Innehållsförteckning för Issue 130 från Prog

Over 20 years ago, Napalm’s story of success began in the Austrian town of Eisenerz. What started out as a one-person operation in a cramped living room has become one of the biggest record labels of the independent rock and metal scene. Today, the Napalm Records Handels GmbH headquarters and centre of operations remain located in Eisenerz, Austria, and the label has additional offices in New York and Berlin. In the beginning, Napalm Records focused mainly on black metal releases, but they didn’t stop there. Never shying away from unexplored paths of innovative musical styles and genres, the label cultivated and supported artists that would later become known as legendary pioneers and originators of the pagan and folk metal scenes, and remain an unparalleled source for the discovery of such…

DYSON ZONE When vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson announced the world’s first airpurifying headphones, many people took a look at the date of the news (April 1) and assumed it was a prank; Dyson were forced to clarify that it wasn’t. Intended to solve both air pollution and noise pollution, the Zone promises “a plume of fresh air without touching your face, using high-performance filters and two miniaturised air pumps”. Many of us who remember pointing and laughing at anyone in a Sinclair C5 in 1985 will be wondering if Zone wearers will be subject to similar ridicule. The huge price tag is yet to be confirmed. www.dyson.com CASEIC Guitar cases are annoying things. They’re big, they’re bulky, and they serve little purpose when not on the move other than taking…

In April Pink Floyd released their first new song in 28 years. Hey Hey, Rise Up was created to support the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund, and features vocals from Andriy Khlyvnyuk, singer/songwriter from Ukrainian band Boombox. This sign of solidarity from Floyd was a wonderful gesture, but the only true Floydians who appear on the track are David Gilmour and Nick Mason. The rest of the players are certainly fine musicians, but they are not what I would consider Pink Floyd members. Sure, ever since Mr Gilmour took over the band in 1987, there have been a host of guest musicians playing on Floyd recordings and backing the band in concert. But do two out of four members a band make? Taking a cue from one of their own lyrics,…

What got us all grooving this month… Last month’s cover stars Rush return for this issue’s bumper competition prize. To celebrate the 40th anniversary reissue of Moving Pictures, we’ve got our hands on one of the new super-deluxe box sets. One lucky reader will receive this fully-loaded prize comprising five vinyl LPs, three CDs and a Blu-ray audio disc containing a new 5.1 surround sound mix, giving them the chance to hear the Canadian band’s hit album as never before. The package also includes a CD recording of their previously unreleased March 1981 concert in Toronto, an illustrated hardcover book (exclusive to the set), a pair of Neil Peart-branded drumsticks, etched plectrums and even a miniature red Barchetta. It’s a must-have for the Rush fan who has almost everything. To…

Dave Greenslade grew up with classical music and was an early fan of jazz and R&B keyboard styles. When he was 15 he first played with drummer Jon Hiseman and bass guitarist Tony Reeves at Eltham Park Methodist Church Hall. He went on to play with Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds and Geno Washington, and the three friends reconvened when Colosseum formed in 1968: “a jazz rock outfit; one of the first in Europe,” Greenslade says. He went on to put together the twin keyboard prog quartet Greenslade, which ran from 1972 to 1976. He returned to Colosseum in 1994, where he remained until 2015, three years before Hiseman’s death. Greenslade also recorded a number of solo records including instrumental concept albums The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony in 1979 and…

Melodic, intelligent and convincing concept album from beefed-up collective. The Bardic Depths, led by writer and multi instrument a list Dave Bandana and conceptualist and lyricist Brad Birzer, came together through the Big Big Train Facebook community. Their self-titled 2020 debut was based on the literary friendship between JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis against the backdrop of World War II. Three of the guests from that album – guitarist Gareth Cole, vocalist/sax player Peter Jones and drummer Tim Gehrt – have since joined Bandana Co-produced by Cosmograf’s Robin Armstrong, Promises Of Hope finds the band developing their blend and multilayered rock, of wraith-like soundscapes conceptually exploring the horror of suicide and the possibility of redemption. Employing a palette that ranges from whistles and fiddles to the church organ it all…

Horror master continues to burn. Now that John Carpenter has effectively given up making films, music seems to be taking up more and more of his life. Last year saw the third volume in his Lost Themes series, in conjunction with son Cody and godson Daniel Davies, alongside the score for Halloween Kills, the latest in the ongoing slasher franchise. The trio have wasted no time in getting back to it, shaping the soundtrack to a new film version of Stephen King’s pyrokinetic sci-fi horror Firestarter. Carpenter’s signature moves are in evidence here: jarring synth lines, recurring motifs, sudden spasms of ruptured noise, a pervading sense of imminent peril. It carries echoes of previous scores, particularly Halloween, Escape From New York and Assault On Precinct 13. But Firestarter feels like…

Mellow rock bliss from the Dream Theater vocalist. Nearly a decade has passed since James LaBrie last released a solo album. He must have been very busy. But even ignoring the slight distraction of his being frontman with the world’s favourite progressive metal band, the Canadian’s solo career has been consistently and unfairly overlooked. Elements Of Persuasion (2005), Static Impulse (2010) and Impermanent Resonance (2013) were all smart and inventive explorations of heavier territory, and of the gleaming, futuristic fury of Scandinavian, prog-tinged melodic death metal in particular. Arguably overshadowed by Dream Theater’s certified mastery of the monstrous riff, they are each ripe for reassessment, despite the fact that Beautiful Shade Of Grey indicates that LaBrie is moving in a different direction today. “LaBrie has embraced a mellower classic rock…

