Muziekrecensies
Residuos Mentales (Greece) consists of Stratos Morianos (keyboards) and Alexandros Mantas (guitars, bass and flute). This instrumental studio project was founded over a decade ago. In 2018, they launched ‘Introspection’. Now ‘A Temporary State of Bliss’ is released. This prog rock album has cross -overs to metal and funk, among others.The first piece of ‘The … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Multi-instrumentalist Thomas Glönkler was (in the 1980s-90s) the leader of German prog band ICU. After that band broke up, he released some solo albums: Auszeit (2005) and Goldstadt (2010). His new album is called ‘Tiefenland’. This concept album is about a fictional world, with an origin, and intermediate world and a future world. Thomas says … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Hekz is an international prog rock/metal band, Terra Nova is their fourth album. In a nutshell, this double album is about the personal struggle regarding ambition, duality and personal development. Part one of the title track has a catchy opening. Frontman Matt Young’s voice is less heavy than you might expect in this genre, but … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Multi-instrumentalist Darrel Treece-Birch is keyboardist of TEN and Nth Ascension. He also released a number of solo instrumental albums under his own name, including ‘Healing Touch’ (2017.) Now ‘Choices’ is out, the debut album by his Melodic prog rock band ‘Atlantea’. This concept album is about situations in life, such as hope and fear. And … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Poor Genetic Material is a prog band. For the album ‘Elsewhere’, they worked with a smaller line-up. As a result, there are some differences, but also definitely similarities with the earlier albums. ‘The Colour Of Happiness’ has a pleasant mid-paced start. The rhythm section has an important part which is nicely complemented by higher notes. … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘The Lightmaker’ is the new concept album by prog band ‘Nine Skies’.A man (Rudy) is living his 1001st and therefore his last life. He describes thevarious characters of the incarnations. The various guest vocalists (including Kristoffer Gildenlöw), clarify these characters. Certain parts of the text narrated, or whispered. There are nice changes in tempo and/or … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Nova Cascade’ plays ambient art and prog rock. Electronic sounds play an important role, rhythm is secondary. The start of ‘Sleeping Dogs’ is beautiful. Vocals and music form an ultimate balance. Especially the details of the violin are intriguing. The title track (with flute playing) is exceptionally constructed, but the “percussion” lacks warmth. Real drums … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Beatrix Players is a band with a very distinctive style. They themselves describe their style as, “adventurous music that operates at the interface between folk rock, singer-songwriter acoustic, prog and quasi-classical baroque chamber pop”. ‘Living & Alive’ is their second album, the lyrics, in short, are not just about life itself. But also about the … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The Emerald Dawn is a symphonic prog rock band from England. Tree Stewart and Ally Carter are not only the vocalists, they are also multi-instrumentalists. Apart from symphonic rock, they also use crossovers to jazz and experimental music, among others. Tree again has done the art-work. ‘Out of Time’ has a warm, classically-oriented start. Pretty … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The prog band ‘The Ancestry Program’ is from Germany. The band consists of six people, several of whom are multi-instrumentalists. ‘Of Silent Mammalia Part 1’ was released in 2021. Its follow-up ‘Of Silent Mammalia Part 2’ was actually scheduled for autumn 2022. But due to the complexity of the album, that turned out not to … Read more, available in English and Dutch