(54:03; Reigning Phoenix Music) I admit I did some digging around on this album to check I had the details correct, as what we have here appears to be a re-recording of the second album from Amorphis, originally released in 1994. However, what we actually have is the band playing the album in its entirety at the Tavastia Club, but without an audience. I understand how that makes it much easier to get all the cameras in place (this is available in multiple versions, including Blu-ray), and for things to be repeated if there is a need, but when just listening to the audio one wonders what is the point? I have always preferred live albums, where the band use the energy coming back at them to lift the performance and make it special and many bands have released albums in that form which are head and shoulders above anything they achieved in the studio (Nazareth, UFO, Kiss, just to name a few), but to the listener this just sounds like a studio re-recording. Yes, they play the whole album i...

(40:43; Proximity Records) I have been reviewing music by Steven McCabe for the best part of 30 years now, and have always enjoyed his releases as Elegant Simplicity, even still owning some of his early cassette tapes as well as many CDs. At the end of 2023 he found himself experimenting with a musical style which was far more ambient in nature, and very electronic, so much so that it would not fit in with his normal band, which is sometimes him as a multi-instrumentalist and a few others or a full set of guests to bring out the sound. The sensible course was to create a new entity to deliver the music away from the norm, and although the new site of course references his history this not a subset of Elegant Simplicity in any way, but instead is a new outfit in its own right. There are six instrumentals, with a total running time of 40 minutes, but given the title cut is itself some 24 minutes in length the others are not too long. Steven provides some guitar or bass here or there, but...

(38:25; Lynx Music) This is the first time I have come across Adam Jurczyński (guitars, vocals , bass, keyboards), who has been joined on this release by Bobi (drums) and guest Małgorzata "Margo" Szkoda-Hreczuch who provides vocals on the title cut and is the frontwoman for Moyra who released their debut album last year. I would have liked to have heard more from her, as she definitely adds an additional element, but even with her only being involved on the first song this is quite an intriguing album which never sounds like a solo project but a full band. This is a concept album where we find Adam moving between technical metal and prog metal with a harsh vocal style and crunching guitars. Then just when we think we have a handle on what is going on we get oriental guitar on “Tears of the East” which is quite distracting and means we no longer make the assumptions about what may be coming next. Given that Adam is shown on the album cover with a guitar and a samurai side stra...

(46:07; Mega Dodo) Tír na nÓg are an Irish folk duo who were formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 1969 by Leo O'Kelly and Sonny Condell, and are widely considered to be one of the first progressive folk bands, having a major impact on the scene and gaining a considerable following before breaking up in 1974. Since then they have reformed multiple times, releasing a new album in 2015. I must confess to not knowing if any of the material on this set has previously been available, given everything is taken from recordings made for radio broadcasts, but is a fascinating insight into the band when they were at their peak. This is available as a download on Bandcamp but has been made available as a limited-edition vinyl (250 copies) and is designed with that format in mind.  Side one features six songs recorded in the studio, with the DJ spoken introductions removed, and Side Two finds them in concert with the irrepressible John Peel before each song. I don’t know when the tracks on side one we...

(39:50; Shueh-li Ong) When I heard from Sheuh-li earlier this year she told me she had heard about me from a friend in the progrock scene that I was a reviewer, and would I be interested in her latest album? We swapped emails but I never asked her who the friend was, and it was only when I came to write the review that I realised I had come across her playing previously as she was a guest on the last (hopefully not final) album by 3rdegree, ‘Ones & Zeros - Volume 0’, so guess the friend is probably Robert Pashman. What interested me was the way that Sheuh-li says she is first and foremost a theremin player, providing additional instrumentation as well. She thinks of this album as a concerto, containing six movements of various sections with contrasting tempi, the appearance of motivic repetition and variation, and solo cadenzas. However, this is far removed from classical music as there is a high level of Oriental influences as well as progressive. It is not a solo work, as she has...

(43:09; Giant Electric Pea) Life would be somewhat boring if we all liked the same thing, as I way saying to a friend the other day if that were the case we could all be listening to Kanye West and watching Love Island. Happily many of refuse to go with the rest of the flock and instead find our own paths which are often much harder to follow but are always significantly more interesting. Here we have the latest album from Robin Peachey (vocals, guitar), Steve Peachey (keyboards), and Paul Johnston (drums) who are back with their fifth album, their second for GEP. When I reviewed ‘The Watcher’ I said there must have been some discussions on whether to include these guys on ProgArchives as while they had been influenced by the likes of The Pineapple Thief there were also elements of Pet Shop Boys and Nik Kershaw. This album is far more emotional and atmospheric in nature, and I would now add no-man and Porcupine Tree to the mix, and I can certainly understand why some people have been g...

