(61:48; Moonjune Records) Track list: 1. The Fifth Window 5:10 2. I Wonder How Many Miles I've Fallen 7:19 3. The Way to Hemingford Grey 5:54 4. Sunlight Cafe 5:58 5. Looking Back at the Amber Lit House 6:47 6. This Place up Against the Sky 6:05 7. At a Small Hour of the Night 7:52 8. A Wind Blows Down Turnpike Lane 3:15 9. Ten Mile Bank 5:36 10. The Green-Faced Timekeepers 7:52 Line-up: Mark Wingfield - guitars, soundscapes Yaron Stavi - bass Asaf Sirkis - drums with: Dominique Vantomme - synthesizer Prolusion. UK guitarist Mark Wingfield is a well established artist in music circles, with lots of praise coming his way also from the music press for a good number of years by now. Besides occasional band projects and various collaborations, he has also established himself firmly as a solo artist for the past couple of decades and a bit with a dozen or so albums to his name. The album "Tales From The Dreaming City" dates back to 2018, and was released by the then US based l...

(41:44; Deko Entertainment) Track list: 1. This Song Walks Into a Bar 4:16 2. Empty Hall and the Dancing Shadows 5:01 3. Katie and Natalie 4:57 4. The Line at Weird Walter's Wake 4:25 5. Köln 1:59 6. Berkeley Barn Dance 4:06 7. It's Raining in Casmalia 4:07 8. Complacency Catastrophe 4:24 9. The Royal Court and the Dirt Beneath 5:00 10. Turn Back Time 3:29 Line-up: Tenk van Dool - organ, keyboards, Mellotron, piano, synthesizers, bass, guitars, mandolin Paul Sears - drums, percussion Prolusion. Musicians Tenk van Dool and Paul Sears have both been active musicians since the 1970s, albeit with rather different career trajectories from what I understand. How they came to work together is a matter I'm blissfully unaware of, but it will probably be a delightful experience for many people that they chose to do so. The end result of their collaboration is the album "Aperiodic Grok". Initially a self released album, for a short period of time, but due to being picked up ...

(34:43; Apollon Records) Track list: 1. Stay Cool 5:09 2. The Enabler 9:02 3. Protozoa 2:13 4. Holy Motors 5:59 5. Firestorm 7:37 6. Jupiter 4:43 Line-up: Mats Jörgen Sivertsen - vocals, keyboards, guitars, loops Vegard Weyergang Vartdal - vocals, bass, guitars, synthesizers, saxophone Öyvind Rognerud - guitar, synthesixers, Rhodes Paal Urdal - drums with: Madeleine Ossum - violin Lotte Hellström Hestad - violin Heidi Johnstad Arnesen - viola Ingeborg Skomedal Torvanger - cello Kjetil Jerve - piano Jon Arild Stieng - guitars Prolusion. Norwegian band Yobrepus started out back in 2017, and released their debut album "Blakc Mould" the same year. Since then the band have signed to Norwegian label Apollon Records and released a further two albums on that label, with a third on the way in the fall of 2024. The album "A Rhizome Revolution Part 1" is their third and most recent studio album at the time of writing, and was released through Norwegian label Apollon Records in...

(60:09; Karisma Records) Track list: 1. Chains of Changes 6:20 2. Behave 5:48 3. Take Me to the River 5:05 4. Come to Light 5:08 5. Golden Circle 4:34 6. To What End 5:34 7. Today Tonight Tomorrow 5:55 8. World of Wonder 1:30 9. Mother 5:24 10. Something in the Water 5:33 11. This Is the End 9:18 Line-up: Johanne-Margrethe Kippersund Nesdal - vocals Knut Kippersund Nesdal - vocals, keyboards Eivind Strömstad - guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals Aasa Ree - violin, vocals Ingvild Nordstoga Sandvik - viola, vocals Ole Gjöstöl - piano, keyboards, programming, organ, vocals Morten Strypet - bass, vocals Mats Fjeld Lillehaug - drums, percussion, vocals Prolusion. Norwegian band Meer has a history that goes back to 2008 or thereabouts, but didn't take the Meer moniker in use until sometime around 2015. From that point on the band have gone from strength to strength, with three albums to their name so far that in each case have harvested superlatives from inside as well as outside of ...

(67:00; Karl Eisenhart) This album originally started life as a lyrical project as part of Karl’s master's degree in creative writing. Due to the pandemic he then found himself with enough time to be able to write the music to go with it, and while there are plenty of guests, none of them are on more than one track and Karl provides vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drum programming. A quick look at the others involved and I note that Simon Godfrey (Tinyfish, Shineback) is one of the three lead singers working with Karl, but given they are together in Tribe of Names perhaps that is no real surprise. For the most part this is Nineties neo prog and is a fun listen, but it is also one of those albums where the more it is played the more one finds wrong with it. Firstly, and most importantly, Karl is a good singer, but not a great one. This means there are times when the music has far more impact and effect than when there are vocals, and serious consideration should have been given ...

