Ivanovic. Srdjan Blazin Quartet - Cosmogonie (2026)

 

The seventh album from this artist from Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Srdjan Ivanovic did the drums and percussion here. He had help from three musicians who added double bass, guitars and trumpet.

I got this album as a download from Srdjan Ivanovic. I had never heard about his music before and I gratefully accepted the album. Jazz promos is not something I often get. 

I have yet to sample the first six albums. I may just do that one day/year.

Cosmogonie is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is jazz. Eclectic jazz to be more precise with a lot of avant-garde influences.  

The music is driven by the trumpet, backed up by some guitars and some sporadic guitar solos. The bass and the drums & percussion are underpinning the music.

The music is eclectic throughout. The music is also good. This is an album for both the jazz fans and the eclectic prog fans. Check out their Bandcamp page.

3 points 

 

 

  

Uriah Heep - Sea Of Light (1995)

 

The 18th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again after a four years long album break.

Sea Of Light is clocking in at just over one hour.

The music is again a blend of heavy metal and hard rock. 

The music is pretty commercial with this 1990s heavy metal sound. The music is not full-blooded heavy metal as there is a lot of hard rock in the music.

Mick Box, the guitarist, is occupied full time on this album with a lot of guitar licks and solos. This is his album. 

Bernie Shaw on the vocals does a good job. There is no head-in-the-face bad songs or gimmicks here. This is an honest hour of music. The music is decent enough. This is not one of their better albums. Neither is it an album that shames this band and their reputation.

2 points 

 

Løvetann - Sfinks (2000)

 

The fourth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, electronics and vocals.

I have reviewed their first three albums they are all good. You can find these reviews somewhere else in this blog.

Sfinks is clocking in at thirty-five minutes.

The music is again what I would define as arctic prog. The band is from beyond the arctic circle with total darkness for 5 months of the year. The same goes for Thule, another band in this region, although 1000 km further north.   

That means a blend of dark folk rock and art-rock. There are also some hints of symphonic prog here. The music is depressive with some guitar solos and operatic baritone Norwegian vocals on top of the sound.

The music is muscular but not particular heavy. There are some good Jethro Tull influences throughout this album. 

This is not their finest album. The quality is pretty good though. Fans of Scandinavian prog rock should check out this album.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

 

Elias Hulk - Unchained (1970)

 

The one and only album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

This band from the south-coast of England released this album and then split up. It is one of the many one-album wonders bands in this scene.

This album is clocking in at half an hour.

The music is hard rock with some prog rock and psych rock influences. The sound very good. 

The music is at times hard and wild. There are some wild guitars here and the good vocals are hard rocking.

There are also some more pastoral, melodic pieces here.

The sporadic half-acoustic guitars are very cool and are adding a lot of jazzy flavours to the music.

The music sounds like a late 1960s album. Which it probably also is. This is a charming, decent album and well worth checking out if retro hard rock is your cup of tea.

2 points 

 

  

Electric High - Colorful White Lies (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, mandolin and vocals.

This band has so far released two albums through Apollon Records. The band is also from this label's hometown Bergen. I have only got this album from the band and has no intentions to get any more albums from them.   

This album is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here is raw and pretty primitive hard rock. 

The music is balls-to-the-walls throughout these fifty minutes. Early AC/DC springs to mind as a reference.

The music is also songs based and pretty catchy. Trying to be pretty catchy, that is. The music is hard and has a 1980s hard rock sound. 

The vocals are decent enough, and the same can be said about the music. If hard rock is your thing...

 2 points

Emeral Dawn. The - The Land The Sea The Air I (2025)

 

The sixth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, saxophones, flute and vocals.

I have had the joy of reviewing their first five albums in the first three editions of this blog. Good albums. I have also got their new album which I will review next week.

The Land The Sea The Air I is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is a blend of symphonic prog and neo-prog.

There is a lot of Yes influences here. One of the pieces of music here has taken a lot from their Awaken opus. 

Some of the music are also dirg'ish in their form. Most of the music is still complex and epic. Very complex, in fact.

The vocals are pretty good.

The overall quality of the music is good. This is not their best album. It is still an album well worth checking out.

3 points 

 

 

 

Jazz Q - Rituál (2023)

 

The 12th album from this band from the Czech Republic.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and keyboards.

