hence the Da Capo album title..... and I discovered it too late. If I had seen this in the beginning, I may have given this forty-six minutes long album a miss.

The music is a mix of art-rock, pomp rock and AOR. There is also some 1980s neo-prog here.

The vocals and the sound is good. 

The quality of the music is decent enough without really impressing me. The music is too anonymous and too much like most of the songs in this genre.

This also concludes my handful of reviews of this band. Their best album by many country miles is the 2009 album The Thrill Of Nothingness. The rest of the albums falls a bit short.

2 points

Acid Rooster - Flowers & Dead Souls (2023)

The second album from this band from Germany.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitar, sitar, synths and mellotron.

This band from Leipzig album debuted in 2019 and then took a long break. Perhaps a pandemic break. The band then returned with this Bandcamp album and LP.

The music is, as most people would have guessed by now, a mix of kraut, acid and space rock. 

There is a lot of half-acoustic guitars in their music and that gives this album a pretty good organic feel. This also gives the music a great deal of an acid rock feel. Even some psych rock feel.

Most of this forty-five minutes long album takes place somewhere in space. Not in outer space, but still in a space rock setting.

The music is cleverly crafted and groovy at the same time. There is a lot of melodic sensibility in the music too.

The synths and mellotron is mainly backing up the guitars. A wall of bass and drums is underpinning the grooves and the music.

The result is a good album and one to check out if kraut and space rock floats your boat. 

Check it out.

3 points

Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt (2004)

The third album from this band from Sweden.

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

Five guests added drums, violin, saxophone and vocals.

The band continued with their third album. Someone told me that this is their best album... their masterpiece. Well....

The music here is mix of folk rock and Scandinavian symphonic prog. Add on some punk, a bit neo-classical music and a considerable amount of eclectic prog.

There is some Kaipa influences here. But most of all, Dungen is themselves and their own genre. A genre later also occupied by Agusa, a new Swedish band.

The vocals is very good and the main theme in this largely conceptual fifty-five minutes long piece of music is good to very good.

The overall quality is very good. A masterpiece.... nope. Nevertheless, check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Ghost - Opus Eponymous (2010)

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

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

This band has become one of the bigger rock bands in the last ten years and that has awakened my curiosity. Hence, I got their five albums for review this fall.  

Is this band as hollow and cartoon like as Gwar ? That was my first question. I had no idea what to expect.

This album was self-released and became a sensation. The lyrics are satanic and the stage personas a bit over the top. Well, far over the top. 

The music is a mix of indie rock and heavy metal. There are some goth here too. 

Ghost has not reinvented the wheel with the music on this album. It comes across as a bit heavy metal light, although with satanic lyrics. 

The quality of the music is decent enough. The band is a cleverly marketed and their stage personas is what made this band such a force to be reckoned with in the music business. The music.... nope.

2 points

Schicke & Führs & Fröhling - Ticket To Everywhere (1979)

The third album from this band from Germany.

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

This trio was to a certain degree pretty similar til ELP and can be labeled as krautrock's answer to ELP. Which is a pretty precise label too.

The music is a lively mix of kraut and symphonic prog. Eloy is a good reference too.

The music is mid tempo with a lot of neo-classical and German folk music references. A lot of the beer kellers in Munich during the festival springs to mind.

It is well performed and just proves that this is a band who deserve a lot more attention and credit.

This is an enjoyable, although not always a good album. Check it out.

2.5 points

 

 

Montes - Cuando Brille El Tiempo (1974)

The one and only album from this band from Argentina.

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

Three guests added drums, electric piano and bass.

This is a very obscure band focused around the guitarist Jorge Montes. He was a member of various bands in Argentina before he went solo and recorded this album. The band then relocated to Bolivia and Equador where they split up and vanished without a trace.

This is the story I have heard and I have therefore included it here.

The music is a mix of hard rock, rock and progressive rock. Early Rush anno their debut album is a pretty good reference. Budgie from Wales also springs to mind.

The vocals are Spanish male vocals and they are rather good. The sound is far better than expected and rather good too.

The music is pretty hard throughout. There are a couple of pastoral ballads here and they are interesting. The guitars are hard and there are some interesting solos here.

The quality of the music is decent enough. It is not hard to understand why this is a forgotten obscure album. It is still an album well worth checking out from wherever it is available.

2 points

BrokenMan - Songs in the Absence of Light (2023)

The debut album from this band from Liverpool, Great Britain.

This is a duo and the lineup is guitars, bass, electronics and vocals.

This album was pushed to me as a progressive rock album..... I quite like the art-work and wanted to include it in this blog, making it more arty/an art gallery.

It is one of the many art-rock albums who are dipping into both indie rock and post-rock. It also has some neo-prog influences. A progressive rock album ? Not in a strict sense.

The music is melodic and fresh. The post-rock influences shines through here. The music is not a million miles away from Anathema. 

In short, Anathema fans must check out this Bandcamp album. Both bands are from Liverpool, btw.

The music is not very complex. The vocals is good and there are some good details here.

The result is fifty-five minutes of decent to good music. Music that will find a lot of friends if the band manages to get this album known and well marketed in an overcrowded marketplace.

2.5 points

 

 

Hanlon's Razor - Paradigm (2021)

The debut album from The Netherlands.

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

A guest added his bass to this album.

Hanlon's Razor is a bit of a strange band..... At least on this album. The band released their new, second album earlier this year and I will review that album later this week.

Back to their music.... Let's start with art-rock and add a lot of eclectic prog. Eclectic prog in the vein of King Crimson anno their Beat album. 

There are also some pretty strong americana and psych rock influences here.

This album is a bit of a challenge. Challenge because it falls way short of the quality level I foolishly expected from this album. Dutch progressive rock normally has some pretty high standards.

The songs here are not particular good. Neither is the vocals and the guitars. The result is a decent album but nothing more than that.

2 points