(69:00; Moonjune Records) It has been more than five years since the last album from master pianist Dwiki Dharmawan, 2020’s ‘Hari Ketiga’ but at long last he is back with a new line-up. This time he is working with the well-known Israeli musician Gilad Atzmon (The Orient House Ensemble, Robert Wyatt, Pink Floyd, The Blockheads) on saxophone and clarinet plus a quartet of Greek musicians in Kimon Karoutzos (upright bass) Harris Lambrakis (ney flute),  Vironas Ntolas (electric guitar) and Nikos Sidirokastritis (drums). This may seem a very strange mix of cultures, but Atzmon has been undertaking quite a bit of work with Greek musicians recently and he, Lambrakis, Ntolas and Sidirokastritis are all members of Potamos (we are just missing double bassist Xrisostomos Boukalis) who released their debut last year. This means that Dharmawan has been presented with a group who have mostly been working together already and understand how they each operate, which is key when recording an album...

(65:00; Inside Out Music) Given just how important BBT have been to the prog scene in recent years it is sometimes difficult to remember that they started all the way back in 1990, yet here in 2026 is their first ever concept album. The line-up has changed, morphed and expanded over the years, but  founder Gregory Spawton (bass, bass pedals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Mellotron, vocals) is still there while there has a been a minor change since ‘The Likes of Us’ with the departure of guitarist Dave Foster and the arrival of Paul Mitchell (trumpet, piccolo trumpet, vocals) as well as Alberto Bravin (lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, Moog, Mellotron) back for his second album, plus Nick D'Virgilio (drums, percussion, keyboards, acoustic and 12-string guitars, vocals), Oskar Holldorff (grand piano, Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes electric pianos, Hammond organ, Mellotron, synthesizers, vocals), Clare Lindley (violin, acoustic guitar, vocals) and Rikard Sjöblom (6 and ...

(69:00; Freia Music [2026 Edition] ) Alongside Roine Stolt, lead singer Hasse Fröberg has been the only constant in the long The Flower Kings journey, even appearing on the ex-Kaipa guitarist’s solo album ‘The Flower King’ which started it all. When Roine decided to do something different in 2008, Hasse also looked for something new and he formed Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion with Anton Lindsjö (lead & rhythm guitar, twin lead guitar), Kjell Haraldsson (keyboards), Thomas Thomsson (bass) and Ola Strandberg (drums), releasing their debut, ‘Future Past’ in 2010 and then following it up with this one in 2012. Originally credited to Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion, it has now been reissued with two live bonus cuts by Freia Music with a new cover and a revised credit to HFMC, which is what they have been calling the band since 2015. It was co-produced by Hasse and Tomas Bodin, who was then still keyboard player of The Flower Kings, but there is no doubt this is a very diff...

(6:52, Vajra) It is very rare indeed for me to review singles these days, just because I don’t have the time, but when I saw that the latest release from progressive metal/art rock act Vajra was a new version of the Pink Floyd classic I knew I had to give it a try. The band have been around for quite a while, but do not appear to have been the most active on the release front and I do believe there has only been one album to date, and that was all the way back in 2012, but I certainly hope this track is going to change that as this is quite something. The line-up is Annamaria Pinna (vocals), Dave Sussman (guitar), Sahaj Ticotin (bass) and Jimmy DeMarco (drums) and the best way of describing their sound is as if Inkubus Sukkubus were combining atmospheric ethereal prog rock with their Gothic overtones, all wrapped up in Annamaria’s vocals, who is strangely similar to Candia. This is a powerful and emotive version of the original and is so different that in many ways it is difficult to c...