(33:51; Temple of Switches) Track list: 1. Federal Offense 4:16 2. The Vortex 4:23 3. The Positive Side, Part 2 7:29 4. Calling All 3:10 5.Time Unwritten 5:35 6. Desert Sands 8:58 Line-up: Jay Heffner - drums, percussion Kevin McConnell - vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, organ Joe Monda - bass Tenk Van Dool - guitars, vocals Prolusion. US band Temple of Switches has been around for around a decade at this point, with 2012 stated as the year of formation for the band. The album "Temple of Switches" dates back to 2015, and was the band's debut album. Analysis. This debut album comes with a number of different properties attached to it, and one of them is that the style of progressive rock explored on this production appears to be approached from more of a classic rock and hard rock perspective. The opening song 'Federal Offense' in particular strikes me as more of a classic rock than a progressive rock creation, and various aspects of classic era rock and har...

(43:52; Karisma Records) Track list: 1. Lessons 4:10 2. Free Will 4:43 3. Spitfire 4:59 4. All Is As It Should Be 8:09 5. Show Me What You Got 7:44 6. Fire & Water 3:40 7. Divine 6:03 8. When You Call 4:24 Line-up: Hallvard Gaardlös - vocals, bass Karl Bjoraa  - guitars, vocals Vegard Lien Bjerkan - keyboards, vocals Axel Skalstad - drums Prolusion. Norwegian band Wizrd is a fairly recent addition to the progressive rock scene in Norway, with the roots of the band going back to 2018 from what I can understand. They were signed to Norwegian label Karisma Records in 2022, and in October 2022 they released their debut album "Seasons" on that label. Analysis. Wizrd is one of those bands that are undeniably progressive rock but pretty challenging to pigeonhole into any of the specific traditions of the style. What can be said with a high degree of certainty is that they explore a retro-oriented variety of the form, and if pushed I guess jazzrock might be a viable specification...

(60:05; Apollon Records) Track list: 1. Goodbye Blue Monday 1:11 2. Behind the Next Door 4:31 3. Saturday Night 4:06 4. Ride in the Whirlwind 1:41 5. Live Forever 7:15 6. Sadlands 1:14 7. Intermezzo 2:15 8. Jonah 6:35 9. Velvet Moon 2:00 10. Irina Margareta 5:07 11. The House 3:27 12. The Room 4:43 13. Posh-Apocalypse 2:07 14. Moma 2:15 15. Lemon Symphony 1:59 16. Fantasia Me Now! 6:57 17. Heroes 2:42 Line-up: Jon Ivar Kollbotn - vocals, synths, piano, flute Sondre Skollevoll - guitars, vocals Öystein Bech-Eriksen - guitars, harp, whoaphone Lars Christian Björknes - synths, piano, vocals Peri Winkle - violins, vocals Eivind Gammersvik - bass, synths, percussion, guitars, organ, blackboard yubi Sondre Veland - drums, percussion with: Jens Erik Aasmundseth - percussion Carmen Boveda - cello Linn Frökedal - vocals Anders Bjelland - guitars Bjarne Tresnes Sörensen - harmonica Kadeem Nichols - vocals Porcha Clay - vocals Naarai Jacobs - vocals Megan Parker - vocals Ashly Williams - vocals E...

(63:50; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. The Jewel City 5:51 2. Footprints in the Sand 3:36 3. In All Ways and Always 8:16 4. Follow the Empress 5:14 5. Seasons 5:23 6. Antigone's Lament and Triumph 6:28 7. Let It Be Gone 4:16 8. Interior Monologue 5:48 9. Evening Solace 3:22 10. Supersonic Man 4:44 11. Never Again 10:05 12. The Jewel City (Reprise) 0:47 Line-up: Rudiger Blömer - keyboard, violin Michael Dorp - vocals Michael Rick - guitars, vocals Ande Roderigo - drums, percussion, vocals Roger Weitz - bass, mandolin Prolusion. German band Flying Circus got their career as a recording band going with the album "Seasons" back in 1997. Following many years, concerts and albums later, the band wanted to celebrate their initial album this year. They did so in many ways, and one of them was to rerecord this album with the current line-up of the band. This old new (or is that new old) album was released in the fall of 2022 through German label Fastball Music. Analysis. As I list...

