Sentiero di Taus. Il - Novilunio (2024)

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

The band released their debut album in 2013 and their second album in 2018. Both of them has been reviewed in # 2 of this series of blogs.

Their first two albums was very different from each other. The first one was more post-rock influenced. The second one was more in the RPI genre.

Their third album, this one, is barely half an hour long. It has a blend of both the above mentioned styles. 

Take indie rock, add some post-punk and some post-rock. Then add some RPI and Italian folk rock. Then you get this album.

The album has a nervous ambience and the tempo is rather speedy. 

The Italian vocals is rather good and the musical landscapes here are rather decent. There are a couple of good pieces of music here but those does not make this a good album from one of the most strange bands in the RPI scene.

This is a decent enough album. But don't expect a traditional RPI album. It is anything but a traditional RPI album.

2 points

 

 

Bodin. Tomas - Pinup Guru (2002)

The second album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, keyboards, organ, electric piano and samples.

Tomas Bodin returned again after his not so great debut album.

He got help from two other members of The Flower Kings on this album.... but not Roine Stolt this time. So this album has no guitars in other words.

Cinematic rock and movie soundtracks is the genre Tomas Bodin has chosen in his solo career and that is what we get on this eighty minutes long album.

The album starts with some sampled/keyboards generated church organs and a psalm sounding piece of music before it moves on to a more classical music influenced cinematic rock area.

Tomas Bodin is a great musician and so is the two others here. The music is more on the dull and pretty predictable end of the scale. The music is very cheesy at times. 

We are in December now and the festive season. The music here is for festive occasions, indeed. But it is still too cheesy.....

Nevertheless, this is a decent album and one to enjoy if cinematic rock is your thing.

2 points

 

 

Borknagar - The Olden Domain (1997)

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

This band was and still is a progressive black metal band and one of the biggest ones in this scene. 

I reviewed their 1996 self-titled debut album back in June 2009 for ProgArchives and you can read the review here. It was my plan then to review all their albums up to that date and continue to review Borknagar albums on their release. That did not happen and it is only now I will start to review the rest of their albums. Reviews will be published on a regular basis this winter and next spring.

The Olden Domain is still very much a black metal album. It is not as raw as old style black metal, though. There is a lot of viking metal influences here too. 

Their music has been described as a more black metal focused version of Enslaved's music and that is exactly what we get here.

The music is heavy and pretty raw. The rasping black metal vocals from Garm in Ulver is prominent here. The music is pretty epic but still true to the black metal formula.

The music is decent enough and it proved that the band has both talent and quality. This is an album well worth checking out.

2 points

 

 

 

Tucana - Tucana (2012)

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

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

This band released two albums before they gave up the ghost. Both albums has been hanging around in my office for the last five years and will now finally be reviewed this month.

The music here is power metal. Power metal with a lot of gothic classical music influences and some progressive metal influences.

The vocals is pretty muscular and so is the music too.

There is a lot of goth rock and goth classical music throughout these sixty-six minutes. The music is also pretty complex.

I am no fan of power metal. This album is not a standard power metal album as it incorporates so many other genres. 

The result is indeed a decent album and one I find a bit enjoyable. 

Check out this album if you want an unusual power and progressive metal album.

 2 points

 

 

Trk Project - Mr. Scrooge (2019)

The third album from this band from Poland.

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

This is the follow up to their rather good two first albums, reviewed earlier this year on this blog. I will also review their fourth album later this year.

Karolina Leszko is still on the vocals here and her vocals is very good. They are not as operatic as on the first two albums, though.

The music is a mix of neo-prog and art-rock. There are also some musicals influences in their music.

This time, Magenta from UK is a good reference. The type of vocals is pretty similar to Magenta on Home. 

The music is melodic and pretty epic. It has some good guitar solos too.

This is by far not their best album as parts of this three quarters of an hour long album is not up to this band's normal high standards. It is still an album well worth checking out if melodic progressive rock is your thing.

2.5 points

Actionfredag - Lys Fremtid I Morke (2024)

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

They got help from a dozen of guests who provided bass synths, glockenspiel, ebow guitars, slide guitars, violin, woodwinds and cymbals.

Last year's debut album Turist I Eget Liv was a good album in the Canterbury prog genre. It got the band a lot of attention too. 

So the band returned earlier this year for the follow up album.

The music is still playful and jazzy Canterbury prog. This time with a lot of female voices and vocals in addition to the male voices and vocals. 

The woodwinds is adding to the quirky jazzy prog on this album. Playful is indeed a good description of the music on this forty minutes long album.

Most of the music is instrumental with female and male voices who works as instruments.

The music is quirky throughout and good too.

This is indeed a good album and Canterbury prog fans should check out this album.

3 points

Kosmodome - Ad Undas (2024)

  

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

The debut album was a hard rocking psych rock album. It put the band firmly on the map. 

I also noted their Motorpsycho influences on the debut album. These are back again here, these influences.

