Muziekrecensies
Neal Morse & The Resonance’s new album is called ‘No Hill For A Climber’. Neal Morse made this album with local young talent. The album has five tracks, two of them are wonderfully long epics. The epic ‘Eternity In Your Eyes’ has seven parts. This one starts with classical elements. Many twists and turns follow, … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Versatile guitarist/composer/producer Nick Fletcher went solo in 2021, his music is a mixture of progressive rock, jazz fusion and classical music. The new album is called ‘A longing for home’. This is the final part of a trilogy that is about finding our true place both in ourselves and in the universe. Although ‘A longing … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Oz Avneya is the man behind Israeli prog metal project Avneya. You may know his name from the prog trio Obsidian Tide. For his debut solo album ‘Road to I’, he stepped out of his comfort zone. For the first time, he didn’t just write compositions, but also the lyrics. Here, he sought the balance … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Permission To Fly’ is the new album by Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess. The lyrics are written by his daughter Ariana. Jordan says: ‘Although I enjoy writing lyrics myself, I mainly focus on the sonic quality of the words. For this album, I wanted to go deeper and offer something that resonated on a more … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The?Truth is the final part of ‘The?Book’. The concept of this trilogy is the critical view of (contemporary) fanaticism in religion. The story is sung by several character/guest vocalists, including Peter Jones (Camel, Tiger Moth Tales) and Elisabeth Markstein (Alphaville). ‘The?Truth’ was recently released on CD. The complete trilogy will also be released as a … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Finnish progressive rock/metal band Kick The Giant was formed over a decade ago.This foursome drew inspiration from a variety of bands, such as Toto and Dream Theater. This created a blend between ‘80s pop/rock; metal and prog rock. Their debut album ‘Presence’ was launched on the 5th of July. First you hear the title track. … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The Swedish progressive folk-fusion-rock band often has album titles that are difficult to pronounce. But the fifteenth album, ‘Sommargryningsljus’, is quite a tongue twister. A translation app tells me it means summer twilight. These eight songs tell the story of a nocturnal journey. The first two tracks are about twilight, the last two about dawn. … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Vlyes is a new name, but founders Kay Söhl (ex Sylvan) and Jens Lueck Single Celled Organism and Isgaard) are well-known in the prog world. ‘Why’ is their melodic atmospheric prog debut album. This concept album is about the bio-industry. The story displays life (from birth to death) from the perspective of an animal. ‘The … Read more, available in English and Dutch
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