(43:21; Celtodelic) Track list: 1. Mrs. Preston's Favorite 4:56 2. Jolly Roger 5:10 3. Hjemreise 'Going Home' 3:48 4. The Optimist 3:39 5. De Tvaa Systrarna 'The Two Sisters' 6:44 6. Shepherd's Daughter 4:20 7. Dark Lover 'Song to A Vampire' 3:03 8. The Devil and The Farmer 3:46 9. Dream Morris 3:27 10. Paal Sine Höner 'Paul's Chickens' 4:28 Line-up: Lief Sorbye - vocals, mandoguitars, mandolins, mandolas, harmonica, bodhran Adolfo Lazo - drums Lee Corbie-Wells - vocals, fiddle, hurdy-gurdy Nikolay Georgiev - guitars Hugh Caley - bass, vocals with: Robert Berry - keyboards Prolusion. US band Tempest have been a going concern for more than 30 years, with band leader Lief Sorbye as the central person. They remain a productive studio band as well as an active and popular live unit. "Going Home" is their most recent studio production, and was released through the band's own Celtodelic label in the spring of 2022. Analysis. Folk rock

(42:50; Capital Theatre) Back in March last year I made my way to the Tuning Fork to catch a three-band bill, one of whom was Capital Theatre. At that point I had not heard any of their material, so was mightily impressed to discover they had recorded a concept album for their debut with Mike Clink (Guns ‘n’ Roses, Megadeth etc) in America, and that night they were playing it in sequence. Having heard it I was just blown away, and searched out their incredible videos online, and was able to see them again a few months later before we went into lockdown. Ah yes, Covid. Not only did it interrupt the recording sessions and mean a mad dash back to Aotearoa, but the continued lockdowns mean the guys delayed the album release until they could get out and promote it properly. The result is the album was officially released today, but many of the songs are already like old friends. The trio of Paul Reid (drums), Adam Stevenson (vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Roy Oliver (guitar), have together

(62:43; Art Griffin's Soundchaser) Art Griffin’s Sound Chaser have returned with their second album, ‘The Seven Ages Of Starlight’. Recorded over several years by a core quartet of Griffin, former Saga drummer Steve Negus, guitarist Kelly Kereliuk and electronic violinist Victoria Yeh, it also features special guests Jamie Glaser (Jean-Luc Ponty Band), Todd Sucherman (Styx), Michael Sadler (Saga), Frank Wyatt (Happy The Man) and keyboardist Sarah Westbrook. The previous album, ‘Visions From The Present’, came out in 2016 so there has been quite a delay on this one, but given that Art provides bass, keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars as any good multi-instrumentalist should, then perhaps it is not too much of a surprise! Given that Art provides all the material (apart from one co-written with Kelly), one might expect him to feature far more prominently, but what makes this album work so very well are the arrangements, and he often sits back in the pocket providing the support

(51:57; Peacock Sunrise) Just a single look at the cover of this release should give some sort of idea as to when this music is inspired from, and the first few bars of opening number “No Deposit, No Return” just cements that even further as Gayle noodles on his guitar and my immediate thought was, “This is honest music, and I’m going to like it.” The band is a trio with Gayle (electric and  acoustic guitars, Hammond B-3 organ, Rhodes electric piano) joined by Craig Kahn (drums) and Mark Cook (bass), and even before reading the biography and realising that Gayle had wanted to recreate a guitar instrumental album inspired by the music he was listening to in the Seventies I knew exactly where this was coming from as it is solidly set in that sound, with the B-3 only emphasising that even further. This is a long way from the styles brought in by Satriani, Vai and others when they reimagined the world of the rock instrumental, but instead it is warm with a solid rhythm section and a guitar

(43:20; Star Control) I was at a gig last year, and while the bands were sound checking I realised that Felix Lun was also there. I remembered Felix from the excellent Shepherds of Cassini who I had reviewed years earlier, so we soon started chatting and of course I asked him what was happening with the band. Apparently, bassist Vitesh Bava had moved away so they had gone on hiatus, but would I be interested in going to see a totally different project he had created with Shepherds drummer Omar Al-Hashemi and another musician, David Somervell? So off I went to Wine Cellar to see a band which I can only describe as being quite different to anything else I had witnessed, in that David and Felix both play keytars in an instrumental band while they had set up a games console so people could play really old computer games which were projected onto a screen behind the band. I knew Felix as a violinist, and Shepherds as a progressive band, so this was certainly quite different. This of course