The band returned again after a three years long album break.

Ritual is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is jazz.

There are some fusion influences here. But there is not much fusion here. Most of the music is basic jazz.

The music here is pretty much in the same area as the 2020 album Amulet, the previous album. 

The music is pretty melodic. There are some subtle keyboards, bass and guitar solos here. The band is tight.

The music here is more appealing to the jazz crowd than the rock and fusion crowd. The quality of the music is pretty good. 

This album is their latest album so far. I like this band a lot. Mostly due to their first albums, their best albums. This album is nowhere near their best album. Check out their first albums before you check out this album.

2.5 points  

 

Klone - The Unseen (2024)

 

The ninth album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, saxophones and vocals.

This album is to date their latest album. I have really enjoyed their albums. The reviews can be found somewhere else in this blog.

The band returned again one year after the good Meanwhile album. 

The Unseen is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is alternative rock. The same type of music as on the last few albums.

The band has gotten rid of their extreme metal influences on this album. There is hardly any metal left on this album at all.

The music is pretty hard throughout this album, with the exception of the psych rock ambience piece at the end of the album. 

The vocals are very good. The saxophone is adding some spice to their sound. 

The result is a good album and one of their best albums so far. I hope to hear more from this band. Their albums, minus their unplugged album, should be checked out.

3 points 

 

 

Legacy Pilots - Camera Obscura Volume II (2026)

 

The seventh album from this band from Germany.

Legacy Pilot is Frank Us on guitars and keyboards. A one-man-band.

He had help from a number of guests who added drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

I reviewed Camera Obscura Volume I last week and liked it a lot. I have also reviewed the first Legacy Pilots albums in this series of blogs and you will find them in # 1, # 2 and # 3.  

Camera Obscura Volume I is clocking in at fifty minutes. 

The music is again neo-prog.

The music on this album is very similar to the music on Camera Obscura Volume I, an album also released this year. I don't really understand why both albums were not released as a double album. Then again, I respect Frank Us and his decisions. A man far more clever/intelligent than I am.

The music is both melodic and fairly complex. The music is also pretty epic with some symphonic prog and heavy prog influences.

The vocals are all good.

The quality of the music is also good throughout. Both the Camera Obscura albums should be checked out by all neo-prog fans.

3 points 

Lazuli - Lazuli (1999)

 

The debut album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of percussion, marimba, bass, guitars, chapman stick, synths and vocals.

Earlier this year, I reviewed their latest album Etre Et Ne Plus Etre. I liked it a lot as you can read in my review here. I also liked their eighth album a lot as you can see in the review here. Hence, I got the rest of their albums and they are all up for review this summer/fall.

Lazuli is clocking in at one hour.

The music here is neo-prog with some heavy prog influences.

The music is lush and colourful. It is also melodic.

The female French vocals are adding a lot of the colours and lushness here. The music is also a bit exotic.

The vocals are good.   

The quality of the music is pretty good. The band had yet to master the art of writing good songs. Nevertheless, this is an acceptable debut album and worthy of your attention.

2.5 points   

 

 

Lunear - Curve.Axis.Symmetry (2020)

 

The second album from this band from France.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band has so far released five albums and they are all up for review this summer. I reviewed their debut album ten days ago.

Curve Axis Symmetry is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is again melodic neo-prog.

There is a lot of mainstream rock in their music. There are also some alternative rock elements in their take on neo-prog.

The music is also pretty melancholic and somber at times.

The vocals are good and fitting for this music.

The quality of the music is also good and this makes this a good album indeed. Neo-prog fans should check out this album.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

 

Elandill - Elandill (1971)

 

The one and only album from this band from Great Britain. 

An acetat of this album was picked up by the record label Bright Carvings and then re-released last year on LP, 227 copies. They are now sold out, but Ebay, Rough Trade, Youtube and Discogs has still some copies left. Bright Carvings has also some other albums like this and please visit their homepage, the link above. I will review their other albums at the end of this year/early next year. 

Nothing is therefore known about the lineup. It is easy to detect the drums, bass, guitars, organ and vocals on the album.

This album is clocking in at half an hour.

The music is folk rock. There are some strong early Genesis, the Trespass era, influences here. Add in some Yes, Family and Jethro Tull influences here too.