Tremendous second outing from Yorkshire’s folk-doom vocalist. Jayn Maiven expands the scope of her musical vision with Darkher’s second full album. She still inhabits a realm of elegant gloom, but the addition of strings adds new textures to her soundscapes. Here, she moves between the dark folk of Sirens Nocturne, the brooding post-metal of Lowly Weep and the lumbering doom of Love’s Sudden Death, when Darkher lean into their heavy side. There’s a compelling, intimate quality to Maiven’s ethereal, breathy delivery as she weaves her beguiling tales of illfated love. The Seas is a high point here, with its thrumming, impatient violin over a menacing cello undercurrent that almost sounds like a distant foghorn warning the unwary to keep their distance, all while Maiven’s voice pulls the listener inexorably closer…

Long-delayed collection from Kayak-adjacent outfit. In 1997, Dutch quartet Galaxy (fronted by Kayak vocalist Bart Schwertmann) recorded their debut LP, Runaway Men. Despite it being finished back then, it’s only just now getting released, and fortunately, its warm songwriting and potent arrangements mean that it’s mostly worth the wait. That’s particularly true for opener Answers, whose hypnotic main keyboard riff immediately evokes Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. It also provides an enticing foundation for the rest of the track, which does an excellent job of decorating hooky melodies with forcefully multifaceted musicianship. Look Into My Eyes, Never The Same, and the closing title track accomplish a similarly successful fusion of quality songwriting and dynamic theatricality, while the punchy penultimate instrumental, Gallery Play, finds them channelling the colourful complexities of Rush, Kansas,…

Swedish prog pioneers on splendid form. Urskog is Swedish progressive rock daddies Kaipa’s 15th studio record, and it is hard to imagine a more sumptuous encapsulation of the lavish symphonic rock they have peddled since 1973. As with every album since 2002’s Notes From The Past, founder member Hans Lundin has assembled a magnificent team of musicians to realise his vision, which this time takes inspirations from the Swedish countryside, as viewed by the keyboardist during solitary bicycle excursions. The songs are every bit as expansive as such a conceit demands, as Lundin’s restless songcraft seems to blossom and effervesce in real time. The opening The Frozen Dead Of Night begins amid dreamy, pastoral calm, before erupting into a tour de force of melodic pomp eventually drawing to a spectacular…

Boundary-blurring cellist goes exploring with mixed results. Over the last decade or so, Jo Quail has emerged slowly but surely from her chrysalis to take flight as the most idiosyncratic of butterflies. Breaking through as a cellist of noteworthy talent, her deployment of loopers and other effects has seen her occupy a distinctive hinterland where her art crosses numerous musical borders that blend and coalesce into something wholly original while refusing to be pigeonholed into one particular genre. “Wholly original while refusing to be pigeonholed.” Even as far back as 2010’s self-released debut, From The Sea, evocative pieces such as Prelude and Rex Infractus showed that Quail could move among the shadows with grace, ease and stealth from the touchstones of classical music through to more eldritch soundscapes. Like a…

Keyboards are king with Brit prog funk fusion combo. Following the untimely death of bassist Mark Smith, Mysteries Of The Revolution return 14 years after their debut as a duo of keyboardist Daniel Biro and drummer/multi instrument a list BB Davis. Longing For The Dawn is an instrumental jazz-and-funk-influenced album that will thrill fans of the Rhodes electric piano and Hammond organ. Opener You Turn Me On has a 70s feel, simultaneously upbeat, gritty and hip with extensive keyboard explorations. Things change gear frequently – One Whisper is cool, late-night jazz-funk, while Heavy On Karma provides some rock swagger. With the album dedicated to Smith’s memory, there is a poignancy to the title track and in the gentle guitar soloing of The Distance Between Us. Babylon Everything brings ambience via…

Space is the place of mystery and imagination. German composer and producer J Peter Schwalm added another level of visibility to his profile with 2001’s Brian Eno collaboration Drawn From Life. More recently he’s been delivering an impeccable run of solo and collaborative efforts with luminaries such as Arve Henriksen and Markus Reuter. Swiss composer and guitarist Stephan Thelen has also been notching up some astonishingly strong partnerships through his band Sonar with David Torn’s abstracted sound paintings and as a composer has seen his work championed by the celebrated Kronos Quartet. It’s fascinating to see what these two individuals can come up with together. Thelen’s taut minimalist motifs work well with Schwalm’s cosmic electronica, forming new galaxies for the pair to boldly explore. Shifts in claustrophobic textures, expansive gaseous…

Magical return of underrated maverick. It’s been six years since the last full Shearwater album, when Jonathan Meiburg ended the tour by praying onstage for the swift death of Donald Trump and his enablers. He needed a break after that, “feeling hopeless”. After doing many other things, from writing a book to performing a recreation of Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, he’s revived the Shearwater name to create an album that focuses on the theme of hope duelling with hopelessness. He’s conjured up a remarkable, atmospheric set of songs that marry soulful, urgent testifying and cerebral experiments like fieldrecordings and a choir of howler monkeys. No, really. Since first appearing as the century turned, this Austin, Texas-spawned project has swum quietly immersed in guileful, graceful, Talk Talk-tinted soundscapes, although 2016’s Jet Plane…

Psych-doom voyagers take their craziest trip yet. Despite having been hacking away at the psychedelic doom coalface for more than 20 years, Ufomammut are still finding new ways to blow minds. Fenice, the Italian band’s most adventurous work to date, as is swiftly evident from the gargantuan sprawl of opener Duat. Kicking off with several minutes of lysergic ambience, it steadily morphs into the mother of all post-Sabbath riffs, before mutating once more into a swirling and dreamlike acid rock reverie. In stark contrast, Kepherer comprises three minutes of ominous, freeform atmospherics. The rest of the Italians’ 10th full-length albumis similarly unbound by convention. Psychostasia is slow-motion space rock; Metamorphoenix is part drone ritual, part ethereal, post-rock hymn. Even the more doomy thump of Pyramind seems more fully experimental than…