(20:14; Freia Music) When this four-track 20-minute-long EP appeared in my inbox I did something of a doubletake, as the cogs moved in the music computer inside my head, and I recalled reviewing their debut album back in the depths of time. A quick check of TPU Vol 3 later and I can see I reviewed ‘Louise Brooks’ back in 1993, and this is a 2021 release. They did release some other albums back in the day but for some reason I never heard them, so this was quite a rediscovery for me. The histories of Timelock and Ywis will of course always be intertwined, and keyboard player Julian Driessen is still there (strange to think the debut Ywis album is now nearly 40 years old), and singer Ruud Stoker has been Timelock’s singer throughout, but the rest of the band is new and expanded. This EP is actually a precursor for the new album, ‘Sygn Yn’, but only the title cut from the EP is also on the album and is here as a “single version’ of roughly half the length of what is on the album. Timelock

(57:47; Friendly Folk Records) Ton will of course always be associated with Kayak, a band he has led for 50 years, but he has also released some solo albums, with this coming out towards the end of 2021. I played it a great deal back then as I was interviewing Ton for various websites, and it was something of a shock to realise recently that I had not actually reviewed the album itself, so I am now rectifying that omission. The style of music here is baroque and pastoral, combined with progressive elements, so in many ways it is a complete switch of what he has undertaken with Kayak which is prog with some of the other elements brought in. Also, Ton has never thought of himself as a lead singer, but the material is so personal that he could not bring anyone else to sing his words. He was in his late Sixties when he recorded this, and his voice does have the style of an older singer (although he is still able to hit high notes as well as go into falsetto when the need requires) and this

(39:38; Melodic Revolution Records) When I was young, I was fascinated by myths and legends of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt and I was given a book, ‘The Story of Greece’, which had belonged to my mum when she was a child herself. With lots of colour plates I was fascinated by the stories of Achilles, Hyacinthus, Apollo, Arachne and many others, including of course Pandora. Many people will have heard the term Pandora’s Box even if they do not know the myth from which it was taken. Although the story has been retold many times in many ways, the base is always the same in that Pandora opened a container as she wondered what was inside, releasing many evils into the world and although she attempted to close it quickly only one thing was left behind, often referred to as hope. Steve is a multi-instrumentalist, and although Eric Johnson has assisted with a guitar solo on one song, he does everything else himself apart from the female vocals, where Shimmer Johnson provides the lead on “My

(58:09; Moonjune Records) ‘In The Electric Universe’ is the seventh studio album - and third on MoonJune Records - by Canadian instrumental electro-psychedelic outfit Mahogany Frog. I was a big fan of their 2012 album, ‘Senna’, but this was apparently taking them in new sonic areas, so what would it be like? We have the same line-up as the last album, with Graham Epp (guitar, keyboards, electronics, trumpet), Jesse Warkentin (guitar, keyboards, electronics), and Andy Rudolph (drums, keyboards, electronics) and Scott Ellenberger (bass, keyboards, electronics, trumpet), which means we should expect some sort of continuity and stability. Instead there is a lack of cohesiveness and the impression that in some places this has been overthought and over-layered and others where it has been quite rushed. Apparently the recording process for this album took from 2013 to 2019, so they commenced not long after the release of ‘Senna’, and one wonders how much of this material is actually from thos

(52:46; Outsider Records) This is the latest album from multi-instrumentalist Chechu Nos, who provides guitar, vocals, bass, drum programming, keyboards, and synths. He does most of the work himself, but has brought in some guests, most notably singer Rebecca Stanley who provides support on six songs, Tom S. Englund of Evergrey with vocals on one and Sakis Tolis of the mighty Rotting Christ providing additional vocals on another. I must also comment that the drum programming is also much better than most I have come across, although I will always favour having a sweating human actually hitting skins. Many prog metal bands have progressive influences within their metal, or play progressive music with hints of metal, but not Chechu as here he blends the two genres in such a way that the music is always metal yet is also always progressive as he moves his riffs and styles into areas not normally associated with the genre. He describes it as, “cutting-edge mixture of Progressive and Fusion

(39:24; Raphael Weinroth-Browne) What we have here is a live version of Weinroth-Browne’s critically lauded solo debut, ‘Worlds Within’. Released at the beginning of 2020, that album is a single composition divided into ten tracks which play out like movements in a classical variation set. It is hard to imagine that all the music being produced on both the studio and this release originate from the cello itself, as all the melodies, harmonies, riffs, textures, and even percussion — were initially created on the instrument and then had amplification and effects pedals placed onto the sounds. The result is something which is very much based on classical music, with huge progressive overtones while also bringing in elements of the avant-garde and RIO. The reason there is no audience sound is that like everyone else in the industry, Weinroth-Browne was unable to tour, but instead was invited to undertake part in some live streaming events which inspired him to undertake a complete renditio