The sound on the Bright Carvings re-release is surprisingly good and very much acceptable. They have done a great job. They have also done a great job with the very appealing, inviting album artwork. Credit where credit is deserved.

The music is melodic and pastoral. The musicians do a good job. The vocals are very good. 

This album is surprisingly good. The songs are really good with some good hooks. I don't understand why this album never got a proper release in the 1970s. This album is one of the hidden gems in the folk rock and prog rock scene. Folk rock fans should check out this album.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Elettrosmog (Astrolabio) - Monologando (2006)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals.

This band is Astrolabio under their first name Elettrosmog. The band released their fourth album earlier this year. I have reviewed all their albums in this blog. See here for the review. 

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is RPI.

Their take on RPI is based on folk rock and hard rock.

The music is at times hard rocking. It is also pastoral at times. The music also got some post-punk influences in their music.

The music is in short wild and the pretty good male Italian vocals makes it even more hard rocking.

The result is a pretty good album and an acceptable debut album. The band changed name to Astrolabio and their music improved a lot. This is an album for those who like this band and the RPI genre.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Romanza Bekkan - Strange Beautiful People (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Japan.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, mellotron, synths, piccolo, flute and vocals.

The band returned again after a twenty-one years long album break. Their debut album was a good album and I reviewed it back in May 2022. My review is here. 

This album is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here, as it was on their debut album, is neo-prog with a lot of symphonic prog influences. 

The music is lush, colourful and melodic. The sound is the Japanese symphonic prog sound. 

The vocals are in their native tongue, Japanese. There are also a lot of flutes here and some piccolos.

The music is pretty symphonic and pastoral at the same time. 

The overall quality is good and I really like this band. My only gripe with them is that they are not releasing albums often enough. Both their albums is recommended.

3 points  

 

 

Jazz Q - Amulet (2020)

 

The 11th album from this band from the Czech Republic.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and keyboards.

The band returned again after a four years long album break. During the last three months, I have reviewed their ten first albums and I have liked most of them

Amulet is clocking in at one hour.

The music is again jazz. This time with fusion blended into their jazz.

The music is both dynamic and melodic. There are some bass, piano and guitar solos here.

The music is also slightly basic jazz. It is much more stripped down than this band's first albums.  

The sound is very good and each instrument get their own space. 

The overall quality is good. The music is a bit too workmanlike. Nevertheless, this is still a good album.

3 points  

 

Klone - Meanwhile (2023)

 

The 8th album from this band from France.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, programming, saxophones and vocals.

The band returned again after a four years long album break. I have reviewed their first seven albums. The albums is a bit of a mixed bag. Their last album was a good album, though.

Meanwhile is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

The band has gone from being an extreme metal band to an alternative rock band. That is evident on this album too.

Alternative rock is the music here. There are still some extreme metal influences left in their music. The music is really heavy at times. 

Most of the music is melodic with some very good vocals. The music is also a bit grungy. There is some melancholy in their music too.

The quality is good throughout this album. This is an album alternative rock fans should check out.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Connection Theory - Entropy (2025)

 

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

This is a one-man-band with Duncan Cooper doing the bass, guitars, cello, keyboards, drums programming, saxophone and flute.

Two guests added female vocals.

I have yet to find Duncan Cooper's first two Connection Theory albums. I will again have a look and review them later this year if I can find them. 

The music here is a blend of neo-prog and heavy prog.

The music is dynamic and pretty melodic. 

The music is a blend of keyboards driven instrumentals and female vocals driven songs. The balance between vocals based songs and instrumentals are very good. 

The vocals are great and Duncan Cooper has chosen his vocalists wisely.  

The guitar sound is not good and a bit of a downer. 

The music is also a bit safe and workmanlike. There are no fireworks here and no real surprises.

That said, this is still a good album and one to check out if neo-prog floats your boat.

3 points  

 

Katatonia - Dethroned And Uncrowned (2013)

 

The 10th album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added percussion, keyboards and female vocals.

The band returned again with this album one year after the Dead End Kings album. Dethroned And Uncrowned is indeed an acoustic version of the Dead End Kings album. Only the vocals are the same.

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is acoustic with lots of acoustic guitars and strings. The vocals also sounds more controlled and tempered. 

I am not a fan of acoustic music. I do not like electric music stripped down to acoustic music. 