Not an act usually found in these parts, 90s post-Britpop survivors Kula Shaker are back with 1st Congregation Church Of Eternal Love And Free Hugs (Strange Folk). This likeable double album is a full-blooded throwback to the psychedelic times, conceived as taking place under a “badly leaking roof in the quaintly imagined village church of Little Sodbury”. As usual there’s more cod here than there is in the Atlantic, but frontman Crispian Mills still knows his way around a hummable tune and their chosen period, making 1st Congregation Church Of Eternal Love And Free Hugs an engrossing, fun hour of music. David Kovacevic’s latest under his prog alias Dreaming David K is Dreams Of Progress (www.dreamingdavidk.com). The followup to 2020’s Mr Passive Progressive is another delve into the man’s love…

Mancunian proggers’ masterwork gets deluxe vinyl reissue. With three guitarists, much of Oceansize’s compositional effort had to be spent on arranging how their parts would fit together. This complex interlocking, sometimes melodic, sometimes rhythmic, was perfected on their second album, 2005’s Everyone Into Position. Parts play off each other, intertwine, but only combine into crushing heaviness at moments of high catharsis. There’s no arguing the resulting album isn’t dense, but it’s in a way that rewards repeat listens, not one that oppresses the listener. The opening tracks still hit hard. The slow-burn Charm Offensive is a stepchange from anything on their debut, Effloresce. Heaven Alive is the closest they’d ever get to a radio single, while A Homage To A Shame is a surprising mathcore uppercut. Oceansize were unusual in…

Staggering 32-disc Frippertronic motherlode built around 1979 solo debut. Robert Fripp was rightly proud of his first solo album when it was released in 1979, explaining Exposure as a post-punk song-based set that was “somehow very modern”. Two years in the making, boasting guest vocals from Peter Hammill, Peter Gabriel and Daryl Hall, plus lyrics by the poet Joanna Walton, the album reflected Fripp’s experiences after disbanding Crimson in 1974, a period that took in collaborations with Peter Gabriel and David Bowie, and relocating to New York, where he played with Blondie and Talking Heads, and produced Hall’s Sacred Songs. “Audacious exercise in relentless creative bungee jumping.” Eschewing what he called “ineffectual art-rock nonsense”, Exposure presented 42 minutes of concentrated Frippery, straddling full-pelt rock’n’roll (You Burn Me Up I’m A…

Yes? Oh go on then! Martin Popoff has described putting together A Visual Biography II: 1982-2022, a much-embellished update of the second half of his 2016 book Time And A Word, as a “ton of fun.” It’s so easy to see why, as the history of Yes is such a ripping yarn. Predecessor Yes A Visual Biography: 1968-1981 ended with the demise of the first run of what was, in retrospect, a fairly linear Yes; albeit one that had two lead singers, two guitarists, four keyboard players, two drummers and one bassist in its 13 years. In this new instalment, the group reconvenes as Cinema, and ends in 2022 as Yes with only one member of the group remaining from 1982, and none at all from their 1968 founding line-up.…

VENUE EARTH, LONDON DATE 17/04/2022 SUPPORT GAZPACHO Evolutionary Arts Hackney is a renovated, formerly derelict, cinema with Art Deco design that’s a fitting space for two of the most refreshing and original bands to come from the post-millennial progressive scene. Wooden steps form the spartan seating, sweeping down to the stage, perhaps inspired by ancient amphitheatres. The drama opens with Norwegian art-rockers Gazpacho. Fire worker, the title track of their most recent album, is accompanied by visuals of ritual masks from around the world, spanning millennia of human culture. Suddenly, in the glow of the projector screen, the theatrical setting feels especially apposite. Aided by Lars Erik Asp’s return on drums after five years’ absence, we’re treated to what is essentially a ‘best of’ set. Gazpacho have penned some of the…

Hello, and welcome to the new issue of Prog magazine. My word, what stories Bill Bruford has to tell. Unique in the world of progressive music in that he’s performed with three of the so-called ‘Big Six’: Yes, King Crimson and Genesis. Throw in the likes of National Health, UK, Gong, ABWH and then his various solo endeavours, and it’s clear to see that Bruford is a man whose impact on a wide variety of prog, fusion and jazz is largely unmatched by any other musician. And it appears he did so largely with candid good grace. Sid Smith interviewed the drummer for this month’s excellent cover feature, which you can read on p32. Sadly, this issue, we say goodbye to another visionary artist. Klaus Schulze died in April and…

“Pretty much right before Genesis in 1976, I met keyboard player Dave Stewart. A lovely guy and I thought if I ever formed a band, I’d really like to go with this guy, so I put down a marker as it were, because I didn’t form Bruford until about another year. Bassist Mont Campbell was an extraordinary person too. They were playing a kind of instrumental rock music with two keyboard players including Alan Gowen. It was unusual for its time. It’s written music that’s not classical, but written, modern music, if you like, and I thought that was great. I found it quite difficult to play because I’m not a very fluent reader but at times it was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”…

“I remember at Phil Collins’ wedding in 1975 I met Jon Anderson for the first time and he said to me, ‘Why don’t you make Phil the singer and get in another instrumentalist so that the drums are covered?’ And that’s exactly what we did. I don’t suppose Jon would have had any idea that the instrumentalist he suggested we get would have come so close to home for him in the shape of Bill. “I remember Bill showing up on the first day of rehearsal and joining in with one of our very simple tunes, either Squonk or I Know What I Like, and I thought he was going to turn around and say, ‘Oh, that’s far too easy. Have you got anything more complicated?’ [Laughs] But he seemed only…