The music is less hard and heavy this time around. They have been replaced with some Canterbury influenced psych rock. There is also a lot of Gentle Giant and some Yes influences on this album.

The vocals is good and their guitars are quirky and good. The music is indeed quirky and eclectic. 

The music on this forty minutes long album is also nerdy and weird. There is still some melodies here.

The result is a good album indeed. The band is following an interesting path and I hope we will hear a lot more from them in the future.

3 points

Aurora Clara - IV (2024)

The fourth album from this band from Spain.

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

Three guests added percussion, keyboards and clarinet.

I have really enjoyed this band's first three albums and I regard this band as one of this year's best finds.

It seems like I am not the only one who has fallen for their Mahavishnu Orchestra like fusion. They have gotten some followers around the world.

Their first three albums are all very good and the band was under pressure, or perhaps not, to follow up with the same quality.

Their third album, Dreams from 2023, saw the band incorporate a lot of Spanish folk music into their fusion. A diffferent album but still a very good album.

The band has retreated a bit back from the Spanish folk music scene and gone a bit more back to the fusion on the first two albums. There is still some flamenco and folk here. But not so much as there are fusion.

There is a lot of flutes and flutes solos on this three quarters of an hour long album. There are also some very tasty guitars and keyboards here.

The tempo is a mix of fast and mid-tempo. 

The result is a groovy fusion album and another very good album from this band. This is an album well worth checking out and a gift to all fusion fans. Of the new fusion bands, this band can become the best, if they not already are the best current generation of fusion bands.

3.5 points

 

 

Morse. Neal - No Hill for a Climber (2024)

The 33rd album from this artist from USA.

Neal Morse did percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals here. 

He had help from around ten musicians, which I guess is The Resonance, who added drums, bass, guitars, cello, viola, violin, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

This is his third album this year. The first one, The Restoration Joseph # 2 got a very good rating in this blog back in January this year. The second album is a singer/songwriter album and therefore bypassed and not reviewed in this blog. 

No Hill For A Climber is his first without Mike Portney who has returned to Dream Theater.

Neal Morse is still giving us sixty-eight minutes of US symphonic prog with his new musicians. This genre, this type of music is what very few, if any, does better than him. Both as a solo artist and in his two previous bands Spock's Beard and Transatlantic.

We get soaring, high epic symphonic prog inbetween some more down to earth progressive rock. It feels a bit predictable and his latest symphonic prog rock albums has been pretty predictable. It is still very good music and I should not be complaining as this is what I really want from Neal Morse. Be careful what you wish for......

OK, some of the music is a bit cheesy. Nevertheless, there are some great stuff here too.

The overall quality is therefore very good and this is another output from Neal Morse I really find hugely enjoyable.

Check it out.

3.5 points

 

 

Motorpsycho - Begynnelser (2017)

The 20th album from this band from Norway.

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

This is the soundtrack for a theatre production for Trondelag Theater in Trondheim, Norway. It had a seven week long run and the band was playing the music live every night. This album also comes with a DVD with the full production and some background scenes.

The music is very different from the normal fare from this band. It is still well within the DNA profile of this band as it explores the more experimental part of this band.

The label "chamber RIO/avant-garde music" is the best label here. 

The music is very minimalistic and does indeed sounds like a soundtrack. 

This album is a weird album in the Motorpsycho discography and totally different from the rest of their albums. The music on this forty-five minutes long album is weirdly enough pretty melodic and engaging.

This is indeed a decent album but not the first Motorpsycho album I would get if I did not know this band. Still... it is well worth checking out.

2 points

Triumph - Thunder Seven (1984)

The seventh album from this band from Canada.

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

A handful of guests added keyboards, synths, programming and backing vocals.

The band returned to a scene where the NWOBHM scene had taken over the hard rock scene and they had got some good company from the hairspray scene in Los Angeles too. So Triumph and the hard rock bands from the 1970s were under heavy (metal) attack from all directions.

But Triumph played on.

The sound has been modernised and the band now sounds like a 1980s band..... Nevertheless...... The band has also incorporated some very notable Led Zeppelin influences in their music.

I am not a fan of the 1980s sound. Nevertheless, the band has actually managed to come up with some improvements to their music. The Led Zeppelin influences has added some real value to the songs where the band has plundered Led Zeppelin. 

The vocals is as always good and the band does a good job. There are some cringeworthy castrato vocals here though and some heavy metal stuff we could have been without. Still.... this is a decent to good album. Check it out.

2.5 points

Trefle - Reflet (1978)

The one and only album from this band from France.

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

This band only released this album and they released it on a very obscure record label. The LP is very difficult to find and it has yet to be re-released on CD. Something this album deserve. 

The music on this half an hour long album is French symphonic prog. The vocals is in French and they are very good.

The most obvious, and indeed correct, reference here is Ange. Add Mona Lisa and Atoll too and you get the picture. Of the newer bands.... Magnesis is an even better reference. 