(73:42; Fastball Music [2022 Edition] ) Track list: 1. The Jewel City 6:03 2. Footprints in the Sand 4:28 3. In All Ways and Always 9:58 4. Follow the Empress 4:55 5. Seasons 5:56 6. Antigone’s Lament and Triumph 8:08 7. Let It Be Gone 4:49 8. Interior Monologue 6:12 9. Evening Solace 4:20 10. Supersonic Man 6:45 11. Never Again 11:21 12. The Jewel City … Reprise 0:48 Line-up: Michael Dorp - vocals Markus Erren - bass, guitars Lorenz Gelius-Laudam - guitars Harald Krause - keyboards Falco Kurtz - drums, percussion, vocals Michael Rick - guitars, vocals Roger Weitz - keyboards with: Hubert Haan - mandolin Nicole Haelbig - darbuka Uli Joosten - hurdy gurdy Michael Nolte - backing vocals Markus Wasen - guitars Ralf Wilden - tabla Prolusion. German band Flying Circus have a history that goes back to 1990, and in 1997 the band was ready with their debut album "Seasons". A remastered version of this album was made available in 2022 as a part of a package that also contained a rerec...

(42:36; Apollon Records) Track list: 1. Cruel Mind 5:08 2. I Finally Knew 5:36 3. Belle's Lament The Heat 3:01 4. Absurd Scenes 4:46 5. Inside Her Mind 2:25 6. Golden Ore 3:53 7. No Regrets 3:58 8. La Porte Mort 5:04 9. In Court 4:53 10. Confession 3:52 Line-up: Kjell Myran - vocals Elen Cath Hopen - vocals, keyboards, flute Terje Craig - bass, keyboards, vocals Terje Flessen - guitars Odd-Roar Bakken - organ, syntesizer Alf-Helge Lund - drums, percussion Prolusion. Norwegian band Adventure has been a part of the Norwegian progressive rock environment for more than 25 years, usually taking their good time to release new material. Following four studio albums released over a span of more than 20 years, now the band have hit quite the creative spur with two studio albums issued in 2022. "The Tales of Belle Part​ ​2: Unveiled by Fire" is the most recent of these, and was released in the fall through Norwegian label Apollon Records. Analysis. Part of the reason for Adventure ...

(44:46; Uberwald Records) One of the benefits of being a fairly well-known writer is that I come across material I otherwise would not have found for myself, and a few years back I came across Potter’s Daughter and immediately fell in love with their sound, which was based around the beautiful piano and vocals of Dyanne Potter Voegtlin, together with her son Jan Christiana who is an arranger, composer, bassist and guitarist. So, when I came across this album, I was somewhat intrigued as it is again Dyanne and Jan, but they have brought in famed drummer Simon Phillips (who also mixed the album which Jan produced), and have used two different guitarists, Guthrie Govan and Amit Chatterjee. Dyanne has followed two musical careers over the years, one being that of a classical pianist and the other of a singer/songwriter. This album commences with a nod to the former as it is an arrangement of the first movement of the First Piano Sonata by Alberto Ginastera, with Simon and Jan accompanying ...

(63:00; Century Media) I was late to the party with Orphaned Land, as I only came across them with their 2013 album ‘All Is One’, which was their fifth. This 2018 release was their seventh, while back in 2014 they parted company with Yossi Sassi, meaning that just singer Kobi Farhi and bassist Uri Zelcha were left who had been there from the beginning. However, I must say that I found I didn’t really miss him too much, as this is yet another wonderful release which is progressive in its very truest sense in that they are bringing together influences from different cultures and then blending them so they are still recognisable but sit happily alongside something which one would not think could work but does. As soon as it starts, we are deep inside the world of Orphaned Land, a world where all cultures are welcome and they are brought together so Moslems, Jews and Christians all exist in one place in a state of grace, all being lifted by the others. The core quintet has brought in plent...

(55:55; Red Steel Music) When the production team were working on what was going to be the Oscar-winning Richard Linklater film “Boyhood”, they looked for the right music to fit the mood, during which time they came across Osibisa. Included in the movie soundtrack, their most famous song, “Sunshine Day”, is now joined by rare recordings, remixes and live tracks some of which have never been released before and all drawn from Osibisa’s deep well of Afro-Rock recordings. It was strange for me to appoach this album as I haven’t heard Osibisa for more than 20 years, back when I reviewed the early albums when they were reissued in the 90’s. Back then that was also with Red Steel Music, a label I thought had long ago disappeared, so it is great to see it is still going in one form or another. I remember Osibisa from the Seventies when they appeared on Top of the Pops, dressed in bright African colours and looking and sounding like no-one else. To me they epitomised happiness and summer, and ...