Gold standard art-pop. It took a long time for the two members of No-Man (established 1986) to receive widespread recognition. Steven Wilson, of course, has become an art-rock household name in the past decade for his much-loved mixes for the prog hierarchy, a series of scintillating albums and now his frequently touching autobiography. “It’s a career high point, full of invention, scope and ambition.” The time must surely be right for former bandmate/current podcast co-host Tim Bowness to bask in similar mainstream admiration. Supported by a rhythm section consisting of bassist Nick Beggs and drummer Richard Jupp (the latter in his first major appearance since leaving Elbow), the richly detailed Butterfly Mind is another perceptive instalment in Bowness’ lengthy solo career. Although Bowness’ voice – pure and clear – is…

Second set full of elegantly rustic odes. The follow-up to 2020’s All That I Am & All That I Was upholds Ms Amy Birks’ penchant for lusciously classical timbres and poignant lyrics. Layered vocals, marching drums, and remorseful piano chords collide to make introductory piece In Our Souls a radiant adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s poem of the same name. Sister Emily’s work is given a sparser and lighter treatment via A Death Scene, whereas their sibling Anne’s The Dream is transformed into a slightly quirkier singer-songwriter composition punctuated by ethereal chants, woodwind and percussion. Birks’ original lyrical material is equally gorgeous. Folk narrative Elsa’s nuanced instrumentation is a highlight, as are the symphonic and progressive pop elegies Brothers and The Woman In White. Goodnight For Now incorporates acoustic strums and…

Soulful prog-blues-rock that turns sadness into hope. Beneath Children Of The Sün’s bright, blues and folk-peppered psych rock is a lyrical darkness that talks of toxic relationships and conjuring the strength to escape them. It makes the Swedes’ follow-up to 2019’s Flowers a deep, often poignant album. Atop a sonic template that stirs together elements of The Doors, Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell, vocalist Josefina Berglund Ekholm’s emotionwrangled voice is its own stirring force and she has a killer instinct for when to put her foot on the gas and when to hold back. Opener Reflection gradually transforms sombre, defeated refrains into the sound of defiance by their soaring crescendos. Elsewhere, Ekholm’s voice slaloms around the understated folk-blues of the title track The Soul and Eden are respectively iced with…

Short collection of long songs, but a beast of an album. Australian multi instrument a list Ben Craven’s fourth album harks back to the days when albums consisted of fewer, but longer, songs. Monsters From The Id features two tracks, each clocking in at around the 19-minute mark. Both songs follow similar compositional paths: Die Before You Wake opens with a couple of minutes of unabashed bombast – think Carmina Burana meets Jeff Wayne as envisaged by a Swedish power metal band – followed by a segue into vocal refrains that burrow into the brain. Its counterpart Amnis Flows Aeternum starts in a subdued fashion, with Spanish guitar giving way to something strongly reminiscent of early 70s The Persuaders TV theme. In both cases there’s a palpable feeling of joy…

Polish polymath captures the character of isolation. Riverside frontman Mariusz Duda has already carved out a space aside from the band with his idiosyncratic Lunatic Soul project, but as the pandemic hit he felt compelled to re-inhabit an even earlier sense of self. Recalling how as a boy, inspired by Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream, he’d record his own tentative electronic sounds, using only keyboards, the Pole embraced enforced confinement. Through 2020 and 2021 he released three intimate, intense albums online. Collected as a four-disc box set (with a bonus EP of unreleased material, Let’s Meet Outside), thetrilogy captures the conflicting feelings of paranoia and giddiness that lockdown prompted. The work gels as a whole, understandably coloured by one overriding, anxious yet pensive mood. Lockdown Spaces feels somewhat like being…

Chinese four-piece serve up fractal vision of prog’s future. Music knows no boundaries, so the saying goes. Given the dangerous state of the world right now, that idea has never been more welcome, or needed. OU are the embodiment of this ethos. The Beijing fourpiece are reputedly the first Chinese band to sign to a Western major label, Sony subsidiary (and prog powerhouse) InsideOut Music. So far, so novel. But their debut album, One, is more than just an exercise in hands-across-the-ocean musical outreach. It’s a truly stellar work in its own right – consistently inventive, occasionally baffling, frequently brilliant, always unique. “Occasionally baffling, frequently brilliant, always unique.” It certainly sounds like nothing else around at the moment. There’s a glassy, hall-of-mirrors feel to the way it plays with sound,…

Alien folk collective paint a gorgeous new world. Ianai hide behind a mask of anonymity. The shadowy neofolk collective claim to be the solo project of a figure called Trevenial: a multi-instrumentalist that speaks no known language. However, lift their veils and the outfit are actually Jaani Peuhu, keyboardist of doom metal nihilists Swallow The Sun, Nicole Thomas of synthpop duo Client, and Bulgarian artist Cvetan Hadzhiyski. On debut album Sunir, the core trio are flanked by members of rock acts like HIM, Sisters Of Mercy and The Rasmus. The result of their labours are 71 otherworldly minutes. Lead single Savoj Icoil opens with a blissful, Scandinavian-style serenade. Lead vocalist Peuhu may be humming in a made-up tongue, but his melodies are unshakeable earworms. Meanwhile, the song’s quiet and traditional…