(39:15; Snowdonia) Somewhat remarkably, here we have the second album from Claudio Milano this year, which in some ways is the follow-up to the 2021 album by NichelOdeon, ‘Incidenti - Lo Schianto’ and in other ways is the companion to the new album ‘Decimo Cerchio’ which he recorded with the trio I Sincopatici. The reason I say the latter is that here he again works with Francesca Badalini (piano) and Andrea Grumelli (fretless bass, electronics) from that band. This is the first time Claudio has worked with electronic artist borda (Teo Ravelli), who provides drums, percussion and live electronics, and combines live performances and studio work. The voices were recorded live in Stradella in September 2023, in a show between theatrical monologues, mime, abstract painting and music, and it is this theatricality and feeling of there being much more than “just” singing which is a huge element of all of Claudio’s work. According to the Greenland Inuit, the “Quigyat” auroras were the spirits ...

(58:33; Frontiers Music) Marty Friedman will probably always be most thought of for his decade-long tenure with Megadeth and his input into classic albums such as ‘Rust In Peace’, ‘Countdown to Extinction’ and ‘Youthanasia’ among others, while many also point to his earlier time in Cacophony with Jason Becker. What some may not know is that for more than 20 years he has lived in Japan, still releasing solo albums, touring and acting as a music expert on multiple TV shows. This explains why most of his band on this release are Japanese as alongside Greg Bissonette (drums) we have Wakazaemon (bass), Mika Maruki (piano, keyboards, synthesisers), Miho Chigyo (violin) and Marty’s wife Hiyori Okuda on cello. Friedman has never liked the term “shredder” as he believes it refers to someone who gives up musicality for speed and is something I agree with – just watch the ‘Hear ‘n’ Aid’ video on YouTube to see the difference between Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie Ojeda, one is blisteringly fast and t...

(80:00; InsideOut Music) When Roine Stolt seemed to appear from nowhere with ‘The Flower King’ in 1994, I am sure I was not the only proghead who wondered who Kaipa were, the band he had been involved with in the Seventies and was determined to discover more. I was soon playing their 1975 debut, but never thought the band would exist again, and given the success of his projects I was somewhat surprised to see Kaipa resurrect 20 years after their initial breakup with ‘Notes From The Past’ with Roine Stolt and Hans Lundin now forming a revised band with Patrik Lundström, Jonas Reingold and Morgan Ågren along with various guests, including Aleena Gibson. Fast forward another 20+ years and Kaipa are back with their tenth album since the resurrection. Over that time the line-up has stayed remarkably stable, and although Roine has not been involved for some time, the line-up is now very similar to that from 2002 with Hans Lundin (keyboards, vocals), Patrik Lundström (vocals), Aleena Gibson (...

(58:17; Frontiers Music) Jon Roy Anderson is 80 years old next month, but there is nothing on this album which shows any sign of age and there is no doubt it is one of his finest releases for many years, and his last album, 2019’s ‘1000 Hands: Chapter One” was pretty good. In The Band Geeks he has found kindred spirits, and together the relationship is pretty fine. Back in 2014, Ritchie Castellano (Blue Öyster Cult) began a podcast called ‘Band Geek with Richie Castellano’ which somehow morphed into a YouTube band featuring a fluid line-up of friends and guests who covered classic numbers, including songs by Yes, which brought them to the attention of Anderson. One thing led to another, and they toured together in 2023 playing classic Yes numbers and now we have an album of all-new material which includes two epics, the 16 and a half minute “Once Upon a Dream” and the nearly 10 minute “Counties and Countries”. Given this started initially as a covers band, and then a Yes covers band, p...

(53:09; Izz) I don’t think there has been a change in the IZZ line-up, but to be honest I can’t be sure as I cannot find any notification of Anmarie Byrnes leaving the band, and I am sure she has been playing gigs with them recently, but for whatever reason she does not appear on their new album. Her absence is the only difference between the line-up which has been together for some years of Paul Bremner (electric & acoustic guitars), Brian Coralian (electronic & acoustic drums & percussion), Greg DiMiceli (acoustic drums & percussion), John Galgano (bass, electric & acoustic guitars, vocals), Tom Galgano (keyboards, vocals) and Laura Meade (vocals). Yep, two drummers, a few singers and guitarists, this certainly gives the impression of being a prog act even before putting it on the player, and within seconds that knowledge is made concrete. I sometimes think that IZZ are one of the best kept secrets in Progdom, as although they have been around for quarter of a cen...