There is also some Eloy in their sound too and their take on symphonic prog has some psych rock influences.

The sound is a bit flat... Nevertheless, the music here is really good and a reminder how good the French symphonic prog scene is. 

This good album deserve a lot more attention and indeed a re-release. Check it out.

3 points

 

 

Tirith. The - Return of the Lydia (2022)

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Two guests added piano and backing vocals.

The band returned after three years and some concerts around Great Britain. I have reviewed theirf first two albums in # 1 and # 2 of this blog. They are decent enough albums but not particular impressive albums.

The music on this sixty-seven minutes long album is a crossover between psych rock, modern neo-prog and heavy prog. 

The music is pretty melodic and is influenced by both Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree. There is also some Rush influences here.

The sound has this post millenium modern prog sound. A good sound and the same can be said about the vocals.

The art of great song writing has eluded this band though. The album is pleasent enough but not all songs are good and up to a respectable standard. I have yet to be impressed by this band, I am afraid.

2.5 points

 

 

 

Red Sand - Pain't Box (2024)

The eleventh album from this band from Canada.

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

This is a band I have been following for the last ten-fifteen years. The quality has not always been good but most of their albums has made me a bit of a fan of this band.

We get four short tracks and one half an hour long suite on this album. That takes us up to almost fifty minutes worth of music.

The music is complex at times. It is still laidback and can be best described as a blend of the more melodic end of Pink Floyd meets some more complex symphonic prog and neo-prog.

The tempo is middle-tempo and slower.

The vocals are pretty good but still the weakest link on this album.

The music is a mix of good pieces and decent pieces. This is not their finest fifty minutes, this album. Nevetheless, this is still not a bad album and it is well worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

 

Kosmodome - Kosmodome (2021)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

Three guests added bass, guitars, keyboards and effects.

This duo is the brothers Severin and Sturla Sandvik. They have so far released two albums and the second album, this year's album, is up for review later this week.

The two brothers are evidently influenced by Motorpsycho. That is.... Motorpsycho at their most psych rock and hard rocking phase.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is indeed hard psych rock. It has some weird and quirky details throughout. It also got some weird rhythms and melody pieces.

The music is at times very hard. Hard but not heavy. 

The vocals is good and the music is compact without any long solos.

The music is also good throughout and this is a weird, quirky piece of music. Check it out if hard psych rock is your thing.

3 points

Aurora Clara - Dreams (2023)

The third album from this band from Spain.

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

The band returned again for their third album after releasing two very good albums. 

The first two albums gave us some fusion in the vein of Mahavishnu Orchestra. The music was very fast at times.

One year has gone and there has been some changes when it comes to the music.

The tempo has been slowed down and the band has incorporated some flamenco and other Spanish folk music into their brand of fusion.

There is still some Mahavishnu Orchestra influences here and fans of that band will also really enjoy this album. It can be argued that Aurora Clara has inherited Mahavishnu Orchestra's land and sound.

There is still a lot of very good solos here. Flutes, saxophones, guitars and keyboards solos. 

 This album also showcases another side of this hugely impressive band. The band can slow down, incorporate Spanish music and still be as good as they were on the first two albums. That is pretty impressive.

Dreams is indeed a very good album and one to check out if fusion and Spanish folk is your thing. I am again pretty impressed by this band.

3.5 points

 

 

 

Circuline - C.O.R.E (2024)

The third album from this band from USA.

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

Three guests added guitars, violins and vocals.

This is their comeback album after a far too long break.... eight years or so. This band now has members from some well known bands. It is indeed some sort of a supergroup.

The music here is a blend of progressive folk rock and symphonic prog. There are also some psych rock influences in their music.

The vocals is a mix of female and male vocals. There is a lot of vocals on this album. The mix between the keyboards and the guitars are very good.

The music is both warm and organic too. 

The overall quality of the music on this one hour long album is very good with a lot of very good details. It is obvious that the members and the writers of the songs here are vastly experienced. The music still sounds fresh and very much modern. 

Check out this album if both folk and symphonic prog is your thing.

3.5 points

Asfalto - ¡¡Ahora!! (1979)

The fourth album from this band from Spain.

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

The previous album, the 1978 album Al Otro Lado was a very prog rock influenced album. Yes is a good reference here.

How to follow up that album ?

The band retreated back to a much more hard rock territory on Ahora, this album. 

The music is pretty hard and has some catchy tunes. The Canadian band Triumph is a good reference here. 

The Spanish vocals and some Latin folk rock influences makes it clear that both the band and this album comes from Spain and not from an English speaking area. 

The music is clever and rather quirky throughout this album. A forty minutes long album who also includes some good vocals.

The result is somewhere between decent and good. There is some good songs here and some decent songs here. This is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Tusmørke - Intetnett (2022)

The ninth album from this band from Norway.

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

A children choir also added their voices.

The band returned after the good Nordisk Krim album from 2021. An album that gave me hope after a couple of turkeys and substandard albums.