Final quartet of crafted psych-pop bangers from ex-Jellyfish trio. Threesome Vol. 3 is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the third and final instalment in a trilogy of four-track EPs from Roger Manning, Tim Smith and Eric Dover, three former members of Jellyfish who reliably craft psych-sprinkled, progressively-inclined baroque pop of quite exceptional quality. The old adage “They simply don’t write songs like this anymore” is clearly untrue, because The Lickerish Quartet unquestionably do. They’re the exception that proves the rule. It’s impossible to second-guess opener Fortunately: clearly birthed on a keyboard, it pinwheels off in unexpected directions yet, inexplicably uncontrived, invariably delights. Persevere and reference points become clear: a Jeff Lynne-filtered brand of George/Paul fabulousness predominates, but then there’s a heart-bursting hint of Wondermints, a soaring suggestion of Cheap Trick, sweet spots from…

Feel-good vibes from Swedish psych revivalists. Where Sweden’s vibrant retro rock scene is dominated by bands channelling 70s hard rock, Orkan stand out from the crowd by drawing instead upon folk rock and 60s psychedelia. Livsgaranti – meaning ‘Life Guarantee’ – is the follow-up to their 2017 eponymous debut and boasts the same organic vibe. The guitar tones are clean and warm, complemented by Kim Bertilsson’s dulcet saxophone and clarinet playing, and the whole experience is as comfortable as being wrapped up in a favourite blanket. The overall musical mood is decidedly cheery and uplifting even if the songs, all sung in Swedish, often tackle issues around ecology and activism, from the upbeat bounce of Urskog, (rough translation: ‘Virgin Forest’) to the two parts of Vägrar Vara Tyst, or Refuses…

Welsh musician Gwenno’s last outing, 2018’s Le Kov, was entirely sung in the Cornish language of her father, the poet and journalist Tim Saunders. Follow-up Tresor (Bella Union) is similarly hewn, save for NY.C.A.W., versed in the language of her native Wales. Again recorded with husband and co-producer Rhys Edwards, the album examines the impact of motherhood in beguilingly strange and wonderful ways, from the brittle folk-psych of Anima to the dreampop title track and the motorik minimalism of the standout Ardamm. Another gem, Kan Me, was written for the soundtrack of Mark Jenkin’s forthcoming Enys Men. Spanish-based French duo O’o (named after an extinct Hawaiian bird) found their feet after winning a battle of the bands contest at Primavera Sound. Gorgeous debut Touche (Infiné) finds singer Victoria Suter and…

Rip-snorting debut from Norwegian jazz-rock supergroup. Norway’s Karisma Records jump into the choppy waters of jazz-rock fusion with the first release on their new imprint Is It Jazz?. Formed in 2016 for a gig at Kongsberg Jazzfestival and featuring Krokofant guitarist Tom Hasslan and drummer Alex Skalstad, Red Kite bassist Trond Frønes and Vegard Lien Bjerkan of WZARD on keys, Soft Ffog hew close to Soft Machine or countrymen Elephant9, playing fierce, explosive fusion. The four tracks that make up their first album are named after characters from the video game Street Fighter II, and the quartet strike a smart balance between building grooves and free-wheeling extemporisation. They can be light and playful, heard in Frønes’ sweet bassline for Chun Li before that becomes the backdrop for Hasslan’s furious soloing.…

Game-changing album for dual guitar prog rock combo. Some records start gently. Others warm up as the songs unfold. The fourth album by this European quartet opts for a wholly uncompromising attitude that appears to be: ‘This is us. Deal with it.’The intensity emanating from every track, even in its calmer, reflective moments, comes from guitarist Frédéric L’Epée’s fastidious compositional technique. He revels in barbed riffs and soaring melodies whose combined elements forge arrangements that occupy a fair portion of the RIO/Canterbury spectrum. The intricate structures of Unisson, with chiming ascending scales and knotty arpeggios, achieves more in five minutes than some bands manage in five albums. A veteran of 70s French band Shylock, L’Epée leans toward the epic nature of progressive music but does so with a refreshing concision.…

Massive career retrospective from drum icon. If such a thing exists, it could be argued that Bill Bruford is the living embodiment of a “prog philosophy” – a virtuoso at his chosen instrument, ever restless artistically, challenging expectations and perceptions, innovative, experimental, drawing on influences not just from music but from art, literature, myth and history, and creating a vast musical legacy that influences and inspires to this day. “It seems he doesn’t consider Yes’ output as essential as Crimson’s.” This hefty collection – more than seven hours of music over six CDs – features tracks selected by Bruford charting his career from work with prog giants Yes and King Crimson through to his output as a fusion and jazz band leader with The Bruford Band and Earthworks and on…

Opeth’s lucky 13th with new songs and added sonic sparkle. Even by their own standards, Opeth’s 13th studio record was an extravagant affair. Released in 2019, it emerged in both Swedish and English language editions and boasted some of the Swedes’ most immersive material yet. But Mikael Åkerfeldt has never been satisfied with half measures, and so In Cauda Venenum is born anew here, in both expanded standard formats and a lavish box set featuring both versions of the original album, newly remastered, and a new EP featuring three previously unreleased tracks from the same sessions. The album itself remains wholly enthralling from woozy, psychedelic start to epic, mournful finish. This new edition has been remastered specifically to delight the audiophiles among us. In particular, the fine details and gently…

Fascinating autobiography of Island Records founder. Even before he became a major player in the music industry, bringing artists as diverse as Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Bob Marley and Roxy Music to the planet’s attention, Chris Blackwell’s life story was extraordinary. With heritage from the Crosse & Blackwell food brand, after a childhood in Jamaica he defected from Harrow to become aide-de-camp to Jamaica’s governor. His love of reggae was just one part of his embrace of the Rastafari lifestyle and in 1977 he bought the Goldeneye estate, from Marley. The man’s life is a movie script, and the soundtrack’s great. This book, arriving as Blackwell turns 85, with puff quotes from Salman Rushdie and Bono, is eventful and entertaining. Dip into any chapter and find great stories on the…