I have to admit this album has gone a long way to change my opinion... or maybe this album is an exception. Time will tell.

The music here is elegant, at times beautiful and really classy. It is also melodic. 

Frankly, I like this album better than the Dead End Kings album. I am surprising myself here. And it gets worse.... This is actually a very good album. It is also their best album up to this point. 

I need to lie down on a sofa now...

3.5 points 

Fates Warning - Darkness In A Different Light (2013)

 

The 11th album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

The band returned again after a nine years long album break.

This album is clocking in at one hour.

The band has again returned to a more 1970s hard rock sound and music. The music is in this respect a bit back to the hard rock basics. That is not a bad thing when it comes to this album.  

There are no keyboards here. The twin guitars and the vocals are forging the melodies forward.  

The vocals are very good. The guitars are good.

The quality of the song writing is not on the same level. The sound is very good and is elevating this album to a good album. 

Hard rock fans should check out this album.

3 points 

 

 

 

Aci - Tiefenrausch (1982)

 

The one and only album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, piano, minimoog and synths.

This band was started by the future Eloy keyboard player Michael Gerlach. Some guests from Kraan and Rufus Zuphall also joined this band on this album.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

The music here is a blend of 1980s electronica and cinematic rock.

Take a blend of Tangerine Dream and early Eloy. That is somewhere near the music on this album.

The music is melodic and laid back. It is ambient and harmonic too.

There are some interesting pieces here inbetween some pretty pedestrian pieces of music. There is a lot of bass here... surprisingly amount of melodic bass. This of course in addition to the synths and minimoog.

I had no expectations to this album at all and was actually dreading it. This album is a bit of a positive surprise. This is indeed a decent enough album despite of it's 1980s sound and some dubious electronica. Krautrock fans should check out this album. 

2 points 

  

Aamunkoite - Aamunkoite (2022)

 

The debut album from this band from Finland.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, keyboards, moog, flute and vocals.

This album is clocking in at thirty-five minutes. 

The music here is a mixed bag to say at least.

It starts out as a folk rock album, moves into a more symphonic prog territory, then some Uriah Heep heavy prog enter the arena and then the music moves to a more goth electronica area.

There are some great female vocals, complete with Finnish lyrics, at the start of the album. A very good start to the album, btw. 

A false dawn, as the rest of the album is nowhere near as good as the opening track.

The result is a pretty good album. I hope we will hear more from this band. Don't give up.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

 

Karcius - Black Soul Sickness (2026)

 

The seventh album from this band from Canada.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band started out as a fusion/jazz band but moved towards progressive metal on their latest albums. I have reviewed most of their albums and they are good albums.

Black Soul Sickness is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is complex, bold and epic progressive metal.

There are some djent here too. The music is at the more heavier end of the progressive metal genre.

...Then again, there are also some more melodic pieces here. 

The music varies between some brutal and some more melodic pieces, in other words. The same goes for the vocals which shifts between growls and melodic clean vocals.

The quality is good throughout. This is an album fans of progressive metal should check out.

3 points 

Realisea - Scratch (2026)

 

The third album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a seven-pieces big band on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals.

One guest added a clarinet.

The band returned again after a four years long album break. I have reviewed their first two albums. They are both good albums.

Scratch is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is neo-prog.

In this case, complex and pretty heavy neo-prog with a lot of symphonic prog influences. The music is also lush and colourful.

The vocals are a blend of female and male vocals.  

The music on this album is heavier and more complex than on the previous album Fairly Carefree. The music is also slightly better.

This is indeed a good album and one to check out if heavy, complex neo-prog is your thing.

3 points 

 

 

Marbin - Marbinico (2024)

 

The 12th album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and saxophone.

This album is so far their latest album. It is hopefully not their final album. I have reviewed all their albums and that has been a pleasure.

Marbinico is clocking in at forty minutes.

The music is again jazz.

Marbin has evolved from being a pretty innovative fusion band to becoming a more orthodox jazz band. 

The music is mid-tempo to slow jazz. The saxophones is again the dominating solo instrument. There are also some interesting half-acoustic guitars and guitar solos here.

The music is softly-spoken and gentle. 

The music is mostly good. So much that I am really enjoying this album. I still think their first albums are their best albums. Nevertheless, this is a good album.