(40:28; Dur Er Doux) The one thing which can always be guaranteed with releases on Dur et Doux is that they will be challenging, come from left field, be unlike anything else around and yet are also incredibly compelling. At least to me, I can imagine not everyone feels that way. The duo responsible for this album are Guilhem Meier, drummer with PoiL, PinioL, uKanDanZ and LFant and Jessica Martin Maresco, from Le Grand Sbam, Saddam Webcam, and EZ3kiel. Jessica provides vocals, floor tom, oil can, synth drum with Guilhem on vocals and guitar. I knew I was going to have to listen to this when I saw the following in the press release, “It is as if Jeff Buckley offered us the tea ceremony during a Portishead incantation. It's like a tête-à-tête between Nina Hagen and Nick Drake at the top of a Ferris wheel. As if Kurt Cobain had arrived by bike from China.” Curious? You should be. This is not improvised music, but songs with lyrics and deliberate construction, yet they are wild and fre...

(41:02; Moon Letters) Track list: 1. Sudden Sun 4:19 2. The Hrossa 6:18 3. Mother River 4:32 4. Isolation and Foreboding 6:33 5. Child of Tomorrow 5:27 6. Fate of the Alacorn 7:06 7. Yesterday Is Gone 6:47 Line-up: Kelly Mynes - drums, percussion Mike Murphy - bass, vocals, percussion John Allday - piano, organ, synthesizers, orchestration, vocals Dave Webb - guitars Michael Trew - vocals, flute, guitars, percussion Prolusion. US band Moon Letters started out back in 2016, consisting of members that all had past experiences with other band constellations under their belt. Their debut album "Until They Feel the Sun" from 2019 was given a favorable reception and started to build the band's stature in the progressive rock world. Now in 2022 Moon Letters are back with their second studio album "Thank You From the Future". Analysis. Moon Letters as a band can probably be described and defined in a few different manners, but the most important aspect of what this band...

(53:49; Soniq Theater) Track list: 1. Cinemagic Revisited 6:50 2. Screen Goddess 4:15 3. Epic Movie 8:49 4. Blockbuster 4:53 5. Greetings from Hollywood 4:06 6. Motion Picture 5:02 7. Stuntman 3:13 8. Thriller 3:14 9. Science Fiction 5:24 10. Armageddon 3:45 11. Love Story 4:18 Line-up: Alfred Mueller – all instruments Prolusion. Cinemagic is the 22nd and, as of October 2022, the last album by the German act Soniq Theater, released on 1 January this year. Like all other works by this single-member project, this one is available on Bandcamp at ‘name your price.’ Analysis. Over the years, Soniq Theatre’s music style has evolved yet remained the same – original and recognisable, largely because of the specific use of synthesisers as the only instrument, substituting a wide range of instruments typical of a full band (and even wider), yet not attempting to delude the listener what they hear is something other than synthesisers. The result is a funny but nice and sincere musical world, whic...

(65:32; Armelle LC) Track list: 1. I wish... 2:09 2. High Time 9:51 3. Lost Princess (Princesse à l'ouest) 3:03 4. Claire Obscure 5:07 5. Ups and Downs 4:43 6. Poétique 7:08 7. A new Penelope 4:28 8. Nouveau Départ 5:48 9. The Choice (fit it?) 6:43 10. False Divisions 4:37 11. Détour (les détours de la fée) 5:40 12. Where (the drift) 6:15 Line-up: Armelle LC – vocals, harps, synth, keyboards, programming, bass, bendir, tambourine, Indonesian rain stick, Tubular bells, kikongi with: Mike Sington – synth Squonk66 - sound design, programming, drone Eric Docet – bass Aurélien Joucla – programming Renaud Bayard – programming (6) Jonathan Chopin – sounds Adeline Guihard – piano Philippe Joucla – guitars Paul Jenkins – guitars Chris Bacon – didgeridoo JeanJean – flutes, bells and tinkles, Tibetan bowls, sounds, vocals Thérèse Johnston – keyboards Cyril Coutand – sounds Thierry Chassang – sounds, programming, timpani drum TNO – synth, programming, bass, guitars Amanyth – keyboards, program...