AN EXCELLENT PROGNOSIS! Just returned from Eindhoven for the Prognosis Festival, and I had to make it known how good I thought it was! As I discussed with Jerry Ewing after the Wheel show, they were just fantastic – should have been on the main stage. And as for The Ocean, whoever did the sound for them deserves a knighthood, just brilliant. Scarlet Stories overcame some minor tuning issues to play a stormer, and Cellar Darling sounded way better than when I first saw them some years ago, and they were great then! Good to see new guys like Cobra The Impaler alongside seasoned veterans like Focus. And obviously, the sheer quality you’d expect from the likes of Enslaved, Leprous and Katatonia. If I could write I would offer up…

Texan alt-rockers …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have hinted that their 11th album may be their proggiest yet. XI: Bleed Here Now will be released on July 15 via InsideOut on various physical and digitalformats, and linchpin Conrad Keely says it was inspired by some big-name artists. “Just like how albums we love by Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Rush and Pink Floyd were done,” Keely says, “we wanted to find a spot to write in a relaxed setting and not feel stressed for time.” Channelling more analogue times, Trail Of Dead recorded in a“large, old-style Texas barn” big enough to house two drum kits, three guitar stations and a wall of keyboards. “A big feature on the album,” Keely reveals, “is the classic rock sound…

UK duo Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate will release their sixth album, The Confidence Trick, on July 29 through their own label, Glass Castle Recordings. The follow-up to 2020’s well-received Nostalgia For Infinity has its thematic roots in singer Malcolm Galloway’s former career as a neuropathologist. “I became very interested in how people make mistakes in diagnosis,” he tells Prog. “A big, common problem in medicine – and life – is overconfidence, excessive certainty. Another is that we assume confident people are competent. Sometimes that leads to medical problems, but it can also lead to war and atrocities.” Galloway’s joined once again by bandmate Mark Gatland and flautist Kathryn Thomas, with one notable piece, Refugee, inspired by Galloway’s grandmother’s extraordinary story of hiding from Nazi persecution through World War Two.…

Hot on the heels of his recent Exposures box set, King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp has announced reissues of two more solo LPs. Newly remastered editions of 1980’s God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners and 1981’s Let The Power Fall will be released on July 1 via Panegyric. Remastering was handled by longtime Fripp and King Crimson engineer David Singleton, with the intention of bringing better clarity to the guitarist’s pioneering ‘Frippertronics’ soundscapes, which are showcased on both records. Both titles will be available on 200-gram vinyl and CD. The CD version of God Save The Queen features two additional tracks: the 1985-issued God Save The King, and previously unreleased Music On Hold, which was discovered during the archive work for Exposures. The Let The Power Fall CD includes three…

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE “So long Klaus! One of the great figures of electronic music. We won’t forget you.” HARALD GROSSKOPF “Sad news. Klaus Schulze, my dear colleague and spiritual mentor in the art of electronic music passed away peacefully last night.” TEETH OF THE SEA “Petition to make a gold statue out of this waxwork of Klaus Schulze (formerly in Tokyo’s Tower Wax Museum) starts here.” DORIAN COPE “Woke to the news of Klaus Schulze. He was an absolute icon in this household. RIP Cosmic Maestro.” ROBIN RIMBAUD “Time to bid farewell to the truly pioneering German electronic musician Klaus Schulze (1947-2022), whose epic works that can now be seen as the foundation for ambient music. Timewind (1975) remains a plaintive and melancholic gem that will stay with me forever!” MOOG…

“We’ve slowly been working on new material,” says Riis about Airbag’s progress on the follow-up to 2020’s A Day At The Beach. “I can definitely see us doing an album, it’s hard to tell when but the process has started and it’s sounding very good so far. But it usually takes a lot of time. With my solo stuff I only answer to myself, but now there’s three [of us].” Airbag will hit the road to support the release next year, something they never had the chance to do for A Day At The Beach. “It’s been very frustrating not being able to tour that album and now it seems already old for us, so I’d very much like to do those songs live but now we’re looking forward to…

JEAN-LUC PONTY Having performed since he was a small child, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty has enjoyed a remarkably diverse career. After winning the coveted first prize when he graduated from the internationally respected Paris Conservatory in 1960, it seemed he was destined for a life on the concert platform. However, the 18-year-old Ponty found himself following a different muse and by 1964 he’d released his debut album as a jazz violinist, his first step on a path that would see him wander far. In the mid-60s he established an alliance with the German record label MPS. From there he found himself in North America in 1969 meeting Frank Zappa, performing a cameo appearance on Zappa’s Hot Rats and, in 1970, releasing the album, King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays The Music Of…

Made in Japan, with help from Greg Lake. Asia in Asia. What could possibly go wrong? On paper quite a lot, actually. The acrimonious departure of frontman John Wetton saw 11th hour stand-in Greg Lake use a teleprompter onstage as an aide-mémoire, while the Budokan show’s live broadcast to MTV USA via satellite meant the heat was most certainly on. This deluxe box set, with a 40-page book, testifies to Asia’s fortitude and adaptability. Reunited with his ELP bandmate Carl Palmer, Lake is predictably solid, while Steve Howe and Geoff Downes seem energised by Lake’s arrival. With MTV’s Mark Goodman compering and the Japanese fans going uncharacteristically apeshit when Palmer’s drum solo segues into Heat Of The Moment, Asia In Asia is a reminder of an era when prog’s poppier…