This band has a sense of humour which can be compared to Daevid Allen in Gong and solo-albums. In the case of this band, that includes the use of children choirs.

The songs on this one hour long album is the children ditties and some acid folk pieces of music.

The songs here, the twenty-one songs here are mostly dire. There are some decent acid folk pieces here and that is the only saving grace here. 

This is another failure, a half-decent album from this band.

1.5 points

Tellus Requiem - Invictus (2013)

The second and final album from this band from Norway.

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

The band is a power metal band and one of the first big power metal bands from Norway. Their albums sold reasonably well and they were soon followed by some other other power metal bands in Norway.

I was not impressed by their self-titled 2010 debut album. I am not a fan of power metal at all. 

The band continues down the same path as they wandered on during their debut album.

This seventy minutes long album is full of fast and powerful power metal songs. There are a couple of ballads interrupting this flow of power metal.

The guitar solos are chaotic and fast. The vocals are a bit castrato.

The result is a half decent album who are too true to the genre and is not offering much of a personality.

Power metal fans should check out this album.

1.5 points

Telegraph Avenue - Vol 2 (1975)

The second and final album from this band from Peru.

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

This is the final sign of life from this band before the military junta took over Peru and banned rock music for a while. It was recorded despite of numerous problems during the recording session.

It is hard to really publish an honest review in 2024 as I have all the sympathies in the world for the musicians in this band. Musicians who experienced some pretty extreme hardship before, under and after the recording of this album.

The music is a mix of rock and psych rock. It is pretty hard rocking too.

The music was pretty obsolete anno 1975 and 2024. The music is basically late 1960s with a poor sound.

There is still a lot of evidence here that the band were a good band. Some of the songs are pretty decent.

This is still not an album I would recommend. It is what it is.... a snapshot of Peru from those days.

1.5 points

 

 

Beardfish - Songs for Beating Hearts (2024)

The ninth album from this band from Sweden.

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

A female vocalist delivered vocals on one track.

This band is back after a nine years long break. They have really been missed as they are regarded as one of the better prog bands in Europe.

I have reviewed their albums in # 1 and # 2 of this blog and rated them highly.

The music here is an eclectic prog take on Scandinavian symphonic prog. You will find a lot of The Flower Kings in their music. Ditto for Gentle Giant too. There is also some The Tangent here (the band + Andy Tillison was once this band). 

The music is very complex and not so melodic. It still has some great melodic pieces.

The vocals is very good and the organ sound is great. Not all music here is great but there is a lot of great music here.

This is another must-have album from this band who never really disappoint the prog rock fans. Get this album.

3.5 points

Unit Of Inheritance - Reckoning (2024)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band is following up their The Impossible album from last year with this album.

The music is again heavy prog with some neo-prog influences. References are the likes of Rush, Porcupine Tree, Frost* and Dream Theater.

The music is both complex and bold. It is also pretty melodic too.

It is also catchy and quirky. It also got a lot of interesting details.

The vocals is good and so is the music. The sound has a contemporary feel and it feels compact and epic.

This album is an improvement on the debut album and one to check out if heavy prog and/or neo-prog is your thing.

3 points

Unit8 - The Second Arch (2024)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This is the follow up to their self-titled debut album from 2022. 

Their debut album was a fairly good album and I had hopes for the follow up album.

Their debut album had a mix of art-rock and neo-prog. More art than neo, though. The music was intelligent with influences from both Gentle Giant and The Beatles.

On this, the follow up, the band is far more neo-prog than art-rock. There are also some cleverly crafted music here in the vein of the final Rush albums.

The vocals are a bit limited and fairly good. But they are still acceptable. The music is still intelligent but also a bit naive. 

There are some really good songs here and the band has upped their game from the debut album.

This is indeed a good album and well worth checking out from their Bandcamp site.

3 points

Quanah Parker - Nel Castello delle Fate (2024)

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

A guest provides vocals on one track.

I have reviewed their first two albums for # 2 of this blog and they are very good albums. Hence I jumped on the chance to review their new album.

The music here is a mix of many genres. Take RPI, add in some fusion, Italian folk rock and a lot of eclectic prog.

The vocals are in Italian and they are female vocals. Some very good vocals, it is.

The music is both complex and eclectic. It is pretty melodic too, but still not easy listening music.  

There is a lot of quirky details on this one hour long album. Quirky details which makes this a good album and an album all RPI fans should check out.

Check out this album and their first two albums too.

3 points

 

 

Wilson. Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015)

The fourth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Steven Wilson did the bass, banjo, guitars, dulcimer, keyboards, programming and vocals here.

He was supported by some guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, chapman stick, strings, celesta, piano, organ, keyboards, synths, woodwinds, narrations, choir and vocals.

Steven Wilson continues with his mix of art-rock, cinematic rock and indie rock. 

This sixty-seven minutes long album very much follows on in the footsteps of the previous two albums. 

