(38:55; Progressive Gears) Track list: 1. The End 2:12 2. You Are the One 4:11 3. Now You're Gone 3:44 4. IV 0:53 5. Black Swan 3:24 6. Until We Meet Again 4:34 7. Hear Me Now 4:04 8. Room of Angel 5:29 9. The World Is Filled with Silence 6:35 10. Takamaa 3:49 Line-up: Tommi Niemi - vocals Lauri Kovero - guitars Raino Ketola - guitars Nona Onnela - violin Tommi Tanhuanpaa - Drums, vocals Antti Valiniemi - bass Evelina Sydanlahde - piano, flute, vocals with: Sara Lahtinen - cello Katri Antikainen - cello Maria Opoku-Aikins - vocals Petri Juutilainen - trombone Niilo Harjuntautsa - flugelhorn Georgo Bille - flugelhorn, trumpet Tampere Opera Choir Prolusion. Finnish band NARYAN was formed back in 2005 by like-minded musicians with a desire to create material in a similar vein to artists such as King Crimson and Pink Floyd. Following a few years of a more fluid line-up situation, some single releases and an initial album, the band started to solidify when they released their second alb...

(35:53; Roth Händle Recordings) Track list: 1. Poppy Seeds Intro 0:59 2. Poppy Seeds 2:05 3. Chamber 3:36 4. #1 10:38 5. Tower Mews 2:01 6. Today 1:24 7. Poppies in a Field 12:34 8. The Last Bridge Organ 2:36 Line-up: Tom Doncourt - synthesizers, keyboards, organ, piano Mattias Olsson - drums, percussion, guitars, piano, turntables, voices, effects with: Hampus Nordgren-Hemlin - bass, guitars, sitar, keyboards Akaba - vocals Stina Hellberg Agback - harp Hanna Ekström - violin, viola Anna Dager - cello Prolusion. Tom Doncourt and Mattias Olsson's Cathedral feature the last material the late Tom Doncourt created alongside long time collaborator Mattias Olsson, and given the name of this album it is obvious to assume that this was their joint effort to create material honoring the legacy of Doncourt's old band Cathedral. Doncourt passed away in 2019, and a year or so later the album he and Olsson had crafted together was released through Olsson's label Roth Händle Recordings. ...

(75:01; The Cyberiam) Track list: 1. Alice in Afterland 9:05 2. The Fall 5:24 3. Nostalgia 8:45 4. The Butterfly Effect 21:19 5. The Historian 8:36 6. My Occupation 11:14 7. Don't Blink 10:38 Line-up: Keith Semple - vocals, guitars Tommy Murray - drums Frank Lucas - keyboards Brian Kovacs - bass, vocals Prolusion. US band THE CYBERIAM came out of the Chicago scene a few years back with their debut album "The Cyberiam", a production which brought a lot of instant recognition to the band. Following the one track mini-album "The Butterfly Effect" in 2019 the band released their first live album this year. The CD is called "Forging Nations - Live!" and was self released by the band. Analysis. The Cyberiam is one of the many newer bands inside the progressive rock universe that showcase quite the skill in mixing and blending elements from different subsets of progressive rock and various details from band from inside as well as outside progressive rock terr...

(70:59; Telergy) Track list: 1. Georgia 12:27 2. Scene 1 1:32 3. Chased Pt. 1 2:53 4. Scene 2 0:59) 5. Infantry 9:24 6. Scene 3 0:35 7. Take to the Sky 10:14 8. Scene 4 0:43 9. Marcelle 3:13 10. Scene 5 0:36 11. Le Grand Duc 4:12 12. Scene 6 0:52 13. Spy 6:14 14. Scene 7 1:01 15. All Blood Runs Red 7:39 16. Scene 8 0:51 17. Chased Pt. 2 3:03 18. Scene 9 0:48 19. Honor 3:43 Line-up: Robert McClung - guitars, bass, violin, viola, mandolin, piano, organ, keyboards, flute, percussion, vocals with ...more than 50 guest musicians and vocalists Prolusion. US project TELERGY is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Robert McClung, and from 2011 and onward he has crafted and released a succession of thematic albums incorporating the idioms of progressive rock and progressive metal while at the same time highlighting historical periods or persons he feels should be better known. The fourth Telergy album "Black Swallow" was released earlier this year, where the story told is of ...

(75:07; Melodic Revolution Records) Track list: 1. War Song 19:21 2. Into the Lair 9:00 3. Chasing the Lesser Light 20:45 4. Epistle 6:35 5. The Face of Life 19:26 Line-up: Mike Visaggio - keyboards Michael Murray - drums Mark Tupko - bass St. John Coleman - vocals Peter Matuchniak - guitars Prolusion. US band KINETIC ELEMENT are fast approaching their 15th anniversary as a band unit, with composer and band leader Mike Visaggio the constant in this band and with other members coming and going a bit over the years. Following three studio albums and a growing amount of acclaim, as well as a line-up that appears to have solidified, it was decided that Kinetic Element were due for their first live album in 2020. The CD is simply called "Live From New York", and was released through US label Melodic Revolution Records. Analysis. Kinetic Element is a band that have made their reputation as explorers of what one might call retro-oriented progressive rock. Band leader Visaggio has hi...