A symphony of voices on theatrical debut. Musical theatre meets symphonic metal in the debut release from British singer Archie Caine. The record tells the story of an unhappy wee lad called Tommy whose desire to escape his loveless home brings him into contact with an angel. Caine is joined by Arena’s Damian Wilson as the Narrator and Dianne van Giersbergen as the Angel, while Adrian Benegas, of Paraguan symphonic metal band TRAGUL, plays keys. Musically, Caine and his co-writers, Bo Wilde and Holly Nichol, have an ear for poppy melodies that come to the fore in the upbeat Faster and Losing The Game, while the propensity for bombast and the melodrama of the story recall Jim Steinman. Van Giersbergen hits the loftiest of high notes in Meeting The Angel…

80th birthday celebration from the progressive 60s’ last great voice. It seems incredible that 54 years have passed since Arthur Brown’s painted face loomed on the nation’s TV sets proclaiming, ‘I am the God of Hellfire!’ as he launched into Fire, his first (and only) chart-topping hit. Perhaps more incredible is that Brown’s multi-octave voice, wild imagination and rebellious spirit is barely dimmed by age on this album recorded with multi-instrumentalist collaborator Rik Patten to be released on Arthur’s 80th birthday in June. “It opens the door to the final phase of his inspirational career.” Before prog there was progressive rock; a genre-trouncing touchstone here along with Brown’s blues roots, innate psychedelia and electronically garnished links that have laced his work since the Crazy World and notably enhanced the concepts…

Guitar pyrotechnics and heavy fusion from IO Earth mainman. Leading IO Earth for more than a decade now, this instrumental project is Dave Cureton’s first foray as a solo artist. The guitarist has enlisted bandmate Adam Gough for keyboard duties and orchestrations, as well as William Kopecky on bass and über-drummer Marco Minnemann, who adds flair and heft throughout, applying just the right balance of virtuosity and solid groove playing to proceedings. Influenced as a younger player by the likes of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, it’s not surprising to hear the high octane fretboard wrangling and fusion vibes of Psycho-Tronic, Killer Fusion and the heavier sections of Evolution. However, Cureton is clearly also keen to exercise other aspects of his craft, thus Puppets Dream has gentle ruminations moving through…

Instrumental adventures from NSRO composer. From the scratchy, offkilter folk of Shrubbies via his recordings with Arch Garrison and the brilliant North Sea Radio Orchestra, Craig Fortnam’s albums have felt like the work of a man perpetually earwormed by his own material, an escape hatch for sounds that would otherwise remain swirling forever around his head. They’re sounds that have been refined to such a degree that it’s possible to pinpoint exactly where you’ve landed at any point during Fortnam’s debut instrumental album. Clarinets and bassoons clamber and fall in opposite directions then meet in middle, violas and cellos seesaw, synths wobble and wander, and much of it would be maddening if it weren’t so pretty. There are bits that sound like Peaches En Regalia-era Frank Zappa reimagined for the…

UK alt-prog quartet wear influences proudly, but forge their own heavy path. There just aren’t enough kimonos in prog metal, fact. But that’s not the only reason to pay attention to Giant Walker or their vocalist Steff Fish. The Guildford-by-way-of Newcastle four-piece are off to a powerful, well-honed start with their debut record, All In Time, enhanced by the crisp production of Chris Coulter (Arcane Roots) and Jamie Lenman. The nine-song collection shows a love of Deftones and Tool with Fish’s vocals confident and expressive throughout. Her clean singing recalls Black Moth’s stoner style, the tone and range of Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams and the primal acrobatics of Deftones’ Chino Moreno. The opening one-two of and Katoomba pack a bouncy, de-tuned punch, but by the yearning Inertia new gold is…

Swiss-based Akku Quintet’s Live (akkuquintet7d.bandcamp.com) is the fifth album from a band specialising in hypnotic grooves overlaid with rolling grand piano overtones, breakout lines and themes from sax and guitar that shimmer in and out of focus like a distant heat haze on a long road. These deep, dreamy trance vibes summon comparisons to other Swiss minimalists like Nik Bartsch’s Ronin and Sonar but embrace a more rock-orientated dynamic. Jean Luc-Ponty and Wolfgang Dauner’s Live At The Bern Jazz Festival 2011 (MPS) features some rhapsodic interplay between violin and piano that stands as a testament to the abundant empathy between these two old pals who first worked together in the 1960s. With original compositions from both and a magical Gershwin solo outing from Dauner, this is an effusive celebration of…

British prog metal quartet serve a cavalcade of melodies. Traipsing down the road that Meshuggah paved in the early 2000s, Monuments marry the exhilaration of metal with prog’s intricacy and flamboyance. It’s an approach that has bagged them a deal with Century Media (the rowdier sibling of prog hub InsideOut) and a headline spot at the experimental Radar Festival. Admittedly, the first takeaway from fourth album In Stasis isn’t that it’s especially groundbreaking, it’s how damn catchy it is. New singer Andy Cizek instantly steals the show, rocketing from barrel-chested roars to the most victorious of melodies. No One Will Teach You introduces the dynamic to spellbinding effect by tag-teaming with departing frontman Neema Askari, before False Providence reaches apotheosis, layering singing and growls. More outwardly prog is finale Cimmerian:…

‘Berlin School’ innovator sources seminal sci-fi work. From Hawkwind through to Rush, Jeff Wayne and beyond, science fiction has long been a fecund breeding ground when it comes to music, especially that of a progressive variety. And so it’s proved with Klaus Schulze’s return to his love of author Frank Herbert and the enduring Dune. As with Schulze’s 1979 album named in honour of that award-winning novel, Deus Arrakis is divided into three tracks, here spread over some 77-minutes. And while that might prove off-putting to some, doubters should remain assured that this electronic music pioneer – who died less than two months before this album’s release – lost none of his ability to convincingly tell a story purely with the use of sound, sequencers and synthesisers. Schulze was an…