(43:27; Johannes Luley) Johannes continues in his journey away from progressive rock and into the jazz field with his latest album fully immersed in that genre. He uses a multitude of different guitars and again has brought in the services of upright bassist David Hughes, who also played on 2021’s ‘Follow You Heart’, along with drummer Ben Levin and Chris Lawrence on flugelhorn. The first time I played this I was surprised at just how often Johannes allows himself to take on a supporting role while the rest of the guys all go for broke, but in many ways it also shows his confidence as he provided all the material and for the sake of the music knew it was better for the overall impact if he took a backseat at times. As one expects within a jazz ensemble, everyone is a master musician, and this has been scored in such a way that everyone really does get their time in the spotlight. Given the cover art I expected something a little more languid and sedate, but while we do get that from ti...

(45:36; Karisma Records) Track list: 1. A Hasty Departure 6:28 2. The Inn of The Haunted Owl 4:47 3. Dreams in a Brougham 3:39 4. Chichikov Bogd 4:19 5. Mr. Tilly and His Gang 3:09 6. Through a Rural Landscape 3:03 7. The Feline Companion 5:41 8. Read All About It! 4:17 9. Forgotten Qualities 6:16 10. The Three Heads of the Well 3:57 Line-up: Jon Gamble - keyboards, vocals Fredrik Lindqvist - bass, bouzouki, dulcimer, recorders, whistles, vocals Patrik Lundström - vocals, guitar, bouzouki Johan Nordgren - drums, nyckelharpa, vocals with: Lovisa Hallstedt - violin Fabian Lundström - voice, vocals Mark Evitts - violin, viola Emily Nelson Rodgers - cello Prolusion. Swedish band Ritual have been a feature in the progressive rock scene for more than 30 years at this point, and they released their debut album all the way back in 1995. Three more studio albums would appear over the next decade and a bit, but following their fourth album "The Hemulic Voluntary Band" in 2007 Ritual di...

(50:27; Jadis) When I first got involved with the progressive underground there is no doubt there were a handful of albums which had a massive impact on me which I still listen to this day, and one of these was ‘More Than Meets The Eye’. I saw different line-ups of the band, but the one I love the best was Gary Chandler, Steve Christey, Martin Orford and John Jowitt. Gary and Martin could also often be found performing as a duo, and some of my very favourite gigs come from this period. Over the years there have been some line-up changes, with Martin moving away from music a few times, and although the classic line-up did get back together for some albums in the 2000’s, both Martin and John departed again after 2006’s ‘Photoplay’. They were replaced by bassist Andy Marlow and keyboard player Arman Vardanyan for 2012’s ‘See Right Through You’ before Martin returned again for the last album, 2016’s ‘No Fear of Looking Down’. It has taken eight years for the guys to return with their tenth...

(35:49; Nightkeeper Productions) Originally released in 2011, Dean Marsh has now revisited this EP and reissued it in 2024. It has been remixed and remastered along with some new instrumentation and has also been given some new artwork to make it stand out from the original. It brings to life folk stories and tales from Dean’s home county of Cumbria, and he provided instrumentation and lead vocals, while Luke Severn provides lead and backing vocals on one song, Rebecca Watson lead vocals on two, Natasha Jaffe adds cello on one and Faliq Auri, Uilleann Pipes and Whistles on another. These days Gandalf’s Fist are a full band, but this takes us back to the time when it was just Dean and Luke and allows us to hear a band experimenting with folk influences into their prog. Mind you, we get way more than just folk influences or Neo, as Gandalf’s Fist have never been satisfied with sitting for too long in any particular sub-genre, and for a fine example of a band always pushing then just list...

(66:00; Psychiatric Records) The first release from Psychiatric Records by The Haas Company puts the spotlight on Andy Timmons, a dynamic guitar virtuoso who is perhaps best known for his work with the pop-metal band Danger Danger, although he was also the musical director for Olivia Newton-John, worked with Simon Phillips, Kip Winger, Paula Abdul and Paul Stanley, and sold over a million records with an extensive discography that includes heated instrumentals, blues, and high quality pop tunes. With drummer Steve Haas propelling the performances and keyboardist Pete Drungle contributing the music, Timmons plays with relentless passion, joined by Haas, Drungle, Kirwan Brown or Al MacDowell on bass, saxophonist Pete Gallio, plus a few guest appearances this is a blast from beginning to end. One gets the impression that Timmons was provided with the music and told to take the lead over everything which had been put in place. It has allowed him to take this jazz rock fusion album into a v...