(106:51; 2nd Street Records) There is no doubt that one of the most interesting “new” artists to come out in the progressive scene in the last few years has been 3, who in 1988 released an incredible debut album. At the time it was Keith Emerson, Carl Palmer and Robert Berry, and as well as releasing the album they toured, with Paul Keller providing guitar at the live shows. It was many years later that Keith and Robert talked about producing a new 3 album and started writing together before Keith’s untimely death. However, multi-instrumentalist Berry completed the album and ‘The Rules Have Changed’ was released as being by 3.2 in 2018, just 30 years after the debut, and was a resounding success. There was still one song left from the sessions, so Berry then set to and recorded ‘Third Impression’, creating a complete album in the way he thought Emerson would approve of. Having undertaken all this work, the question started being made about whether it was also time to create a band to g

(66:00; Nuclear Blast [2022 Edition] ) To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the final album by After Forever it has just been reissued by Nuclear Blast on vinyl and CD along with an additional bonus cut and new notes by the band members themselves. They may have only released five albums, but there is no doubt the band had a huge impact on the progressive metal scene, with founder Mark Jansen leaving after the second album to create Epica while singer Floor Jansen has of course now cemented her place as frontwoman of Nightwish. Having not played this album for some considerable time I had forgotten just how good it is. Floor has long been one of the most incredible singers around, and here she is involved with music which is complex but more metallic than her current outfit. When guitarist Sander Gommans comes in with the harsh vocals it is absolutely brutal, providing huge contrast. Some songs, such as “Withering Time” do contain more operatic and classical sections, but they are a ba

(71:34; Daymoon) It has been six years since the release of Daymoon’s third album, ‘Cruz Quebrada’ (which I haven’t heard), and we have to go back to 2013 for the release of their second album, ‘Fabric of Space Divine’ which I was very impressed with indeed. They are indicated as crossover prog on PA, but that is in its truest sense in that they cross over multiple genres but the one which they most relate to with this release is eclectic. This is the first album where it is much more of a band as opposed to multi-instrumentalist Fred Lessing, an inner core of musicians, and an outer cast of many as Fred has now created a different version of the band and it will be interesting to see how they progress. André Marques (keyboards, drums and percussion, tuned percussion, vocals, stringed and ethnic instruments) has been involved since the second album as part of the inner core, but the others have either had minor parts or are here for the first time. This includes new lead singer, Lavíni

(57:41; Realisea) One day recently I was going through Facebook when I saw a post from my good friend Michel St-Père saying what a good album this was and how he had played on one of the tracks. I said I had never heard of it and was soon contacted by Brian de Graeve (Silhouette) who told me it was a new project of his which got me even more intrigued. I have been a fan of that Dutch band for some years and gave their last release ‘The World Is Flat and other Alternative Facts’ a 5* rating so I was determined to investigate this more fully. The songs were written by Brian de Graeve (vocals, guitar) and Marjolein de Graeve (vocals, flute) over a number of years, and recorded with the addition of friends so while the band line-up was completed by Rob van Nieuwenhuijzen (drums), Geoffrey de Graeve (bass guitar) and Christophe Rapenne (keyboards) there are a whole host of guests including Michel st-Père (Mystery, Huis), Erik Laan (Silhouette, Chain Reaktor), Simon Rogers (Also Eden), Aldo

(20:52; Stealphish) It has been quite a while since we last heard from Stealphish, probably due to a combination of Covid and guitarist Josh Barker busy recording an EP with Café Fistfight, but this time around we have a 3-track EP instead of just a single. He is again joined by his brother Dan who wrote and arranged the drums, while pianist Caitlyn Abbott again makes an appearance on one track. Josh is known as a seven-string shredder, adding bite and complexity to CF, and while he also lets rip in his own project when he decides the time is right there are also plenty of times when there is much more concentration on atmosphere and the power of the arrangements. Involving Dan means the drums have a far more organic feel in nature, driving the music along as opposed to just setting a beat, which can often happen within one-man projects. Also, Josh does not rely just on his guitar throughout but also brings in layers of keyboards to create a soundscape which always has direction as opp

(45:44; Returned to the Earth) I confess to not being as close to the UK progressive scene as I was some 30 years ago, which probably has something to do with there being far more people writing about progressive rock music these days, combined with me now living on the other side of the world. That is my excuse for having never heard of this prog trio until I was contacted by Thomas Szirmay asking if I had. A quick check of his review on PA and I was heading off to the band’s site to make contact, the result being that I am now listening to their latest album. This 2022 release is their fourth, all with the same line-up of Robin Peachey (vocals, guitar), Steve Peachey (keyboards), and Paul Johnston (drums). I was not surprised to see that this was mastered by Steve Kitch of The Pineapple Thief, as that is a band which has obviously been a major influence, along with the likes of no-man or even Japan. However, there is no doubt that this band, while prog, have also been influenced by s