Snooker star and Knifeworld man’s very interesting second album. Get over the novelty aspect, and The Utopia Strong make perfect sense. World snooker champion Steve Davis and left-field visionary Kavus Torabi – whose extensive list of projects includes Knifeworld, Cardiacs, Gong, Guapo and The Holy Family – are music obsessives with a shared outlier sensibility, first pooling their love of all things strange and experimental on their long-running radio programme, The Interesting Alternative Show. “It’s a triumph of foraging spontaneity.” Their progression from DJ sets to a band was secured with the addition of Michael J York, once part of the Coil collective and, latterly, Torabi’s cohort in Guapo/The Holy Family. The Utopia Strong’s compelling 2019 debut set the template: synth-heavy instrumentals salted down from long-form improv pieces. Through Bandcamp,…

Hope springs eternal for British melodic proggers. Stuckfish may fly under the radar for some, which, given the accessible songwriting on display here, is hard to explain. Reflecting the over-arching thematic concerns of the album, of hope and positive change, Age Of Renewal kicks their LP album off in upbeat style with some gorgeous Genesis-esque keyboard flavours and light suggestions of early Rush. Rush influences of a slightly later vintage and hints of Muse can be detected in the mid-paced push of Nevermore. The title track is an easy lope of a tune that combines a 60s pop sensibility with the light rock ofa band like Nektar, while Painted Smile introduces a decidedly hymn-like, choral approach to the vocals. Yet Stuckfish are no purists about influences – single Game Changer…

Darkwave vocalist delivers stunning sixth. Zola Jesus has often been filed under “gothpop”. It’s a reductive term for such a challenging yet accessible artist, who sounds here like the heiress to the throne of Elizabeth Fraser or Lisa Gerrard, yet also like nobody but herself. Her sixth album gets exceedingly dark, and braves some Stygian, sunless terrain. However, her own claim that she grew up influenced by Mariah and Aaliyah makes sense too: Arkhon is a feast of many flavours. The difficulty of categorising her may cost her commercially, but this is a record that swells and grows each time you hear it. She remains a fascinating, fearless talent. After a spell of angsty writer’s block, she relocated her groove – or found a new one – by collaborating with…

Pre-Camel career caught on two-CD celebration. Cutting hios teeth during the 1960s blues boom, including a brief stint with Van Morrison and Them and rubbing shoulders with various future Fleetwood Mac personnel, Peter Bardens’ journeyman career was given a substantial boost with his first solo album, The Answer, in 1970. Boasting future Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas and a superb pre-Robin Trower Reg Isidore on drums, there are also some first-rate cameos from Peter Green, whose serene tones belie the angst and turmoil of his personal life at the time. Though anchored in the bluesrock of the day there are many points that pull and strain at the form. The 13-minute Homage To The God Of Light channels a propulsive Santana-like zeal with melodic elements that passingly resemble the main theme…

Their 2011 debut, back on the menu with new ingredients. Existing in that part of the Venn diagram where acoustic prog intersects with topnotch library music, Penguin Cafe’s debut album A Matter Of Life… was a kind of baton pass from father to son, founding member Arthur Jeffes celebrating the legacy of his late father, Simon Jeffes. The latter was of course the founder of Penguin Cafe Orchestra, famed for such inspired compositions as Music For A Found Harmonium. His son’s similarly named collective opted to share PCO’s musical aesthetic while building upon it, too. This remastered reissue, now available on vinyl for the first time, consists of 11 transporting instrumentals with folk, Latin or minimalist classical elements. Typically built around syncopated piano figures (That, Not That; Landau) or sparkling…

Glass Hammer mastermind’s literary foray into the world of epic fantasy. Mysterious and fantastical, the first book in Steve Babb’s latest fantasy series, In The Vales Of Pagarna, is a captivating read. Sword and sorcery, love and loss, monsters and men – Babb draws upon epic fantasy traditions to create a spellbinding tale. He’s best known as the bassist and lyricist of US veterans Glass Hammer, and the book is inspired alongside more literary influences from authors such as JRR Tolkien. The story centres around Skallagrim, a fierce yet romantic hero who wakes at the start of the novel with only a vague memory of who he is and a knife plunging towards his eye. This powerful opening thrusts readers right into the heart of the story, a tangled and…

VENUE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON DATE 16/04/2022 SUPPORT VOLA Seven years and one pandemic since his last appearance in the fabled venue, Devin Townsend returns to the Royal Albert Hall for two nights of The Greatest Sets Of My Life, a careers panning retrospective, but before the Canadian maverick explores his back catalogue, VOLA take the stage. It’s encouraging to see a full house for the support band, and this is the ideal slot for the Danish-Swedish quartet with an audience primed for unconventional music. They open with the atmospherics of 24 Light-Years, then Head Mounted Sideways brings on the slamming riffs. Their sound moves between dance beats, drop-tuned djent breakdowns, and lofty choruses. Enter is a showcase for Asger Mygind’s heartfelt vocals, Inside Your Fur is a huge banger with…

VENUE THE STABLES, MILTON KEYNES DATE 22/04/2022 In many ways – except musically – The Blackheart Orchestra are a reserved duo. So for Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington to start their first show after lockdown with a brand-new song is a decidedly brave way to deal with the admitted stress of the moment. TBO fans are a committed bunch though, so four-day-old opener Night Circus, followed immediately by a series of favourites, means everybody’s feeling at home in the cosy Stage 2, the smaller of The Stables’ two venues. Intimacy is a key element to how they deliver their electro-folk prog – each song is something like a sketch, explored then folded away before becoming overused. With more than a dozen instruments in play by four hands, sometimes employing effects and…