(66:40; Snowdonia) This album needs some background information, but given the depth of the performance, this is quite fitting. What we have here is a soundtrack to the first ever full-length Italian film, ‘L’Inferno’, which was released in 1911 and is based on the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's ‘Divine Comedy’. The music contained here was recorded live in November 2021 by I Sincopatici, who comprise  Francesca Badalini (piano, synth, zither), Andrea Grumelli (fretless bass, electronics, soundscapes), and Luca Casiraghi (drums and percussion) They aim to discover silent film masterpieces and then provide live musical accompaniment to accompany them – anyone who has seen this approach will know just how powering that can be (I was incredibly fortunate to see Goblin perform at a showing of ‘I Suspiria’ some years ago). On this project they have also brought in the talents of Claudio Milano and the result is something which is compelling, intriguing, powerful, passionate, gothic...

(42:34; Agonia Records) Formed in 2010 as a trio, this Greek psychedelic prog/black metal outfit has long experimented with different styles and the best way to describe this album is probably “eclectic”. On this release, founder members Theoharis (guitars, vocals), Haris (synths) and Demian (bass, guitar solos) have again been joined by Foivos Chatzis (drums) who started playing live with them in 2016 before becoming a full member in 2018 while Dimitris Dimitrakopoulos again provides clean vocals as he has on all releases apart from 2021’s ‘Mannequins’. Note, that was almost a side project in many ways and this album is seen as the successor to 2020’s ‘Eden In Reverse’, albeit with less people involved. If one listens to some sections of some songs then it is obvious they are coming to music from the genre of black metal, yet highly polished albeit very powerful, aided again by Dimitris Douvras (Rotting Christ, Nightstalker) and Magnus Lindberg, member of Cult of Luna and world-renown...

(40:27; L'Etourneur / Baboon Fish) Track list: 1. On Second Thought 7:09 2. Facing the Dilemma 6:09 3. Resignation 1:32 4. Beyond the Veil 5:58 5. Back and Glad 4:41 6. Definitly Hammered 5:40 7. Foresigh 9:18 Line-up: Nico - vocals, drums, additional instruments Pierre - keyboards, additional instruments Sam - saxophone, clarinet, additional instruments Virgil - bass Jocelyn - violin Bruno - bassoon Prolusion. French band Dustman Dilemma has been an active band unit for more than a decade, with three full length albums to their name as of 2024. "On Second Thought" dates back to 2018, is the second full length album by the band, and was released through the French labels L'Etourneur and Baboon Fish. Analysis. This is one of those bands that I presume will have left many music writers scratching their heads just a little bit. Not due to the overall styler explored on this album, where I suspect expressions such as jazzrock and avantgarde will have been used by the grea...

(50:14; Rock Company) Track list: 1. Perseids 7:01 2. In a Room with Many Mirrors 3:01 3. The Last Meeting 5:02 4. Who Is There? 5:57 5. The Ocean of Unspoken Words 7:18 6. Free Wind and Home Draft 4:29 7. The Secrets of Nightlife 3:55 8. The Great Dumb (Cinema) 5:07 9. Late Night Is Early Morning (After the Holiday) 8:24 Line-up: Vitaly Kiselev - guitars, bass, programming Alexander Malakhov - synthesizers Prolusion. Russian project Sunrise Auranaut is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Vitaly Kiselev, and for the past decade and a bit he has released a steady stream of albums under this moniker. The most recent of which appeared now in the fall of 2024. The album "The Ocean Of Unspoken Words" dates back to 2017, and was released through Dutch label Rock Company. Analysis. It doesn't take all that long to be able to conclude that it is symphonic progressive rock that is at the heart and soul of this album. While other instruments are very much in place, this i...