There are a lot more ambient music and cinematic rock here though and the music has become less hard than on previous albums.

The music has also become less songs orientated than on previous albums. The music is more floating around than before.

The music here is not as great here either.

This is still a good album and one to check out from the most prolifient prog rock artist since the end of the last century.

Check out this album.

3 points

Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear (1976)

The seventh album from this band from Germany.

The band was a trio with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, grand piano, mellotron, moog, organ, harpsichord, birotron and mouth organ.

This is the final album by the Baumann/Froese/Franke lineup. That does not tells me much as I am not a fan of this band or know this band.

Electronic music is not a genre I really like. But since this is one of the bigger bands in the prog rock genre, I am reviewing some of their albums this winter.

The music here is surprisingly dynamic with a lot of pretty interesting melodic themes. There is a very good flute like sound through this album too. 

The title track is actually a good piece of music. The rest is not much worse either.

To my surprise...... This is a good album and one I enjoy a lot. 

This is a good album and their best so far. Even those with a sceptical view on this genre should check out this album.

3 points

Tellus Requiem - Tellus Requiem (2010)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band released two albums in 2010 and 2013 before they split up. I will post a review of their second album sometimes this weekend.

Norway also got a pretty big power metal, prog metal and heavy metal scene. It is not as known as the black metal scene (nobody has been murdered and no churches torched.....), but it is still a big scene.

Tellus Requiem was one of the first bands and one of the bigger bands in the scene ten - fifteen years ago. 

The music here is power metal. References are bands like Symphony X and the many German bands in this genre.

Their take on power metal is a bit run-of-the-mill songs which is true to the genre and it's formula. 

The vocals is good and there is a lot of guitar solos here which again is true to the power metal formula.

The result is a half-decent album which does not offer anything new to the scene. Power metal fans should check out this album.

1.5 points

Telegraph Avenue – Telegraph Avenue (1972)

The debut album from this band from Peru.

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

This band released two albums before a military junta closed down this and other rock bands in Peru in the middle of the 1970s. I will post a review of their second album in some days time.

The music on this half an hour long album is a mix of 1960s beat and psych rock.

The music are very much caught in the 1960s vein. They sounds a bit naive, innocent and naked. 

The songs are pretty decent and has some qualities.

The vocals is good and the band does a good job despite of their lack of resources. The sound is not particular good. It is decent though.

The result is a decent album which sounds like it is stuck in the 1960s. Not bad, not bad at all.

2 points

 

 

 

 

Aliante - Anime Invisibili (2024)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, didgeridoo, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute, bassoon and effects.

The band continues with their instrumental take on symphonic prog. Or perhaps RPI ? The music here is not really RPI.

The music is a blend of symphonic prog and cinematic rock with some neo-classical music influences.

I have to admit that instrumental symphonic prog and cinematic rock is not two very exciting or engaging members of the progressive rock family. Camel raised the bar in this genre and few, far too few, has managed to release albums on their level.

That said.... the music on this album is not bad at all. The music has a strange keyboards sound but that is just adding some interest and quality to this forty minutes long album. 

The music sounds like music from an alien planet and that perhaps on purpose. Some of the music is even good here. But some of it does not reach that level.

I am yet to be won over by this band and their genre. Nevertheless, this is an interesting album, well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Unit Of Inheritance - The Impossible (2023)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band has four well grown up men and the parells to another British band with a similar name, Unit8, is many. The music is very different, though.

The music is a mix of art-rock and heavy prog.

Take some Porcupine Tree and add in with some Marillion and Dream Theater. Then you get something like this album.

The music is very symphonic at times. Symphonic and heavy as in progressive metal. 

The music is indeed muscular on this forty minutes long album. Muscular and melodic too at times. 

The vocals are fairly decent without really being good. The musicians does a good job.

The album has some good bits and some decent bits. It is an acceptable debut album. The band has just released their second album and a review of that album will be posted pretty soon.

2.5 points

Unit8 - Unit8 (2022)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band comes from Alnwick in the north-eastern corner of England. I have passed through it several times on my way from Edinburgh to Newcastle. A nice little town. The band has so far released two albums and a review of their second album will be posted soon in this blog.

The musicians here are well into their fifties, age wise.

The music here is a mix of standard rock and art-rock. There are also some The Beatles influences here.

The music on this one hour long album is rather quirky with some subtle Gentle Giant influences. The music is most of all melodic. 

The band has labeled their music as intelligent rock and there is no doubts the band is pretty much spot on here.

The vocals is good and the band does a good job on some pretty quirky, complicated songs. There is no really outstanding songs here and that is the only gripe I got with this album.

The result is an acceptable debut album and one to check out if melodic, quirky intelligent rock is your thing.

2.5 points

Frost - Life In The Wires (2024)

 The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Frost* is a kind of a supergroup which now has some of the most active musicians in the British neo-prog scene. I have reviewed most of their albums and will review the albums I have yet to review sometimes next year.