(44:23; Profound Lore Records) Track list: 1. Thelema 0:48 2. Arp 9 5:28 3. In the Nest 4:20 4. Skin Walker 3:27 5. Slow Ray 7:12 6. Sea Harps 5:08 7. Tarnish 3:53 8. Windless 8:38 9. Daath 5:29 Line-up: Dana Schechter - bass, lap steel, synthesizers Ashley Spungin - drums, percussion, synthesizers Prolusion. US band INSECT ARK have been around for just about a decade by now. Composer and musician Dana Schechter has been the constant member throughout, later on joined by Ashley Spungin, and in recent years with Andy Patterson as the second member. "Marrow Hymns" is the second of the band's three albums so far, and the only one to feature Spungin as a main member of the band. Analysis. While the most recent album by Insect Ark struck me as a production probably closer to being an example of post-metal than anything else, this second production by the band explores some rather different territories throughout. Or, perhaps, two rather different territories might be a more ap...

(55:18; Open Mind Records) Track list: 1. Fair Warning 0:20 2. Tectonic Plates 16:10 3. Scorched Earth Path 13:08 4. Dance of the Shuriken 3:06 5. Lunar Sunrise 9:04 6. Beyond the Pass 0:38 7. Twilight Furies 10:46 8. Perilous Borders 2:06 Line-up: Johan Hedman - keyboards, drums, percussion, bass, vocals, effects Erik Forsberg - vocals Simon M. Svensson - bass with Hannes Ljunghall - keyboards Prolusion. Swedish band VIOLENT SILENCE have been a going entity since the late 1990's, and since they released their first studio album in 2003 a total of four albums have been issued by the band. "Twilight Furies" is their most recent production, and was released through local Swedish label Open Mind Records in the late fall season of 2020. Analysis. While Violent Silence easily joins the ranks of bands that are hard to categorize as far as specific style is concerned, one aspect of the material at hand on this album at least makes me conclude that retro-oriented progressive rock...

(45:24; Gold und Tier Records) Track list: 1. To Be a Clown 3:53 2. The Back of My Hand 3:40 3. A Contagious Fear 5:20 4. Truth or Dare 4:08 5. It's Beautiful 17:50 6. Naked 3:16 7. How Will I Know 7:17 Line-up: Ulf Jacobs - vocals, drums, keyboards, recorder, percussion, programming with Sascha Conrad  - guitars Bogati-Bokor Akos - guitars, bass, vocals Thomas Klarmann - bass Tina Dieper - vocals Kecskemeti Gabor - flute Kari Jacobs - backing vocals Prolusion. German project YACOBS is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Ulf Jacobs, and in progressive rock circles he is probably best known for being a part of progressive rock band Argos for the past decade and a bit. This solo project has been an ongoing feature for a bit longer than that though, with the first Yacobs album seeing the light of day almost 20 years ago. "Beautiful" is the sixth album from this venture, and was released through German label Gold Und Tier in the fall of 2020. Analysis. I understand ...

(41:46; Profound Lore Records) Track list: 1. Tectonic 6:17 2. Three Gates 5:35 3. Philae 7:53 4. Danube 7:08 5. Swollen Sun 4:02 6. The Vanishing 10:51 Line-up: Dana Schechter - bass, lap steel, synthesizer Andy Patterson - drums with Ashley Spungin - synthesizer Prolusion. US band INSECT ARK are based out of Brooklyn, and since 2011 the band have recorded three full length studio albums. "The Vanishing" is their most recent production, and was released through Profound Lore Records in February 2020. Analysis. Insect Ark is one more example of a band that is venturing back and forth between multiple genre boundaries, or perhaps it is more truthful to say that they use elements from multiple genres and styles to craft and create their own particular mood and atmosphere. Be that as it may be, but they certainly create material that ventures a bit outside of the paths and landscapes one normally encounter as a reviewer. If a genre tag is needed, I guess post-metal would be amon...

(26:19; Soniq Circus) Swedish band SONIQ CIRCUS has been an ongoing entity for more than 20 years, with two full length albums to their name that arrived in 2007 and 2011 respectively. Following a bit of a break as a recording unit the band returned earlier this year with the mini-album "I'm Awake, Carry on Life", which was self released by the band in early November 2020. Musically there's a lot to enjoy on this mini-album. Listening to the material here my minds goes towards neo-progressive bands like IQ and later day Pendragon first and foremost, with clever and effective combinations of keyboards, piano, some heavy set riffs here and there but also with emotional laden floating guitar solo motifs as a signature detail. Atmospheric laden floating keyboard textures as well as sharper and more expressive keyboard motifs and soloing are parts of the package here, as are more majestic guitar and organ combinations. More delicate piano details have their place here too,...

 (85:00; Melodic Revolution Records) It has been some years since I first came across Italian band If, but I remember enjoying their 2008 album ‘Morpho Nestira’. That was actually their last album under the name If, as they changed it to Ifsounds a few years later and after signing with Melodic Revolution Records in 2010 they released this double disc compilation, which brings together songs from their first four releases as If, plus a new number as Ifsounds. Earlier this year I saw a post from head honcho and top hat aficionado Nick Katona celebrating the tenth anniversary of this album, and that it was being made available free of charge to download (just go to the MRR website and search for it) so I decided to renew my acquaintance with the band. Over the course of their first four albums the band released 40 songs, and there are 17 of these on this set, so it is possible to hear virtually half of all the albums they had released to this point. But what is strange is the lac...