Reviews III
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Go to Reviews IV
EP review: Silo - 20/20 (2020)
Shifting rhythmical patterns, staccato attack, melodic passages and splashes of jazz rock. Music from Augusta GA that deserves a wider audience.
Album review: Rain - Singularity (2020)
Modern melodic prog recommended for fans of bands like *Frost, IQ, Jadis and Lifesigns.
Album review: Michele Conta - Endless Nights (2020)
One of the main songwriters on Locanda delle Fate’s Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più, Michele Conta quit music to become a doctor. It’s taken him 40 years to record a solo album – but it was worth the wait.
EP review: IKITAN - Twenty-Twenty (2020)
A twenty minute-long single track EP debut is an unusual and brave move, but Genoa's IKITAN manage to hold the listener's interest with their blend of improvised heavy psyche.
Album review: Yobrepus - Mycelium Days (2020)
With suggested similarities between Yobrepus’ music and Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and A-ha, the band certainly dip in and out of an eclectic bag of styles and the result is some intelligent post-rock.
Album review: Mesmerising-Davide Moscato - The Clutters Storyteller (2020)
Singer-songwriter Davide Moscato goes prog.
Album review: Alex Roven - Le Premier Moteur (2020)
This isn't archetypal prog, but it's well written and produced post-rock, recommend for fans of post-rock bands like Yobrepus and Servants of Science, but also to fans of Bent Knee and anyone who liked Steven Wilson’s HAND.CANNOT.ERASE.
Album review: Ataräxia – Ataräxia (2020)
An excellent modern prog album with a sonic link to classic symphonic progressive rock – all sung in Spanish.
Album review: Level Pi - Elektronische Philosophie (2020)
Elektronische Philosophie covers a wide range of Kosmische musik but extends beyond the form, with Cremer employing the ‘journey’ concept to take us deep into his electronica-driven universe.
Album review: MFTJ - My Mom's Getting a Horse (2021)
MFTJ label themselves ‘instrumental prog soup flavoured with art-rock, hip-hop, hard rock and psychedelia’ and it’s hard to argue with that description. The songs may be short but they’re packed with ideas on this fun album.
Album review: Great Wide Nothing - Hymns for Hungry Spirits Vol. 1 (2020)
Drums/Guitars/Keyboards trio Great Wide Nothing have come up with an ambitious second album, the first part of a two-album song cycle. They're inspired by classic 70's prog and the result is really impressive.
Album review: Daniel Weiss – Dive (2021)
Dive is an instrumental album on the jazz end of the prog-jazz spectrum from Guitar Idol 2016 finalist Daniel Weiss. Helped by some gifted collaborators, he's released a well-crafted debut filled with melodicism that any fusion fan would enjoy.
Album review: Elias – 1977 (2020)
Elias is the solo project name of Australian musician Carl Belle. Work on 1977 began in 2003 but stalled when Belle fell out of love with music. Fortunately, he picked up his guitar again and got round to finishing the album, a mix of modern prog styles, 17 years later.
Album review: Trope – Eleutheromania (2021)
Trope’s Eleutheromania was released on March 31, 2021 and boasts impressive production credentials, matched by the musicianship and the impressive voice of Diana Studenberg. More heavy alt-rock with progressive flourishes than out-and-out prog, it’s nevertheless an excellent piece of work.
EP review: Psychic Equalizer - Revealed II (2021)
Starting out in 2011 as Hugo Selles’ jazz/electronic solo project, Psychic Equalizer have solidified into an international prog band dealing in grand themes. Their second Covid-era EP Revealed II has recently been released and it’s stuffed with the musicianship and ideas that characterise the outfit – in compact form.
Album review: Artnat – The Mirror Effect (2021)
Manuel Cardoso, the founder of Portuguese 70’s progressive rock legends Tantra, successfully re-imagines the band for the 21st century with a rekindled spirit and names it Artnat. It’s dense, complex, positive, spiritual symphonic prog with jazz rock flourishes.
Album review: Hypnopompia – Parallel (2021)
Hypnopompia is multi-instrumentalist Dave Alexander who has just released his debut album Parallel, an interesting mix of post-rock bolstered with jazz and psyche.
Album Review: Chaos Over Cosmos – The Silver Lining Between the Stars (2021)
Chaos Over Cosmos is a progressive metal online collaborative project originally created by Rafal Bowman and Javier Calderón, two musicians separated by half a world. The Silver Lining Between the Stars is the third and most accomplished chapter in the Chaos Over Cosmos story this time created by Bowman and vocalist KC Lyon.
Album review: Daniele Sollo - Order and DisOrder (2020)
After formally studying bass guitar, Daniele Sollo formed the prog band VisionAir in 1997, and eventually found himself in the Fabio Zuffanti prog circle where he played with Höstsonaten from 2016-2018. His first solo album ORDER AND DISORDER was self-released in 2020.