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
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
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 story behind the new rock opera ‘Hollingsworth Mansion’ is extraordinary: In 1808, the Hollingsworth family died because their stand-alone house burned down. After restoration, the property was residenced by several families. In 1931 the Welbourne family moved in. It should have been a beautiful new beginning…. To understand the story, it is important to … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Last year, Einar Solberg (frontman of Norwegian prog metal Leprous) launched his debut solo album titled ’16’. In February 2022, he made himself very vulnerable by giving an entirely solo live stream (with an audience). This was his reinterpretation of the Leprous album ‘The Congregation’ (2015). Fortunately, recordings were made of this, which resulted in … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Empty’ is the new album by singer/multi-instrumentalist Kristoffer Gildenlöw.The quiet start of ‘Time To Turn The Page’ touches me immediately. The vocals sound distorted and are sometimes quite sharp and cynical in sound. Suddenly, the tempo and volume of the music are higher, a cynical laugh is heard. The music remains intense, this flows into … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Films, TV series and Iceland inspired ‘In Between’, the debut album by Japanese composer/pianist Emi Nishida. The first tones of ‘Yanse’ are subdued but intense; they touch me immediately. It stays that way also when the cinematic elements are added. The extraordinary sequel is totally different from what was expected. Partly due to the Asian … 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
‘Foxtrot’ is perhaps Genesis’ most beloved album. In honour of the fiftieth anniversary of this album, guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett planned a tour. He was joined by Rob Townsend, Nad Sylvan and Amanda Lehmann, among others. On ‘Foxtrot at Fifty + Hackett Highlights: Live in Brighton’ you will not only hear tracks from the album … Read more, available in English and Dutch