(51:43; Avantgarde Music) Australian band Bolt Gun are out with the album "The Tower", and progressive metal is the style explored on this production. It is a contemporary and experimental variety of the form we get here, and one of those bands where lines can be drawn back to pioneering bands such as The 3rd and the Mortal in terms of where the possible foundation of their specific style goes. Floating ambient displays with jazz-oriented details and noise-motifs are common elements throughout on this production, alternating with and combined with majestic displays of atmospheric laden metal and extreme metal, with occasional lapses into doom metal territories to boot. The vocals are emotional and placed down in the mix to function as a texture just as much as it functions as a vocal presence, and in the slower paced parts of the compositions in particular post-rock and post-metal style textured displays is the rule rather than the exception. An albvum to seek out by those wi...

(50:05; The Quest [2023 Edition] ) I have never been a huge fan of reviewing albums more than once, and it is not something I have undertaken often, but given it is 28 years since I first came across this one, I guess it should be okay. Back in the Nineties the only way to find out about progressive rock music was by buying fanzines as the mass media was still trying to kill off the genre altogether and refused to acknowledge what was going on and there was no such thing as the internet. Yes, I know some prog sites were active in the last few years of the decade, but like many others before them, The Quest were no more by then. In recent years some of the bands have started performing again or recording, and such is the case with these guys as after the small gap of 26 years they released “The Book of Caleb” at the end of 2022 and have now followed it up with a remastered version of their second album, which was originally released by Now & Then Records at the beginning of 1996 (I ...

(103:58; Cuneiform Records) There is no doubt that the Softs are still to this day one of the most important and influential progressive rock bands ever, and this live recording captures the short-lived quartet of Roy Babbington (electric 6-string bass), Karl Jenkins (soprano sax, baritone sax, oboe, electric piano), John Marshall (drums) and Mike Ratledge (electric piano, organ). Actually, this quartet formed the core of the band for a few years in the mid-Seventies, but they first extended with the addition of Allan Holdsworth who was then later replaced by John Etheridge. It is incredible to think that some 50 years after this recording there is still a version of the band going, and a new album (with Marshall still involved) has just been released. But in 1973 the quartet were back in Rotterdam, playing at De Lantaren, on October 26th to a sell-out crowd. In that audience was record store owner Bert Boogaard, who sat in the front row with a tape machine and captured the night in re...

(95:00; Metal Mind Productions) It has been quite some time since I have been sent material to review by the excellent Polish label Metal Mind, but I was pleased indeed to be able to hear the third album from Subterfuge as this is very special in so many ways. Formed in 2015, this double CD release is the third and final chapter of a concept trilogy, following on from ‘Projections from the Past’ (2018) and ‘Prometheus’ (2019). The band expanded their line-up for this one so Kinga Lis (vocals and violin), Mateusz Drzewicz (vocals), Tyberiusz łodwicz (guitar) and Witold Nowak (guitar) were joined by Karolina Kozar (keyboards, flute), Krzysztof Marchwacki (bass) and Łukasz Dziubiński (drums). There are not many albums which cover so many musical bases as this one, yet somehow, they manage to sound at home in all of them. Kinga has a wonderful and clear vocal style, which contrasts well with Mateusz who can death growl with the best of them, come across as Bon Scott or even provide some st...

(63:00; FTF-Music) Arnaud Quevedo has been teaching Current Music at the  Conservatoire (Niort from 2007 to 2018 and in La Rochelle since 2018), and over the years he has been involved in different tribute projects for the likes of Magma and King Crimson before deciding to put together his own band. Although the title may give the impression that it is the second album from this project, it is actually the third: there are four sections to the main title track, with the other four songs being older material which has been revisited. He says his music is anchored in progressive jazz rock, while ProgArchives classify him as eclectic and my ears tell me that is probably the best place for him, although I would not have been surprised if there had been a battle with RIO for this. His lead singer is Eloïse Baleynaud, who sounds trained for the theatre and is certainly happy working in an environment which is probably more aimed at that artistic style as opposed to pure listening. I can ...

(53:25; Warner Records) I first came across Avenged Sevenfold at the time of ‘City of Evil’ and soon went back and grabbed the earlier albums, loving their sound and approach. However, for some weird reason I lost track of what they were doing after 2010’s ‘Nightmare’ and this is the first album I have heard since then. We still have the same core quartet of M. Shadows, Johnny Christ, Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance along with drummer Brooks Wackerman who joined the band in time for their last album, “The Stage’, and who is probably best known for his long tenure with Bad Religion. Seven years between albums is a long time for any band, but of course there was the small matter of a worldwide pandemic which impacted everyone on the planet. This has also allowed the band to reflect and ensure they have delivered exactly what they wanted. and the result is something which is far more expansive and simply bigger than I would have ever have expected from them. We also have a nod to the p...

(58:59; Comedy of Errors) In many ways I find it wonderfully strange that Comedy of Errors reformed and released a new album on CD in 2011, since when this has been their sixth, as to me they have always belonged to an earlier time. I am not sure exactly when they broke up, but it was before I was introduced to them in 1991/92, and still if anyone mentions their name I immediately think of the original tape version of “The Student Prince - Part 1” and Mark Colton (Credo) raving over them time and again. Since returning with the excellent ‘Disobey’ their line-up has been incredibly stable and there are few other bands who have managed to keep up with their output since then (a notable exception being Galahad and their offshoots), with IQ releasing just two albums during the same period, Pendragon two, and Credo just one (although I see from a FB post today that Mark and Mike Varty are in the studio). In CofE we have the excitement and drive of a new band combined with the experience of ...