This band is one of the bigger bands in the British and international neo-prog and art-rock scene.

Their music has always been very muscular with some prog metal influences. The music on this double album is no exception from that rule.

The music has a lot of very hard pieces. There is also some more pastoral pieces.

There is a lot of contrasts between very heavy art-rock and some more pastoral neo-prog here. The music also has some elements of concept albums and rock operas. 

The vocals is very good and so is most of the music here. There is some pieces of substandard music here though..

Nevertheless, this is a very good album and fans of this genre has probably already, and rightfully so, purchased this album. This album just proves why this band is one of the best bands in the art-rock and neo-prog scene.

3.5 points

Bodin. Tomas - An Ordinary Night in My Ordinary Life (1996)

The debut album from this artist from Sweden.

Tomas Bodin did the organ, piano, mellotron, synths and voices here.

A handfull of guests added percussion, drums, bass, guitars, effects and voices.

Tomas Bodin is mostly known for his cooperation with Roine Stolt and The Flower Kings. He has released ten solo albums and they are all up for reviews in this blog during this winter and spring.

Roine Stolt does indeed do the guitars here and some bass. His brother Michael Stolt also contributed on the bass.

The music here is a mix of symphonic prog and cinematic rock. All of this instrumental music.

The music sounds sterile throughout. There are some avant-garde ambient stuff in the middle of this sixty-six minutes long album which does not sounds good at all.

Most of the music is based on organ and synths. There are some good mellotron and church-organ like sounds too here. But these themes are far, far too short.

This album sounds too much like a run-of-the-mill cinematic rock album and that is what it is. 

The music is decent enough but not that inspiring. Tomas Bodin must do better on the next albums. 

2 points

Aurora Clara - Clear Dawn (2022)

The second album from this band from Spain.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of congas, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and flute.

A guest added violin on one track.

Their 2019 debut album Transformation was a big, positive surprise to me with it's Mahavishnu Orchestra like fusion. A very good album indeed.

The music here.... the fusion here is still very much in the Mahavishnu Orchestra vein. 

The fusion is also breathtaking fast and ferocious. The speed is 200 miles an hour with some more slow parts inbetween. The music is still pretty melodic.

There is not as many solos here as on the debut album. The violin is more or less gone, with the exception of the opening track, the title track. Flutes has taken over the role of the violin. There is some short and fast flutes and guitar solos here.

The band sounds more like a unit on this album. There is a lot of very interesting details here.

Although sligtly weaker than the debut album, this is still a very good album and one to really enjoy. The fusion scene too is alive and well. 

3.5 points

Testa Barbada - Rastros (2017)

The one and only album from this band from Peru.

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

I know next to nothing about this band. I therefore have to go on what I have found online. Which is next to nothing.

It is pretty rare to find new prog bands from Peru these days as this genre has been in a bit in decline in Peru since the 1970s. 

Testa Barbada gives us forty minutes of a mix of psych rock and art rock. Add in some Latin folk rock and hard rock too and you get my drift. 

The music is both dynamic and pretty melodic. The vocals is pretty good and the band does a good job on some pretty decent to good songs.

The sound is surprisingly good and the band has obviously spent some good resources on getting this very good sound.

This album is forty minutes long and it is an album somewhere between decent and good. It is an album the band should be very satisifed with and an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

Teatro Temporaneamente Traballante - Capannone B (1974)

The one and only album from this project from Italy.

The project was a theater ensemble with a lineup of symphony orchestra instruments and a choir.

In my eagernes to find obscure RPI albums and bands, I have sometimes got it wrong and picked up Italian pop or metal albums instead. Or album from theater ensembles.

This album is a forty minutes long theatrical pop album performed with a choir of mostly female vocalists. The choir is on the top of some strings and woodwinds.

The music sounds pretty and innocent. The lyrics may be extreme left wing or catholic for all I know as I do not speak or understand their language.... the Italian language.

There is nothing joyable about this album and I have evidently picked up an album which has nothing in common with RPI or progressive rock whatsoever. The music here is pretty dire too and this is an album best avoided.

1 point

 

 

Versa - A Voyage / A Destination # 2 (2024)

The fourth album from this band from Canada.

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

The band comes from Victoria on the large Vancouver Island just outside Vancouver on the west side of Canada. 

I had the joy of reviewing their third album, the 2022 album The Voyage/A Destination in this blog. This, the 2024 album is the follow up, the continuation of the 2022 album. 

Their 2022 album was a good album so I jumped on the chance to review the follow up album.

The music is still indie rock, merged with ambient post rock, progressive rock, art rock, jazz and folk rock. Add a lot of cinematic rock too and you get my drift.

There is eleven short tracks and the eighteen minutes long Artemis opus on this album. This one hour long album sounds like one big piece of music and should indeed be regarded as such. There is no hit singles here, in other words.

The music is at times very softly spoken. The vocals is a mix of male and female vocals. They are both good vocals. The music is also elegant. 