3 points 

 

Legacy Pilots - Camera Obscura Vol I (2026)

 

The sixth album from this band from Germany.

Legacy Pilot is Frank Us on guitars and keyboards. A one-man-band.

He had help from a number of guests who added drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

I have reviewed the first Legacy Pilots albums in this series of blogs and you will find them in # 1, # 2 and # 3.   

Frank Us has released two albums this year under the Legacy Pilots name. Part II of the Camera Obscura series will be reviewed later this month.

Camera Obscura Vol I is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is neo-prog.

The music is mid-tempo and very melodic. There are some programmed strings and gentle guitars here.  

The vocals, male and female, are also gentle and elegant.

There are still a lot of interesting complex harmonies and pieces of music here. Despite of the music being a bit on the sugary fluffy side of the spectrum, the music is still good. Hence....

3 points 

  

Moloken - Our Astral Circle (2009)

 

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

The band has so far released four albums. The last one in 2020. I am reviewing all four albums in the next couple of weeks. 

Our Astral Circle is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is alternative extreme metal. 

The music is dissonant and disharmonic. There is a lot of death metal influences in their music. The music is very heavy throughout this album.

The vocals are of the screaming extreme metal type of vocals.

The sound is good throughout.

There a couple of good pieces here. There are also some pretty poor pieces of music here. This is therefore a decent album and an acceptable debut album. 

2 points 

 

Jazz Q - Talisman (2016)

 

The tenth album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and keyboards.

The band returned again after the very disappointing Temne Slunce album from 2014. See my review and my reviews of their other albums somewhere else in this blog.

Talisman is clocking in at one hour.

The music is jazz. 

In this case, the music is middle-of-the-road jazz with some keyboards and guitar solos.

The rhythm section is very tight. The solos are pretty good. The music is mid-tempo and pretty melodic.

The music is cosy but still pretty workmanlike. 

I am not won over by this album. That said, it is still a pretty good album.

2.5 points 

Dot.Organ - The Gumshoe Chronicles (2014)

 

The debut album from this band from Australia.

The band was a quartet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A number of guests added drums, vocals and spoken words.

This band has released around thirteen EPs and albums through Bandcamp. Their last EP/album was released back in 2024. I am only going to review this album. An album which has been hanging around in my collection for the last ten years.

The Gumshot Chronicles is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here is nowhere near what they say on the Bandcamp site. I believe the band must have developed a lot during their ten years. Taking the music on this album into account, that is a good thing.

The music here is quirky, chaotic blend of post-punk and indie rock. 

The music is minimalistic with sparse instrumentation. The vocals are both male and female. The vocals are pretty decent.

There are some decent songs here. The rest of the music is pretty poor. I am not tempted to review their remaining albums. 

1.5 points 

 

 

Din Within - Awaken The Man (2007)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a duo with a lineup of bass, guitars, keyboards, programming and vocals.

A number of guests added drums, guitars and backing vocals.

This band came, released this album, got some deserved attention and then split up. Based on this album, their disbandment is a loss to the scene.

This album is clocking in at one hour.

The music is broadly speaking melodic US symphonic prog. 

Good references are Neal Morse and, to a lesser extent, Spock's Beard. Add in some AOR too and you get the picture. There are also some Supertramp influences in their music.

The music is mid-tempo and melodic. There is a lot of pianos, organs and guitars here. 

The vocals are really good and the vocal harmonies are very good.

The music is very good and there is no doubt this album is a hidden gem that really deserves a lot more attention. Check out this album.

3.5 points 

 

 

Perevod - Souper (2026)

 

The third album from this one-man-band from Ukraine.

Oleksii Perevodchyk played the drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and also added programming to this album.

His first two albums were pretty good and I therefore jumped on the chance to review his new album. Oleksii Perevodchyk is very talented and I am supporting all music and most things from this war-torn country. 

Souper is clocking in at thirty-four minutes.  

The music is again a blend of heavy prog, fusion and symphonic prog. 

The music is instrumental.

There are a lot of keyboards and guitars here. There are some good guitars solos and some good piano harmonies.  

The music is dynamic and pretty fast. The music is also pretty melodic too.

The quality is good throughout. This album is not as good as the debut album but it is still a good album.