(52:05; The Forever Moment) The Forever Moment is a project of Arlington, Texas musician Mark Cook (Herd of Instinct, Liquid Sound Company, T.A.P) and Peterborough, Ontario musician/artist Steven Leak. It was apparently born out of a desire to hear what would happen when they melded their music with the intention of pressing each other forwards creatively. This is their second album, with Steven Leak (Arturia Microfreak, Arturia Minifreak, Red Panda Tensor and Particle pedals, TC Infinite Sampler, Zoom Multistomp, field recordings and found sounds) working with Mark Cook (fretted and fretless Warr guitars, fretless bass, Korg Minilogue and Monologue synthesizers, electric and acoustic pianos, classical guitar, samples and drums) along with guest Ottmar Soulier (keyboards, trumpet, and percussion). This is soundscape music with progressive, electronic and avant garde tendencies which one can imagine fans of Marcus Reuter or Trey Gunn getting a great deal from. This is not music which fo...

(38:00; Spirit of Unicorn Music) Over the years I have heard quite a few of Fernando’s albums, and to be honest I have often felt he has missed the mark, but this one did show promise, at least at the beginning. The reason for the title is that Fernando did everything himself, from playing all the instruments and providing vocals through to production. Perdomo comments, “‘Self’ is not just an album. It is a definition of who I am. It is the most complete statement I have ever made as a recording artist.” He admits he is heavily influenced by a diverse group of musicians from Todd Rundgren, Yes, Emitt Rhodes, Paul McCartney and Jason Falkner, and the result here is a somewhat eccentric set of songs. Three are under three minutes in length, two just break four, while the closer is nearly twenty minutes long. That is seen as being the prog epic, but unfortunately this is the song which lets the rest of the album down. Up until then we have had some interesting pop/rock numbers which work ...

(101:00; Frontiers Music) In September 2022, Blue Öyster Cult played a unique trilogy of sold-out shows, each dedicated to one of their first three albums, and here we have the second night which kicked off with them playing 'Tyranny and Mutation' performed back-to-back. There is an argument to be had that the first side of that album is their most consistent, given it goes from “The Red & The Black” to “O.D.’d On Life Itself”, “Hot Rails To Hell” and “Seven Screaming Dizbusters”. The guys sound really at home with this older material, and the performances certainly stand up against those on their classic live album, ‘On Your Feet Or On Your Knees’. Of course, they were playing an extended set, which is more than 100 minutes long on this double CD set, so there is plenty more material to be heard. The second half finds the band relaxing into the likes of “Godzilla”, “E.T.I (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)”, “(Don't Fear) The Reaper” and “Cities On Flame With Rock And Ro...

(41:46; Frontiers Music) There is no doubt that since signing with Frontiers Music that there has been a real outpouring of BÖC material, and here we have a collection of songs which were originally recorded between 1978 and 1983, except for one track from 2016, "If I Fell." This includes the only known studio recording of their concert classic “Kick Out the Jams” (MC5 cover). Some of the material is from sessions workshopping material for an album, some is from performance rehearsals, and while this is not a “proper” album which is going to be sought out by the general punter, there is a consistency here which comes with a band who were both consistently recording and touring. They released four albums between 1978 and 1983, then just two more in the Eighties, and only three in the last 35 years, so these songs come from a very busy period as they revelled in the success not only of albums but also "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The version of “We Gotta Get Out of ...

(103:31; Verglas Music) For those who have only discovered the underground progressive scene since the advent of the internet and glossy magazines it may be difficult to think of a time when the only way to read about what was going on was by purchasing fanzines written by the dedicated (and insane, it must be said). Many disappeared after a few issues (Blindsight), some stayed for years (The Organ, Feedback, Acid Dragon) and others became websites (Background), but for the purpose of our tale we need to think back to the strangely anarchic and weird Silhobbit. Not only were the people behind this diehard proggers, but they also had a somewhat weird sense of humour and felt inclined to take the piss out of all and sundry (including yours truly). One of the people they castigated was Mick Pointer, and when he discovered what was going on he threatened to sue, so the guys quickly put him in touch with Clive Nolan so he could explain that it was all in good faith. This led to many convers...

(53:23; Age of Distraction) One of the things that still keep me excited about the progressive scene more than 30 years on from when I started writing about it is the way “unknown” bands can arrive fully formed producing debut albums that are exciting right from the off. In this case it all started when  guitarist John Cook (ex-This Winter Machine, ex-This Other Eden) began writing new material and then brought in singer Charlie Bramald (Ghost of the Machine, Shadows On Mercury), bassist Mark Gatland (Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate, IT), and drummer Dom Bennison (Last Motion Picture, ex-This Winter Machine) to pull it all together – John, Mark and Dom all provide keyboards on this. Although Dom and John were both in This Winter Machine, I am not sure if they played together in that outfit, especially as Dom’s role in that band was guitarist (he is a real multi-instrumentalist). They also brought in singer Philip Stuckey to take on the lead role on “Take Me Down” while Ruby Jones ...