(45:24; Orbital Man Productions) Track list: 1. Confession 6:26 2. The Hindmost Take 8:48 3. Good Times 6:19 4. Zeitgeist 6:09 5. Strawberry Train 5:48 6. Mind Magic 5:12 7. North Pole 6:20 Line-up: Toomas Vanem - guitars Alex Argento - keyboards with: Virgil Donati - drums Andrus Lillepea - drums Henno Kelp - bass Kaarel Liiv - bass Prolusion. Estonian composer and musician Toomas Vanem have been active in his local music scene as well as abroad since sometime in the 1980s, with tenures in a good number of bands over the years. A decade ago he decided to start releasing material of how own too, with a total of three solo album released by him at the time of writing. "Confession" is the most recent of these, and was released through the label Orbital Man Productions in the summer of 2024. Analysis. While I cannot say that I firmly recall the music explored by Vanem on his previous albums at this point, I see that the Progarchives website have placed him under the progressive ...

(36:06; The Ajjancy) Track list: 1. Baba's Bizarre 3:39 2. Roundabout Thriller 5:17 3. 25 or 6 to Stronger 4:23 4. Babe, You Belong 4:30 5. Nothing Else in White Satin 4:45 6. Frame By Style 3:56 7. Stairway to Ashes 9:36 Line-up: The Ajjancy - vocals Fernando Perdomo - guitars, mellotron Dan Feiszli - bass Terry Branam - drums   Matt Lebofsky - piano Jeremy Nesse - Chapman Stick Horns for Hire - horns "Hamstrings" - strings with: Brooklyn Ajjan - vocals Mark Heisey - vocals "PeeWee Durante" - vocals HH Tay - vocals Orbel Babayan - guitars Emiliano Mercuri - guitars Josh Parker - guitars Daniel Charavitsidis - drums Nick Barra - keyboards Matt Brown - keyboards Prolusion. US artist The Ajjancy appears to be a fairly recent addition to the music scene, at least under this moniker. And the speciality of this musician, alongside several accomplices, is to create what I see is described as mash-ups: The art of transforming two original songs into a single new song, ...

 (59:31; Lizard Records) Track list: 1. Sketch A 6:14 2. Night Crossing 4:55 3. Passed the Storm 3:46 4. Feel Like a Man 3:11 5. BIP 3:07 6. Brunette 7:12 7. Lydian Riff 3:38 8. Undertow 5:15 9. The Purge 3:27 10. Grid and Meridian 4:17 11. Sketch C (Quell) 14:29 Line-up: Sean Moran - guitars Tom Aldrich - keyboards, piano, organ Chad Langford - bass, voice Ivo Bol - synthesizers, samples Pierre Aeternus - drums with: Esther Mugambi, vocals Prolusion. Netherlands based project Zolder Ellipsis is the creative vehicle of US barn composer and musician Tom Aldrich, and the first album to be released under this name appeared back in 2019, with a subsequent reissue a few years later through Italian label Lizard Records. Fast forward to the fall of 2024, and we get a new album by this venture. The album is called "Il LIbro dei Tropi", and with Lizard Records again being the chosen label by the artist. Analysis. While defining which round hole this square peg should be forced into is...

(88:00; Talking Elephant) Given I take so much music I have a strict priority system in that I file the album away with details of when it was sent to me, and then gradually work through my list month by month. That generally works well, except when I am sent something which I know I want to listen to immediately, if not sooner, and the system goes to pieces. That is the case here with the live album from Gryphon which was recorded on their 50th anniversary tour last year which arrived recently – apparently this is the first live album, although I can see others listed on PA so am not sure if this is their first ‘official’ or their first since they reformed. I came across the band when they were still active in the Seventies, and then years later I was sent all their albums to review and am still a huge fan (their first three albums are some of the very few which I have loaded on my phone to listen to for pleasure when I feel a need a break from listening to review). Although there are...

(52:41; Melodic Revolution Records) I am in the fortunate position of being a friend of Jerry King, so consequently he sends me material he has been working on, and given he is wonderfully prolific it means I get to hear music from some very different bands. One of these is Cloud Over Jupiter, and while it has taken four years, he is finally back with the fifth album.  Unlike many of his other musical adventures, where he is either a full member of the band he is working with or coming in for session work, COJ is Jerry’s outfit and he brings in friends to help fulfil his musical ideas which means he is the only person who plays on every track adding lead guitars, rhythm guitars, bass, trombone, synth, and arrangements. He often works with Dave Newhouse (Muffins) and Ian Beabout (Colouratura) so it is no surprise to see them involved, while Paul Sears (Muffins), Ric Parnell (Atomic Rooster, Spinal Tap), Bill Jungwirth, Michele King and Pete Prown are just a few of the very familiar ...