The quality of the music is good throughout and this is an album that prog fans should check out.

3 points

 

 

 

Amon Düül - Fööl Moon (1989)

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

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

The band returned for the final stab at some fame and fortune.

The previous Amon Duul had a couple of Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles members. Robert Calvert and the Ozric Tentacles members are still around on this album too. Gone is the female vocals, though.

We get three quarters of an hour with some animal sounds and some improvised krautrock and space rock. Something very different again from their first three albums.

The music is a crossover between Amon Duul II and Hawkwinds. Those two bands and Ozric Tentacles.

The sound is OK. That long piece of ambient animals soundscape is a total waste of time. The music is bits is pretty decent though.

This album is not how they should have ended this band though as it is pretty bad. Well, it is a half decent album and just that.

1.5 points

Aliante - Destinazioni Oblique (2022)

The third album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quartet on this album with a lineup of drums, didgeridoo, bass, guitars, keyboards, synths, bassoon, flute and effects.

A guest added narration on one of the tracks.

This is another instrumental prog album from this band. All their four albums are instrumental prog.

I have reviewe their first two albums and has given them reaonable good ratings.

The music on this seventy-seven minutes long album is a mix of Camel like symphonic prog, instrumental RPI and cinematic rock.

The music is very gentle and pastoral at times. Most of the music is mid-tempo though but not particular hard.

The guitars and the keyboards are dominating the music. The bassoon is an interesting addition to the music and is playing a leading role on a couple of these pieces of music.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. There are simply not enough interesting music here to make this a good album.

Instrumental prog fans should check out this album.

2.5 points

Huis - In the Face of the Unknown (2024)

The fourth album from this band from Canada.

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

This is a band from Canada I quite like. I reviewed their first two albums in # 1 of this blog and their third album in # 2 of this blog. 

This album is the follow up to their 2019 album Abandoned and five years has therefore gone. The music is pretty much in the same genre, though.

We are deep into the neo-prog genre here. Arena, Pendragon, IQ and Pallas is good references.

This album is seventy minutes long. 

Their take on neo-prog is both elegant and melodic. Sylvain Descoteaux good vocals is pretty central to the music here too. It is supported by some good keyboards and guitars.

The music is a bit workman like and has no real surprises. The band knows how to write and perform good songs. Good songs but not really any outstanding songs.

This is a good album and one that everyone into neo-prog will enjoy.

3 points

 

 

 

Motorpsycho - Here Be Monsters (2016)

The 19th album from this band from Norway.

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

A guest added extra keyboards.

You never know what you get from a Motorpsycho album as the band is wildly unpredictable. Nevertheless, the last three albums has given us a steady flow on their take on psych rock. That is psych rock with some very strong 1960s garage rock influences.

That too is the case for Here Be Monsters.

The band is stripped down and is based on bass, drums, guitars and vocals. This with some additional piano and synths. But most of all..... the music is guitar based and pretty naked.

The album is three quarters of an hour long and the eighteen minutes long Big Black Dog opus is closing the album. It is a good opus indeed.

The music is very hard at times. It is also groovy and proggy too.

The result is a good album and one that removes any doubts about the qualities of this band. This is one of the best bands in Norway.... something even a stripped down version of this band has proven on this album.

3 points

 

 

Triumph - Never Surrender (1982)

The sixth album from this band from Canada.

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

The band continued down their selfmade path of catchy hard rock. 

The music is hard and catchy throughout. Hence the three hit singles on this album, top twenty hit singles. The music is never heavy or brutal. Just hard.

The vocals is very good from both vocalists. The sound is the typical late 1970s and early 1980s sound. 

The band was clearly trying to catch the new heavy metal bandwagon at this time. Hence the sound. Their music was never that heavy and hence.... that train left the station without Triumph. 

Nevertheless, this is a decent enough album and well worth checking out if hard rock is your thing.  

2 points

Syriak - Dentro De Los Cuentos Del Dia (2015)

The one and only album from this band from Venezuela.

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

This band was a on and off band for twenty years before they released this album and then disbanded for the final time. The album was released by a local record label and a few copies made it to Europe and USA.

The music on this forty minutes long album is based on British neo-prog. Pendragon springs to mind and so does both Arena and IQ. There is also some heavy prog here.

The music is pretty hard most of the times. It also has a lot of Latin prog influences as the scene in Venezuela is a Latin prog scene. A good scene, btw. 

The Spanish vocals is adding a lot of colours to the music too.

The quality of the music is decent without really impressing me or becoming good. The band is proficient on their instruments and the vocals is pretty good.

This album is a colourful addition to the scene and well worth checking out.

2 points

 

 

Sunset Park - The Night of the Lunar Eclipse (2023)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

This album did not come to my attention before this summer and I put it in the to-do reviews a couple of months ago based on the genre and the nice cover art-work.

From what I gather, the musicians is some young musicans, just starting out on what I and they hope will be a long career. They are certainly very talented musicians.