(230:10; Spirit of Unicorn Music [30th Anniversary Expanded Edition] ) To celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘Talk’, Spirit of Unicorn Music have reissued it as a 4CD Deluxe Edition featuring bonus studio material and a previously unreleased live show from New York, a new interview with the principal players by Jerry Ewing, a 2-LP limited edition white vinyl set and a single CD. After ‘Onion’, sorry ‘Union’, the ‘90125’ line-up of the band got back together so the fourteenth studio album from the band again featured Jon Anderson (lead & backing vocals), Trevor Rabin (electric & acoustic guitars, keyboards, programming, lead & backing vocals), Tony Kaye (Hammond Organ), Chris Squire (bass, backing vocals) and Alan White (drums). This is sometimes referred to as “the lost album”, and somewhat to my surprise it was only when playing this that I realised I had never actually heard it before. Given how important this band was to me in my teenage years I don’t know how it passed m...

(240:23; InsideOut Music) What we have here is a five-CD set lasting nearly 4½ hours, with complete renditions of the albums ‘The Whirlwind’ and ‘The Absolute Universe’, plus songs going all the way back to 2000’s ‘SMPTe’. The line-up is of course Neal Morse (keyboards, acoustic guitar, vocals), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Roine Stolt (guitar, vocals) and Pete Trewavas (bass, vocals) and they have been joined on this occasion by Ted Leonard (guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals). Transatlantic have always been known for their extensive live albums, and to have been present in the audience on those two nights must have been something quite special indeed. For night one, the band performed ‘The Whirlwind’ in its entirety, the first time they had done so in 10 years.  They  also added “Into the Blue” and “Shine” from their fourth album ‘Kaleidoscope’ as well as the classic ballad “We All Need Some Light.” As a surprise, they  also played a song they had never previously p...

(54:59; InsideOut Music) Back with their second album, this supergroup trio shows no signs whatsoever of slowing down and have produced a modern melodic rock number influenced by prog which is not only commercial but an absolute belter! Just listen to “Can’t Live Like This”, which in some ways is designed for rock radio and in other ways is designed to make your brain melt and dribble out your ears. The line-up is again guitarist Ian Crichton (Saga), drummer Nigel Glockler (Saxon) and multi-instrumentalist and singer Robert Berry (3.2), and they have brought together their shared experiences to yet again produce something which is quite remarkable. One would never guess that for the best part of 40 years Glockler has been the man behind the metal powerhouse which is Saxon, as here he provides much more finesse and demonstrates why he was chosen by Steve Howe to join a reformed GTR. Crichton allows himself to provide more crunch that he normally does when in Saga, and then at the front ...

(57:45; ArtBeat Music) Over the last few years we have been fortunate enough to receive quite a few live albums from Roz Vitalis, and here we have another, which was recorded in February 2023 at the Kuryokhin Center in St. Petersburg. The hall provided the band with certain limitations, such as not being able to use a full drumkit, which meant that Yury Khomonenko could only use a cajon and a cymbal - but keyboard player Ivan Rozmainsky, in addition to synthesizers used the hall’s upright piano. The line-up was completed by Vladimir Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (guitar), AndRey Stefinoff (clarinet) and  Max Lokosov (bass), with the set being mainly based on tracks from ‘Patience of Hope’ (2012), ‘Lavoro d'Amore’ (2015) and ‘The Hidden Man of the Heart’ (2018). There are also two pure piano pieces which have yet to be recorded and another, “Recovery”, which has appeared on another live release but has yet to be recorded in the studio. Roz Vitalis have long been one of my favourite Russian p...

(52:52; Cuneiform Records) When an album is released after the death of the artist it is not unusual for people to say marvellous things about it, even if it is not worthy, just because there is a sense of loss and a knowledge that there will be no more, but that is not the case here. Yes, many reviewers and critics are saying wonderful things about this release, but that is because it is truly remarkable in so many ways. Roger Trigaux released some incredibly important albums with Univers Zero before forming Present in 1979 since when his significance within the RIO scene has been rightfully recognised, even though he never had a massive output. Indeed, this album was the first new album since 2009’s ‘Barbaro’, and it was only through the exhortations of Michel Besset that Roger pulled together a band to record his compositions. It took five years, with Roger passing away during the process, which was then completed by Pierre Chevalier (piano, keyboards, vocals) and sound engineer Udi...