(41:01; Polarisradio) I was not too sure what to expect from {PolarisRadio}, which is the pseudonym for Dean Moroney, but I am pretty sure this wasn’t it! Dean’s music is normally described as Synthwave, and in some respects that still fits as here we have an instrumental album which appears to be based on a video game, yet while there are some tracks (such as Sea of Stars) which are solidly sat within that genre, there are plenty of others which do not. If ever there was an album which was fusing together Synthwave with Rammstein and prog metal, then this must be it. It is done so well that everything flows together, and it is only as the music swirls and changes that one realises that it is moving from one genre to another as it is done so very well indeed. There are no boundaries here, no limits, so we have plenty of riffing guitar combining with dance and dated synths, yet at times it is also incredibly Teutonic and while there are plenty of elements in here reminiscent of {Written...

(207:14; Think Like A Key Music) It is not often that an album comes out which causes me to have a total rethink of an artist’s back catalogue, but that is what we have here, as I can see I need to go back and play the early Flash albums again, which I have probably not listened to in more than 30 years. In my head all I thought of Flash was they were the band featuring Peter Banks after he left Yes and honestly had not realised they were one of the most vibrant and exciting progressive bands of the early Seventies, yet this release demonstrates just that. When I was offered this to review by the PR company, my initial reaction was to do so because of Peter, yet everyone in the band combines to create something very special indeed. The purpose here was to gather whatever was available from American tours undertaken in 72/73, from whatever source, then clean then up as much as possible and make them available with a 32-page booklet as a 3-CD set. What this means is that some of these ar...

(63:04; Deaton Lemay Project) Back with their second album, Roby Deaton (keyboards, guitars) and Craig LeMay (drums, percussion) have again invited singer Hadi Kiani and guitarists Ehsan Imani and Josh Mark Raj to take part, as well as also bringing in bassists John Haddad and Charles Berthoud with violinist Liza Evans on one track. When I heard their debut, I said it reminded me of Kansas in many ways, and this album sees them also bringing into play another classic prog band, Emerson Lake & Palmer. Deaton is an incredible keyboard player who is at home on beautiful piano as he is belting out synth rockers, while LeMay is incredibly technical and is a drummer who fully understands the need for space, which means he sits back at times and is driving hard at others. Kiani has an amazing voice, and I am so glad they have brought him back as his vocals are incredible, and he is perfectly linked with the others. The bass is an important element throughout, providing powerful linkage bu...

(76:01; Gandalf's Fist) I was late to Gandalf’s Fist (one of the fun aspects of living on the other side of the world) but have no doubt that ‘The Clockwork Fable’ is a masterpiece which should belong in everyone’s collection. Their complex progressive music which covers many different styles is a delight and keeps switching into new areas while their lyrics and stories are easily some of the best around. The concept behind ‘Decennium’ is a simple one (hence the use of the Latin title), to release a compilation album on 10/10/21 to celebrate 10 years of Gandalf's Fist albums. Everything on this album has been remastered or remixed and has been put together in a similar manner to a setlist in that they have included their most popular fan favourites while also undertaking some deep dives into back catalogue to please the most hardened. Of course, it also works as an introduction to people like me who have not heard their first five albums (something I really do need to correct a...

(71:28; Apollon Records Prog) This is the first time I have come across Norwegian prog act Kornmo, a trio who comprise Odd-Roar Bakken (keyboards, guitar), Nils Larsen (bass) and Anton J. R. Larsen (drums & percussion), but this is their third album. Mind you, if you had told me this had been released 50 years ago as opposed to 2021, I would have believed you as there is nothing here which ties it to the present day apart from the quality of the recording. Odd-Roar and Nils first met many years earlier, and later founded Adventure in 1990, then later forming Morild, before moving onto their latest venture where they have utilised the talents of Nils’ son Anton. The sounds being utilised by Odd-Roar are classic Mellotrons, Moogs and Hammond, often providing lengthy held chords while the bass and drums take the lead. It is quite Wagnerian at times, powerful and dramatic with no rush whatsoever. One can imagine songs such as “Dovre Faller” being performed on a pipe organ in a cathedra...