The album starts out as a fusion album in the vein of Jean Luc Ponty. And the music on this seventy minutes long album is mainly following this path.

There are two exceptions, though. The two vocals dominated songs.

The first one, The Last Words She Left is a poignant song in the vein of Epitaph from the first King Crimson album. A very good song with some good vocals.

The second song is a part of an eighteen minutes long epic and the song is good too... although with a bit of a faltering vocals.

The fusion stuff is very good and we are in this album talking about a hidden gem. A gem that deserve a lot more attention.

Check out this album even if only prog floats your boat.

3.5 points

Vesilinja - Merkurius (2024)

The third album from this band from Finland.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, guitars, piano, organ, keyboards, synths, saxophones, clarinet, flute, sound effects and vocals.

The band returned for a third album.... and hopefully some more albums in the years to come.

Their two first albums had a great mix of old Finnish progressive rock, folk rock and fusion/jazz. It therefore not come as a surprise that the band continues down the same path.

The music on this album is more pastoral than the music on the first two albums. That is the biggest difference between these three albums.

The folk rock and progressive rock vibe and influences are more in the forefront on this album. That in particular on the twenty-three minutes long title track. 

Their Jethro Tull influences is pretty strong on this three quarters of an hour long album too. 

The Finnish vocals is very good and the woodwinds is really cool here. That and the piano and organ gives the album a strong organic sound.

The result is another pretty impressive album from this band and another reason why this band is one of the best, if not the best, progressive rock bands from Finland these days. This album and their firsdt two albums is really something to be enjoyed.

3 points

 

 

Amon Düül - Die Lösung (1989)

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added percussion, drums, guitars, synths and vocals.

The third album from this splinter group from the German band with the same name. The third album and a new genre again.

Gone is the dream pop and most of the female vocals. It has been replaced by a mix of psych rock, post-punk and krautrock.

The band was helped by members of Ozric Tentacles and Hawkwind on this album. That also explains some of the music here. Robert Calvert is indeed the vocalist on some tracks.

The music is pretty well performed and the vocals is good. 

The quality of the music is decent enough. The songs are simply not good enough to make this more than a decent album. It is an album let down by bad songs. 

2 points

Aliante - Sul Confine (2019)

The second album from this band from Italy.

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

A guest delivered violin on some tracks.

It is coming up to six years since I reviewed their 2017 debut album Forme Libere in # 2 of this blog. I gave it a good rating.

The band has just released their fourth album and I therefore decided to review that album and the remaining two albums before the end of this year. 

The music here is instrumental and melodic symphonic prog. 

Camel springs to mind throughout the whole of this album. There are some cinematic rock here too. 

The tempo is mid-paced and pretty dynamic. The music is organ based throughout these fifty-three minutes worth of music.

The music is not particular exciting. This album has some good themes and pieces. The rest is not really that good.

Fans of instrumental symphonic prog and or Camel should check out this album.

2.5 points

Massois. Gerald - Demain à l'Aube (2024)

The second album from this artist from France.

Gerald Massois did the guitars and vocals here.

He had help from some guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, cello, piano, organ, keyboards and narration. 

His 2018 debut album Le Vol Erratique D'un Papillon was a very good symphonic prog album with it's strong influences from both Ange and Dream Theater. Hence, I wanted a follow up album.

Gerald Massois is following up the debut album with an album inspired by both Ange and Dream Theater. Add in Genesis and Pink Floyd too and you get the drift.

We get seventy minutes worth of classic symphonic prog with French vocals and a lot of influences from both both sides of the British Channel, this narrow piece of water.

The vocals is very good and ditto for the guitars.

There is a lot of soaring, epic melodies here. There is also some more pastoral pieces here too. The variation between the more pastoral and the more epic stuff is very good.

The result is a very good album one one to enjoy if classic melodic prog is what you enjoy. In that case, this is an album for you.

3.5 points

 

 

 

Asfalto - Al Otro Lado (1978)

The third album from this band from Spain.

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

The band more or less broke up after their second album, their real debut album as their debut album was a The Beatles covers album, and the future of the band was in doubts. A member from the Uruguay band Psiglo saved the day as he had fled to Spain from the military dictatorships of first Uruguay and then Argentina. He, Garcia Banegas, was in search for a civilized society.... and a band he could join.

I like Psiglo a lot and his inclusion in Asfalto turned the band around and gave them a new lease of life.

The music on Al Otro Lado is indeed pretty prog rock orientated.

There are still some mainstream rock music here. Some Elton John like rockers and a ballad or two. But there are also some Yes like prog rock pieces of music here. The eleven minutes long title track is a nice piece of Yes inspired progressive rock.

The Spanish vocals is really good and the musicians does a good job indeed. There are some good guitar and organ solos here.

I am positive surprised by this album. It has a lot of prog and a lot of style. The quality is good throughout and this is one of the better 1970s Spanish prog rock albums.

3 points