Muziekrecensies
Arjen Lucassen wrote the Ayreon album ‘01011001’ in 2007. Since he never intended to perform it live, he could make it as complicated as he wanted. He did so, not only in terms of complex arrangement, but also by the amount of vocalists/musicians. Ayreon’s live shows are rare, but always a great spectacle. So was … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Dutch prog metal band Armed Cloud will launch ‘Nimbus’, their fourth album, on 25 May. Nimbus comes from cumulonimbus, aka thunderclouds. This is the band’s darkest and heaviest album to date. The sound at the start of ‘Safety Word’ is a bit duller than expected. The metal could have “thundered” a bit more. Still, the … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The basis of ‘The Long Lost Songs’ are tapes of bluesy demos from some 30 years ago, played in by Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) and Robert Soeterboek (The Cotton Soeterboek Band). Robert’s voice has a pleasantly mild rough rasp. The quality of the backing vocals are good, but occasionally a bit sweet in sound. The predictable … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Self-Education’ is the second solo instrumental album by multi-instrumentalist Theo van Niel Jr. The extraordinary ‘Introduction’ makes me curious about ‘Anxiety Express’. In this up-tempo track, blackjazz plays saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby. This forms a beautiful combination/alternation between the rock/metal. The atmosphere in ‘Sierra’ is very different, more summery. Again, there are unexpected twists and details. … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘One Of The Many’ is the new progressive rock album by singer and multi-instrumentalist Rick Miller. The album cover reveals that the digital world features in the lyrics. ‘Atrophy’ is about brain atrophy, the surreal atmosphere fits this well. The sweet (stacked) vocals are characteristic of Rick. Most tracks contain remarkable sampling, appropriate to the … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Singer/guitarist Jon Amor became known for ‘The Hoax’. He plays with DVL, Guy Forsyth’s band. In addition, with his Jon Amor Blues Group and solo, Jon released several albums. Recently, Jon Amor Trio’s ‘The Turnaround’ was released. This debut album features 11 blues-rock, roots rock songs, including a few covers. For example, ‘Tonight I’m Gonna … Read more, available in English and Dutch