(47:52; Boudicca Records) Track list: 1. Vorspiel / Grieg's Diner 2:49 2. The Animal Said I 6:22 3. Tension 6:43 4. Hecate 6:26 5. What Under What 5:51 6. Violet Is Tits 3:57 7. Krystal at the Red Light 5:01 8. Confess 5:28 9. Mary Jane 5:15 Line-up: Erin Bennett - vocals, guitars, trumpet Anna Fraser - drums, tabla, percussion Bad Dog - bass Suna Dasi - synthesizers, vocals Nikki Francis - organ, synthesizers, piano, Mellotron, flute, saxophone, clarinet Kitty Biscuits - percussion, spoken words, backing vocals Prolusion. UK based band EBB, formerly know as Erin Bennett Band, is a colourful band with a colourful history, exploring their craft in an art collective in Scotland. Following an initial EP back in 2019 the band launched their full length debut album "Mad & Killing Time" this fall through the label Boudicca Records. Analysis. EBB's take on progressive rock is an inclusive one, with the band not really seeing any particular boundaries that need to be foll...

(48:26; Storyville Records) Track list: 1. Run 6:48 2. Wild Nephew 4:57 3. Cry 5:50 4. Dream #3 4:07 5. Four Four Four 5:05 6. Help 7:10 7. Outside Thule 4:09 8. Quiet 4:16 9. Not So Quiet 3:49 10. My Funny Valentine 2:15 Line-up: Per Aage Brandt – piano   Karsten Vogel – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone Flavio Perrella – bass Klaus Menzer – drums Prolusion. Cry! is cooperative effort between the ex-member of the early Danish jazz prog rock bands Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe and Secret Oyster, saxophonist Karsten Vogel, and pianist, poet and philosopher Per Aage Brandt. They released it to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first joint record made in 1966. The album consists of 10 compositions. Accompanying musicians are Flavio Perrella on the bass and Klaus Menzer on the drums. Analysis. It was back in 1966 that two avant-garde jazz musicians, young but already well-known within the jazz community of their country, Denmark, decided to unite to make a record. The style of their music ha...

(48:52; Neil Campbell) Track list: 1. Overture 10:37 2. Faldum One 3:01 3. Faldum Two 4:00 4. Faldum Three 3:57 5. Faldum Four 3:23 6. Faldum Five 4:05 7. Faldum Six 3:14 8. The Mountain 16:35 Line-up: Neil Campbell  - guitars, bass, keyboards, electronics Amy Chalmers - violin Nicole Collarbone - cello Jon Lawton - programming, electronics Prolusion. UK composer and musician Neil Campbell has been creating solo albums for a number of years, often releasing them himself but occasionally also getting a label involved. With various side projects and collaborations he has something like two dozen albums out at this point, a solid back catalogue created over the better part of 20 years. "Faldum" is the name of his most recent solo album, which was self released in the late fall of 2022. Analysis. Campbell's association with progressive rock is one that perhaps is a bit sideways oriented, as the rock aspect of the music perhaps isn't the most striking trait on many of his ...

(51:16; Sahuaro Records) Track list: 1. Combative Life 7:10 2. Chronicles of the Lost Broadcast of Mr. White 8:13 3. The Alchemist 7:17 4. Gitano Eléctrico 5:12 5. Elahi 7:22 6. Tearing Us Appart 7:51 7. Bestias del Norte Salvaje 8:11 Line-up: Bonzo Fimbres - all instruments Prolusion. Mexican artist Bonzo Fimbres is a bit of an unknown quantity for me, as his internet sites don't really reveal all that much about him. What I do know is that he currently has two albums to his name. "Combative Life" is his debut album, and was released through the label Sahuaro Records in 2019. Analysis. Like his album from this year, Fimbres' debut album is one that safely can be sorted under progressive metal. While impulses from other parts of the metal spectrum do find their way into the landscapes explored here, on the metal side of things it is the progressive metal passages that dominates the proceedings. The main style variations in the strict metal parts here are inclusions of...

(34:55; Newspaperflyhunting) Track list: 1. No Hard Feelings 6:01 2. One Minute 4:06 3. Everything's Fine 7:35 4. Hallways 5:10 5. Another Island 12:03 Line-up: Michal Pawlowski - vocals, guitars, percussion Gosia Sutuła-Grabowska - vocals, bass, keyboards Krzysztof Sarna - drums Beata Grzegorczyk-Andrejczukc - keyboards Prolusion. Polish band Newspaperflyhunting has been around for a dozen years or thereabouts at this point, releasing new material at a steady pace. "Time Regained" is their fifth full length studio album, and was self released in the fall of 2022. Analysis. Newspaperflyhunting started out as a bit more of a post-rock oriented venture from what I can recall, but they are among the bands that have chosen to develop out from this foundation rather than trying to perfect the approach they started out with. Hence there's a sense of development from one album to the nest, and the steps they take appear to be gradual, following a natural rather than a forced...

(41:30; Sahuaro Records) Track list: 1. Levitating Man 7:54 2. The Suicidal Theater Company 7:11 3. Particula De Dios 11:12 4. Starmaker 8:06 5. Critical Mass 7:07 Line-up: Bonzo Fimbres - all instruments Prolusion. Mexican artist Bonzo Fimbres is a bit of an unknown quantity to me, and not a lot is described about him on his official internet pages either. He has two albums to his name though. "The Suicidal Theater Company" is the name of the most recent of these, which was released through a label called Sahuaro Records in the early fall of 2022. Analysis. Progressive metal is the style explored on this production, and it is a rather expressive take on the form at that, as well as containing music that really uses contrasting elements for what they are worth throughout. In addition, this is also an instrumental production. About one half of this album explores different categories of metal. Traditional heavy metal, with a few nods towards classic hard rock, but also thrash ...

(43:35; The Weever Sands) Track list: 1. Monday 6:58 2. Tuesday 5:33 3. Wednesday 4:48 4. Thursday 6:29 5. Friday 5:56 6. Saturday 6:04 7. Sunday 7:47 Line-up; The Weever Sands - all instruments with: Daniel Geal - voice Geo Schaller - flute, saxophone Armin Rave - guitars Dyanne Potter Voegtlin - keyboards Jan Christiana - keyboards Leslie Penning - recorder Prolusion. German project The Weever Sands has been around for close to a decade at this point, a venture I believe is primarily a one-man band at heart but with additional musicians helping out here and there. The artist doesn't clearly state if that is the case though, but the music gives that impression at least. Three albums have been released by this venture so far, and in the fall of 2022 the most recent of these was made available as "Secrets of the Pecking Order". Analysis. Birds used as allegorical beings to tell a story is what we get on this album, a concept album revolving around allegory and compositions...