(46:06; Karisma Records) Track list: 1. No Such Place 6:06 2. London 4:19 3. Run Into the Sun 5:33 4. Shimmer 7:36 5. Shapeshifter 7:57 6. Borders 6:23 7. Sensory Overload 8:12 Line-up: Simen Valldal Johannessen - vocals, piano, keyboards Öystein Sootholtet - bass, guitars, keyboards, programming Sigbjörn Reiakvam - drums, percussion, programming, keyboards with: Stephan Hvinden - guitars Steinar Refsdal - saxophone Dave Foster - guitars Prolusion. Norwegian band Oak started out back in 2013, initially self-releasing their debut album the same year prior to signing for Norwegian label Apollon Records in 2016. Two years later the band attached themselves to Norwegian label Karisma Records, and have released three albums through that label since then. The most recent of these is "The Third Sleep", which was released towards the end of April in 2025. Analysis. It is an atmospheric laden variety of progressive rock that Oak explore on this fourth studio album of theirs. They have...

(62:07; 3VE Records) Track list: 1. No Comfort Zone 11:22 2. Silent Transition 12:24 3. Velvet Clouds 10:25 4. Out from the Sky 6:21 5. Signal on the Shores 6:55 6. Winding Paths 14:40 Line-up: Pit Furrer - drums, percussion Urs Hochuli - bass Roland Ruckstuhl - piano, organ, keyboards, percussion Peter Wolf - vocals, flute, saxophone with: Alex Hutchings - guitars Prolusion. Swiss band Flame Dream is a bit of an unknown entity to me, one of those badns from the progressive rock underground I've just never encountered on previous occasions. The band had their heyday back in the late 70s and until they went on hiatus in the middle of the 1980s, but in 2022 the band got together again and started to write new material. The result of this creative process was released as the album "Silent Transition" on a label called 3VE Records back in 2024. Analysis. This is a band that were active back in the latter days of the golden era of the genre, and one can hear that this is a sea...

(20:35; Northern Soundscapes) Track list: 1. Ascension 4:39 2. Mad Laughter 5:21 3. Drive Out The Demons 7:19 4. The Man In The Moon 3:16 Line-up: Tim Hunter - vocals, guitars, synthesizer Thierry Sportouche - vocals, Mellotron, flute Prolusion. Silver Hunter is a duo consisting of UK artist Tim Hunter and French artist Thierry Sportouche. The latter is perhaps best known for being the editor of the French progressive rock magazine Acid Dragon for the last few decades. This musical venture was, from what I can see, formed back in 2015. The EP "Chapter 1: Mad Moonlighters" dates back to the same year, and was released through the label Northern Soundscapes. Analysis. While I don't really know whatever progressive rock credentials this twosome has as songwriters and artists in their own right, Sportouche's involvement makes this venture one that will be of interest for progressive rock fans anyhow. Even if the end result, at least as far as this EP is concerned, may not...

(137:26; Fruits de Mer Records) Track list: 1. Theme One 3:00 2. Ogden's Nut Gone Flake 2:27 3. Theme From Suspiria 3:58 4. In The Long Run 3:23 5. Back of Her Car 0:57 6. Take a Heart 3:42 7. Jericho Son Down 3:46 8. Her Famous Wish 2:29 9. Who Will Be Gold 3:55 10. Reverse the One Me 0:58 11. Dedicated to the One I Love 2:26 12. Galactic Joke Part D 11:14 13. Fate Chaser 2:37 14. Over the Hills and Far Away 3:44 15. Forever Before 3:35 16. High School High 2:20 17. Outrun 4:28 18. Meet You in the Wind 3:46 19. Peace Walks By My Side 3:21 20. Dream It All 3:13 21. Crossing Over 4:54 22. Sun Daze 3:26 23. Whiskey 4:42 24. In This Station 3:10 25. Sorrow Comes to Town 3:03 26. Expressway 4:00 27. Shadow Mantra 4:46 28. Narcosis Fading 3:04 29. Dream of the Portugal Keeper. Part 2 3:04 30. Shadow Bossa 4:23 31. Day Alive 3:45 32. Window Pain Reprise [IV Mix] 2:42 33. Activate [2024 Mix] 3:23 34. Rainbow Chaser 4:18 35. Starry Eyes 4:54 36. The Hills Are Live With Swordfish 7:17 37. O...

(42:13; Inverse Records) The debut album from Finnish band Ice Exiled is a blast from beginning to end, and while I can see it being called progressive metal, symphonic metal, melodic metal or similar, all one needs to know is they have a slight twist which makes all the difference. The line-up is Miika Matilainen (vocals), Oskari Kilpi (guitars, keyboards), Roger Gottleben (bass), Ville Nummisalo (drums), Veikko Sajaniemi (cello, vocals). Yes, you read that right, here we have a metal band who are blasting away onstage with a cello in their midst, but it is not a gimmick but is an integral part of their overall sound. It adds to the bottom end at times, comes in over the top at others.   Miika has a wonderfully broad voice which allows him to sing melodically or growl when the time is right, while the rest of the band are locked in tight, really cooking. Apparently, they formed in 2016 under the name Archares, releasing a few singles and an EP. They  had a rethink during the ...

(46:16; Melodic Revolution Records) Although Ellsworth may be known to many as the leader of progressive band Aethellis, he has long been working in the field of library music and soundtracks. He wrote his first Piano Concerto in the Eighties, eventually recording it and releasing it alongside the soundtrack for ‘Beside the Manor Selby’ on MRR in 2014, and it has taken another ten years for him to return with another in the same vein. Ellsworth provides piano, and he is accompanied by The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, providing 10 pieces in total, four of which forms part of “The Oratorio of Lycidas”. I have long been a fan of piano music, playing myself from an early age, and my mother was an acclaimed accompanist, so I grew up either hearing it being played in the house, or playing it myself, and I could often be found playing classical piano records with Joseph Cooper being a particular favourite. These days I tend to only listen to classical piano when playing some of Wakeman’s wor...

(12:49; Dronestool) Up until this release, multi-instrumentalist Matt Deacon has been managing to keep his fixation with stools out of the artwork, but here we have something which if it was not for the word “Dronestool” on the flying saucer would sit quite happily as a cover for The Bob Lazar Story. Personally, I think he just likes messing with me, as I know he is a man with a very warped sense of humour indeed, but it can also be taken that musically it is much closer to the material he has released under the other band name and that is probably closer to the truth. What we have here are eight instrumental pieces, total running time of 13 minutes, but he is putting more complexity into this and less of the more ambient approach we associate with this side project. It is not as full-blown as what I would expect from his earlier TBLS recordings with drummer Chris Jago but definitely has more similarities with the more recent ‘The Bob Lazarus Chronicles’ recordings than the other Drone...