Muziekrecensies
‘Mercurial’ is the fourth album by the prog metal band ‘Iris Divine’, but the first album to be released through Layered Reality Productions. Drummer Scott Manley took the place of Kris Combs (drums, keyboards and programming) he left the band in the Corona era. That doesn’t mean you won’t hear any keyboards/programming on ‘Mercurial’. Singer/guitarist … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella are getting more and more known in the prog circuit, and that is well deserved. Recently ‘Invoke The Ghosts’ was released, this is the second album on which you can only hear their own compositions. They call their style acoustic metal. ‘Nur Ein Spiel’ starts with a vocal solo by … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The prog album ‘You have it all’ is an extension of the EP ‘Spirals and Portals‘, which Lobate Scarp released in 2019. From that came the singles ‘Nothing Wrong’ (remixed) and ‘Beautiful Light’. These are interwoven within the new album to create more cohesion. Several very well-known guest musicians participate. Like Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard) … Read more, available in English and Dutch
About ten years ago Gerd Albers founded a prog project called ‘Project: Patchwork’. On each album a large number of guest musicians worked together, more than 45 in total. These musicians come from prog bands such as Mystery, Subsignal, and many others. Also on the latest album, ‘Ultima Ratio’, a large number of musicians worked … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Swedish progressive folk-fusion-rock band Kaipa recently released their 14th studio album. With “Urskog,” Kaipa takes you on a journey through the wilderness of Sweden and through the seasons. Hans Lundin used some sampled sounds from the 80s for this album. Perhaps more importantly, Darby Todd is the new drummer. He has played with Devin Townsend … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Twenty-five years ago singer/multi-instrumentalist Oliver Rüsing founded the neo prog band Karibow. After 2.5 years of forced “break”, this German band could finally perform again. This took place on Sunday, May 1 in ’t Blok in Nieuwerkerk aan de IJssel (thee Netherlands). The concert started with the sound of a roaring engine. The arrival of … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Singer/multi-instrumentalist Bjørn Riis is best known for the band Airbag.He has been releasing solo albums since 2014. His latest album ‘Everything to Everyone’, was launched April 8. This fourth album was also released on label Karisma Records. ‘Run’ has a rather rocking start, the sound of which is duller than expected.A number of twists and … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Canadian multi-instrumentalist Rick Miller has been active in prog rock for some time now. For his latest album ‘Old Souls’, he took inspiration from bands like Genesis, The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd. As a result, the ten songs are soft, dark and melodic. During the quiet intro in ‘Time’s Way’ you immediately notice that … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Threads of Fate’ was formed about five years ago by singer Jon Pyres. Death appears in novels, poetry and music. So also on the album ‘The Cold Embrace of the Light’. Besides doom and prog metal, Threads of Fate also uses symphonic elements. The first few seconds of ‘Beneath A Starless Sky’ are very quiet, … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Singer Will Shaw sings (among other things) in the metal bands Rust Belt Gothic (project with Bogdan Vera) and DeadRisen. In 2020, he released his solo album ‘Chapter 1: The Pit of Dread’. Recently, ‘Chapter 2: Basement Dweller’ was released. The new album is unrelated to the previous one, and is about the difficult time … Read more, available in English and Dutch