3 points 

Realisea - Fairly Carefree (2022)

 

The second album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A number of guests added bass, violin, harp, keyboards, minotaur and clarinet.

I reviewed their 2020 debut album Mantelpeace back in August the same year and that was a pretty good album. My review is here.

Fairly Carefree is clocking in at one hour.

The music is neo-prog.

In this case, neo-prog with female vocals. 

The music is lush and colourful. It is also pretty commercial with lots of hooks and choruses. The music is still pretty complex with some symphonic prog influences. There are also a lot of folk rock influences in their music.

The music is really good throughout this album. There is no outstanding great tracks here. That said, this is a good album.

3 points 

 

 

 

Marbin - Dirty Horse (2022)

 

The 11th album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and saxophones.

One guest added percussion.

The band returned as a quartet one year after the pretty good trio based Fernweh album. You can read my reviews of their albums in both # 1 this blog and this edition of the blog.

Dirty Horse is clocking in at seventy-four minutes. 

The music is again jazz. Pure jazz.

The saxophone is the most dominant instrument here with several solos. Lots of solos, in fact.

There are also a lot of rhythm and solo guitars here.

The music is hardcore, dense jazz and not particularly melodic.  

The quality is pretty good throughout. There are also some decent stuff here. Hence....

2.5 points 

Unicorn Umbrellas - Every Picture Tells a Story (2026)

 

The debut album from this multi-national project.

The band/project was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added guitars and backing vocals.

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

This project, where the members has never been in the same room at the same time, was set up by the Swiss keyboardist and composer Beat Zimmerman. He recruited members from Gola, Tangerine Dream, Styx and Saga. The individual members recorded their bits and we got a full album out of it.

This is how a modern supergroup is working.

The vocalist is Michael Sadler from Saga. The music is somewhere between neo-prog and pomp rock.

..And yes, the vocals will gain this album a lot of Saga and Styx comparisons. Not only the vocals, but also the music.

The music is mid-tempo and melodic. The music is also pretty complex and pomp rock like. The music is also pretty catchy.

The vocals are great. The vocals are indeed the highlights of this album... which tells you how good Saga was/is.

The result is a good album. It is an album all pomp rock, Styx and Saga fans should check out.

3 points 

 

 

 

Uriah Heep - Different World (1991)

 

The 17th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, synths and vocals.

A number of guests added drums, accordion, harmonica, keyboards, electronic and a children's choir.

The band returned again after a two years long break. A break spent on trying to find a new record label as the band was by now rather unfashionable in the record industry. 

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour. 

Their 1989 album Raging Silence was a big improvement on their previous albums and I had some big hopes for their following albums.

The music here is a return to the heavy metal music the band was doing before Raging Silence. The US heavy metal scene and sound, that is.

That means poppy heavy metal with lots of choruses. There is even a children choir. That song is cheap and nasty. There are thankfully some better music here. This album is still a disappointment. It is a half decent album.

1.5 points  

 

 

Løvetann - Ansikt Til Ansikt (2000)

 

The third album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, electronics and vocals.

As I wrote in my review of their first album, this band was formed by Odd "Fezza" Ellingsen, the guitarist in St. Helena, Akasha and Høst. Odd Ellingsen was indeed the main force in the best Høst album Hardt Mot Hardt, a masterpiece in the great Norwegian progressive rock scene.

As with their other albums, Ansikt Til Ansikt was released as a CD-R album in a limited run of 100 x. Their eight albums were compiled and re-released in the widely available Opus Magnum box last year. I am reviewing their albums and this box this summer.

Ansikt Til Ansikt is clocking in at thirty minutes.

The music is again pretty special. The music is a blend of dark art-rock and dark symphonic prog. Thule is again a good reference. There are some more dark psych rock this time around. 

Arctic Prog is what I would label their (and Thule's) music as I did in my reviews of their first two albums. That does not really give any meaning.. 

The vocals are again dark operatic male vocals.

This album is not as good as their first two albums. This is still a pretty good album.. but still a bit of a disappointment. More reviews of their albums will be added next month.

2.5 points 

  

 

Dante Roberto - The Circle (2017)

 

The debut album from this artist from Italy.

Dante Roberto played piano, keyboards and synths here. 

He had help from two guests who added drums, bass and guitars.

