(50:48; Nuclear Blast Records) It is incredible to think Christofer Johnsson formed Therion more than 35 years ago, as they are still putting out wonderful symphonic albums of great depth, and here they are returning quickly with the second part of their ‘Leviathan’ trilogy. The first came out in 2021, this towards the end of 2022 while the next is due in 2023 so they were obviously conceived, if not recorded, at the same time. Johnsson said he has achieved everything he had wanted after the release of ‘Beloved Antichrist’, and was bereft of ideas so sat down with lead vocalist Thomas Vikström to work out what to do next, and they decided that instead of progressing in the way they wished to why not give the fans exactly what they wanted? This means Christofer Johnsson (guitars), Sami Karppinen (drums), Nalle Påhlsson (bass) and Christian Vidal (guitars) providing hugely complex and complicated multi-layered arrangements which also have plenty of room for Thomas Vikström and Lori Lewis...

(33:14; Skin Graft Records) 5 songs, 33 minutes in length, a drummer and two guitarists who are combining to create music which at best is difficult to listen to, jagged and uncompromising, yet Yowie’s third album is simply inspired. Between their 2012 album ‘Damning With Faint Praise’ there has been a line-up change in that Jeremiah Wonsewitz (guitar) and Defenestrator (drums) have said goodbye to guitarist Sr. (H), jb and we now have Christopher Trull, but in terms of music there has been little change. One can hear why there is always a gap between albums (their debut was released in 2004 and there has been nothing since this one), as this is music which is hard to listen to and must be devilishly difficult to play. Unlike many RIO/avant artists it is obvious that this has been highly practiced and rehearsed to ensure the complexity all knits together in a way which would be possible if they were just working off each other. I am convinced this is a live in the studio recording, jus...

(47:52; 4th Eden) Towards the end of last year keyboard player Martin released two albums, ‘Delta’ and ‘Epsilon’, and as would be suggested by the linking of the names and artwork they are very much two sides of the same coin. As with his 2021 album, ‘Metamophosis’, he is now in the musical area most commonly inhabited by the likes of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre as he finds his own space and relaxes into his influences to create music which is restful, relaxing and inviting. This album came out in October 2022 and of the two is the more direct and slightly upbeat, creating an atmosphere where one can imagine the music moving further into rock (it never does). It is heavily layered, with plenty of held-down chords which allows the listener to relax and investigate what is taking place, with nice clear single note synths over the top allowing us to move in different directions. I am never a huge fan of programmed drums, and hold firmly to the belief that a sweaty human is always bette...

(62:00; 4th Eden) Released just a few weeks after ‘Delta’, here we have ‘Epsilon’. I am guessing Martin recorded all the songs over a period and then decided it would be best to release two albums instead of one lengthy one, and then put certain tracks on each depending on the overall sound and feeling. Although both could be described as ambient I guess, this one is much more in that style than ‘Delta’, yet also has more orchestral elements. There are times, especially in “The Wide Open Expanse” where one can clearly hear Martin’s musical palette opening up as while this is strongly Vangelis in nature, there are also times when one can hear the impact of Wakeman and that player’s own ambient series. I have been fortunate to hear Martin’s music since he started making albums available, and there is no doubt he has grown immensely in a relatively short period of time as his arrangements and melodies are now far more intricate and developed in a way which does not make one think this is ...

(13:13; Baris Dai) Here we have the second EP from Dutch guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Baris Dai, and what an absolute delight it is from beginning to end. His debut, ‘Ambient Conditions, Pt. 1’, mixes the sound of modern prog acts like Plini, David Maxim Micic and Intervals with ambient elements and soundscapes, and he felt he needed something more energetic and uplifting atmosphere in this EP, bringing in styles from Symphonic Prog to Progressive Metal, and influences from the likes of Camel, Dream Theater and Haken. To say this is a delight is something of an understatement as while I believe a ‘proper’ drummer would have added to the overall feel there is little else here to pick fault with, apart from the length as it is only 13 minutes long. I wonder if Baris also feels that length is an issue as it is now possible to get both this and the debut EP as a physical release which is 27 minutes long. Baris has a wonderfully fluid style, and while he concentrates strongly on melo...

(64:30; 7 Records) Here we have another album sent to me by Thierry, but this time around it is a CD-R (which I haven’t seen in years), with a card 4 page booklet which appears to have been printed from a computer and then cut out by hand. The album itself is from 2019 and even though I have tried multiple different approaches I have managed to find just one reference to this on the web, and can’t even find mention from the artist’s own sites or Bandcamp. Luckily for me I have the physical copy, so know the person behind this is Phil Jackson, who has released music under both his own name and that of Paradox One, and is also a recognised music author. Phil describes this as his electronic and progressive project, and is a concept based on the trilogy of ‘Metro’ books by Dmitry Glukhovsky and the theme of mutually assured destruction. It contains a large amount of improvised passages, especially organ/Moog/drums and the five pieces are all a good length, with a total playing time of 66 ...

(37:55; Melodic Revolution Records) The album cover shows two quite different images of Leon, and the reason for this is that in some ways this is a compilation in that it looks back over the last twenty years at pieces he had written and never found room for them on a release. A huge flood in 2017 destroyed the drives on which some of the pieces were kept, which meant a total recreation or re-recording while others could be utilised exactly as they were, even down to the mixing. It is somewhat difficult to realise this is from such a long period of time as they certainly all work together and the result is an album which I enjoyed far more than his last release, 2016’s ‘The Future Left Behind’. In some ways that was somewhat over ambitious, while this electronic progressive album knows exactly what it is about, with even the dreaded electronic drum machines making perfect sense in this context. Most of his influences are solidly from the Seventies and then brought into the Eighties, w...