(56:04; Bastian Per) This the first time I have come across this Argentinian progressive outfit, but this 2021 album was actually their second album, following on from 2019’s ‘Epic Journey’. The quintet of Mariano Barreiro (vocals), Sebastian Prosperi (guitars & vocals), Gabriel Kohout (keyboards), Martin Sokol (bass) and Maximiliano Cataldi (drums) even managed to get in Derek Sherinian to play on the closing track, somewhat cementing their place in the heavy prog and prog metal community. This is a concept album about today’s current humanitarian issues, and for the most part one would not realise that this release is from South America as the English is very good indeed with little in the way of accent. Musically they are firmly progressive rock throughout, but they do go through significantly different styles as they move through the album, which means that at times it can feel quite disjointed, and at one point I even checked to see if it was still their release as I felt it w

(60:06; cHoclat FRoG) The RIO duo cHoclat FRoG (their capitalisation) was founded by Rainer Ludwig (vocals, keyboards, drums) and his son-in-law Tim Ludwig (bass, guitars) in 2017, and this is their debut release where they have been joined by a few additional musicians here and there. As with the best RIO releases this is challenging yet also has a sense of melody within it which allows the listener to easily and quickly get inside the music and understand. There are times when it feels massively improvised, and others completely arranged and composed beforehand, yet it all comes together seamlessly. It has been designed so it can be listened to as a single piece of music, or as individual songs, which is why it is broken into eleven parts. King Crimson have been an obvious influence here, yet there are also times when Can, Present and even Zappa may be heard in what they are doing. It certainly does not seem like a duo, even though the rhythm section is the most part of this release

(33:32; Dario and the Clear) Dario Saraceno is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, and after his Decoy project ended he formed Dario and the Clear who have released five albums since 2011. Here he has reunited with keyboard players, Jamie Peck and Natt Kerr, as well as Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) and Jerry Marotta (Orleans, Peter Gabriel & Paul McCartney). Trey Gunn (King Crimson) is on Warr guitar while engineer, Eric Dalton, joins Dario for the first time on bass and backing vocals and Robert Kopec on upright and electric bass. Adam Siegel joins on alto sax, and the result of all these musicians is something which is polished and full of great musicianship, but somewhere along the line it lost its soul. This is something that rapidly falls into the background as there is little here which really grabs attention, and there is too much at the same level. The vocals are pleasant, but never exciting, and the same goes for the songs themselves as he moves through loun

(52:20; Frontiers Music) Back in 1961, twin brothers Chuck (bass) and John Panozzo (drums) started playing music with their neighbour Dennis DeYoung. From that came the band Tradewinds, which in turn became TW4, and when they signed their first record deal, they changed the name again, this time to Styx. DeYoung will always be inextricably linked to that band, even though he has not been with them for some twenty years and listening to this album is like stepping back in time. This is deliberate, as the album title is the address where DeYoung grew up in Roseland, IL on the far south side of Chicago, opposite the Panozzo twins. This is the follow-up to his 2020 album, and it would be no surprise to hear if they had been recorded at the same time as this is a direct continuation. There is quite a large cast of musicians involved in this one, with Dennis providing vocals, keyboards, synth bass then there are four drummers, five guitarists, a couple of bassists, some horn players and many

(53:26; Head With Wings) There is no doubt in my mind that American proggers Head With Wings are one of the most interesting, polished and refined bands to come out in the last few years, and their latest EP yet again demonstrates that. I was sent the EP by a PR company, but not long afterwards I was contacted by singer Josh Corum to see if I wanted it, and he offered me the expanded edition as well as the standard, so that is the one I have been playing and is the one everyone should be rushing out to buy (checking on Bandcamp, the digital version is available for just $5 USD, surely the bargain of the year). I first came across the band when I was sent an advance track of a Drifting Sun album a while back which featured Josh, and his vocals just blew me away, as they still do. This led to me investigating his own band, and while Josh is a standout singer, he is part of a band comprised of standout musicians. The line-up is Andrew Testa (drums), Brandon Cousino (guitars), Steve Hill (

(37:32; Hibernal) I have been a fan of Mark R. Healy’s work ever since I heard his debut ‘The Machine’, and every new release is an absolute delight. Mark has created an artform which is always fascinating, interesting, and never fails to engage the listener. As well as being a musician, Mark is an acclaimed science fiction author (I highly recommend his series, The Reach), and with his albums he combines his love of two very different artforms to create audio films with a cast, perfectly accompanied by his music. His music and the words combine to create a world in the future, and this time we are involved in the story of a bounty hunter who is looking for the person who killed his lover in a car crash. Mark understands his own strengths and weaknesses, so brings in voice actors to bring the characters to life. Spencer Cannon has returned in the lead role this time, someone we last heard on 2020’s ‘Relic’, and we quickly become invested in the story, his loss, and his final repentance