This is the only thing I know about this artist and album. This is also the only album Dante Roberto has released. I believe he is a music professor in Italy. My language skills do not include Italian so this is only a guess based on some Italian text on his Facebook site.

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of symphonic prog, neo-classical music and fusion.

The music is wholly instrumental with a lot of piano and synths. It is also dynamic and at times, fast. 

The music is also melodic.

The music is a bit too run-of-the-mill and does not really offer anything new or unique. This is a pretty good album and one for, mostly, the fusion fans.

2.5 points 

 

 

Da Capo - Da Capo (1972)

 

The one and only album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, harmonica and vocals.

 This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

This album was a collector's item and very hard to find until someone re-released it on CD twenty years ago. This is how it came to my attention. 

The music is krautrock.

In this case, the album starts with some acoustic songs complete with vocals. All vocals are in English. Amon Duul springs to mind on the first half of this album.

The music becomes a lot harder on the second half with some long space rock guitars solos and bluesy hard rock songs.

The final half of the album is pretty good while the first half is pretty decent.

The result is therefore a decent enough album. Krautrock fans should check out this obscure album from this short-lived band.

 2 points

 

 

Wish - The Endless Winter (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I reviewed their 2019 debut album Stay Here My Friends back in November the same year and that was a pretty good album. See my review here.

The Endless Winter is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here is a blend of neo-prog and art-rock.

The music is mid-tempo and sometimes pretty melancholic. The music is in the Polish neo-prog tradition and sound, although the band is from Italy.

The music is also melodic. The English vocals are notably accented. They are still decent enough.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. I am yet to be won over by this band.

2.5 points 

 

 

Halter and Skeie - More Than I Believe (2025)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I reviewed their 2022 debut album Words some days ago and that was a pretty good album. I was hoping for much of the same on this album.

More Than I Believe is clocking in at forty minutes. 

The music is a blend of neo-prog, art rock and psych rock.

There are some Marillion and Pink Floyd influences here. 

The music is therefore melodic and mid-tempo. There are still some subtle Depeche Mode influences here.

The keyboards and the guitars are good. Ditto for the vocals.

The quality is an upgrade on their debut. Not by much but still an upgrade. This is an album art-rock fans should check out.

3 points 

 

 

240bpm & Flavour - In No Man's Land (2024)

 

The fourth or so album from this artist from Italy.

Vincenzo Lardo did the guitars, keyboards, programming, samples and vocals here.

Vincenzo Lardo has released numerous albums through the 240 Bpm Bandcamp site. I reviewed one of the last ones earlier this week and that album was a turkey. Hence I had no expectations to In No Man's Land.

This album is clocking in at fifty-four minutes.

The music here is a blend of art-rock and psych rock.

The music is pretty laid back with some good keyboards. The music is mellow and melodic.

There are some Pink Floyd influences throughout this album.

The music is pretty good throughout. There is some good songs here and some substandard songs. This album is a massive improvement on the album I reviewed some days ago. It is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points 

 

Green Desert Tree - Fighting Dragons (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I reviewed their 2019 debut album Progressive Work back in April 2019 and that was a pretty good album. You can read my review here.

Fighting Dragons is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of neo-prog and symphonic prog. 

Take a blend of Argos, Believe and Genesis. You will end up somewhere near this album.

The music is both dynamic and melodic. It is also mid-tempo. There are some subtle folk rock influences in their music.

The vocals are good and the band makes the most of their instrumentations.

The music is a bit workman like. Nevertheless, this is a good album and one to check out if neo-prog is your thing.   

3 points 

Klone - Le Grand Voyage (2019)

 

The seventh album from this band from France.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, electronics, saxophones and vocals.

The band returned again two years after their acoustic album Unplugged and four years after their more serious band album Here Comes The Sun. Both albums reviewed in this blog.

This album is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The band started out as an alternative extreme metal band. Their music was extreme and eclectic. The last albums has seen them move closer to the alternative rock scene.

That journey is mostly complete on this album. The music is still a bit hard at times. Most of the music here is mid-tempo alternative rock. Katatonia and Anathema is a good reference.

Klone's music is still a bit more esoteric and edgy than the two above mentioned bands' music.   

The music is melancholic, airy and melodic too. The vocals are very good throughout this album.

This is their best album up to this point and an album for alternative rock fans. This is indeed a good album.

