Quaser - 2026 - Nueran

(45:43; JPRG Records)

Track list:
1. Like a Dog 3:49
2. We Partner 4:04
3. Wait for Nothing 4:26
4. Dreamseeker 3:33
5. Poseidonia 3:05
6. Wild Ocean 4:29
7. Roger 8:07
8. Ge So Da I Ga Ku 1:55
9. Kingdom 4:00
10. Brigade 8:15

Line-up:
Hiroyuki Morita - vocals, keyboards
Kazuo Katayama - drums
Masami Katsuura - guitar
Ricky Martin - bass, guitars


Prolusion.
Japanese band Quaser started out all the way back in 1977, but without releasing any material prior to folding at that time. But in 1993 the band was reformed, and since then they have released half a dozen studio albums, starting with "Out from Quaser" in 1994. "Nueran" is their most recent studio production, and was released in the spring of 2026 through the label JPRG Records.

Analysis.
This is an album that can be described as having been a decade in the making, as ten years have gone by since the previous album by this band. I note that Quaser have chosen an approach that a few other artists have done in recent years with this album, in that the physical version of the album contains two more tracks than the digital version. 

In terms of style and sound this is an at times interesting production. The album as a whole has been mixed to feature a rich and powerful sound that gives the songs a lot of richness and depth. Which at times makes the songs appear as more hard and heavy in their expression than what is actually the case. 

That being said, the band plays around with something of a primal guitar sound on the opening tune "Like a Dog", and for the final song "Brigade" we are treated to some firm riffs and a little bit of shredding too. Hence the harder aspects of the progressive rock traditions are most certainly a part of the experience this time around.

But we also get both elegant and more expressive piano motifs and keyboard arrangements here, and the good, old organ deliver some nice and majestic inputs along the way too. In all cases both with and without the electric guitar as a firm support presence.

Quaser is generally regarded as being a bit more of a jazzrock band, and that aspect is also a feature on this production. Besides some expressive instrument details, I note that the bass guitar often will deliver what I'd describe as a bit more of a jazz-tinged fluent motion at the bottom end here. And that the compositions as such strikes me as being a bit more of an amalgam of a few different traditions than any purebred excursions into the different variations of the progressive rock tradition. Where impulses from neo-progressive rock and symphonic progressive rock appear here and there amidst an approach to the progressive rock tradition that is a bit more in line with the inclusive varieties of the form that were more common in the 1970s. In this case with guitars often being dominant in places, and with the mix and production emphasizing a bit more of a hard and heavy sound in general.

Conclusion.
Quaser have created quite the interesting album with "Nueran". For my sake I'd say that a more hard and heavy sound is if not dominant then at least given a bit of an emphasis on this production, and that we have an album here that sounds harder and heavier than it actually is. But beneath the guitars and the often big sound tapestries here we do find a band that is both expressive and inclusive, and with a bit of a jazzrock foundation very much being a presence too. In essence I'd say that this should be an interesting production to explore if you think that a bit harder sounding and contemporary take on progressive rock of the more inclusive and expressive variety is music you tend to find fascinating.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, July 2026

Links:
https://www.eonet.ne.jp/~quaser/e/index.html
http://www.jprg.jp/