3 points 

Lunear - Many Miles Away (2018)

 

The debut album from this band from France.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band has so far released five albums and they are all up for review this summer. That includes their new album too.

Many Miles Away is clocking in at fifty-two minutes.

I have heard a lot of good things about this band in ProgArchives and other places. So I jumped on the chance to review their albums. 

The music here is melodic neo-prog with a lot of pop/rock influences.

The music is mid-tempo with a lot of piano and keyboards. There are also some guitars here.

The vocals are very good. The vocals are in good English too although the vocalist is French. 

The music is a bit too much pop/rock. That said, most parts of this album are good. I understand why this band has such a good reputation.

3 points 

 

  

Id. The - Ido Book 2 (2019)

 

The sixth album from this multi-national band.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, guitars, keyboards, programming and vocals.

I have to admit that my reviews of their albums is a bit of a mess. I should have reviewed their Ido Book 1 album before I reviewed this album. But I do not have a copy of this album at this moment. I will get this and their other four albums too and put them up for review sometime later this year/next year.

I reviewed their 2015 debut album Idiocrazy back in September 2015 and liked it a lot. Classic neo-prog. You can read my review here. 

Ido Book 2 is clocking in at fifty-three minutes.

The music is again classic British neo-prog. Pendragon, IQ and Jadis are three good references here. 

The sound is contemporary and an upgraded version of the 1980-'90s British neo-prog sound.

The music is pretty symphonic at times too. The guitars are very good. Ditto for the vocals.

The music is good throughout. I really need to check out the rest of their albums and review them. There is a long list of unreviewed albums, though...

Neo-prog fans should have this album in their album collection.

3 points  

 

 

 

   

Id - Where Are We Going (1977)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, slide guitars, mellotron and vocals.

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour. 

This album was released on a tiny record label that pressed this album in a small number and gave the album no promotion. The album still got a cult-status during the last four decades. RidingEasy Records, a record label specialising in re-releasing old out-of-print psych and prog rock classics then re-released this album on CD and on Bandcamp two years ago.

The album is hard psych rock with a lot of hard rock and some flower power influences. The music sounds like it was written in the late 1960s. 

The guitars solos are both long and wild. They sounds improvised too. 

The vocals and the mellotrons are pretty good.

The sound is good. The music is decent enough but not particular interesting. Psych and space rock fans may find this album interesting. I am not won over. 

2 points 

 

 

 

Code 18 - Two Places (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Canada.

The band was a trio with a lineup of guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Two guests added drums and bass.

I reviewed their 2020 debut album Human Error back in January 2022 and was not impressed. My review is here. 

Two Places is clocking in at seventy minutes.

The music here is a blend of cinematic rock and symphonic prog.

The music is mostly long symphonic cinematic rock themes.

Most of the music is instrumental. The music is mostly driven by keyboards.

The music is both elegant and dynamic. The music is also good throughout.

This is an album fans of keyboards driven cinematic rock should check out.

3 points 

 

 

Halter And Skeie - Words (2022)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a duo on this album with a lineup of bass, keyboards, computers, vocoder and vocals. 

This duo has so far released two albums and three EPs. A review of their second album will be posted at the end of this week.

Words are clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here is a blend of art-rock and electronic pop.

References are A-Ha, Marillion, Van Der Graaf Generator and Depeche Mode.

The music is mid-tempo. There is a lot of electronic pop here including the use of vocoders. The music feels very sterile and cold at most of this album.

There are also some pretty elegant, melodic pieces of art-rock here inbetween the cold electronic pop.

The vocals are pretty good.

The quality of the music is somewhere between decent and good. Those into art-rock may want to check out this album.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

240bpm - Again (2025)

 

The fifth (?) album from this artist from Italy.

Vincenzo Lardo did the guitars, synths, programming and vocals on this album.

 Vincenzo Lardo has released numerous albums through his Bandcamp site. Some of them as solo artist and some albums in cooperation with other musicians. I have two of his albums and I will post a review of the other album at the end of this week.

Again is clocking in at twenty minutes.

The music is Vincenzo's take on some new-romantics songs from the 1980s. Songs he likes. Songs I rather want to forget. The same goes for the 1980s. It was a lost decade in the music and the fashion world. The music was mostly horrible.

Vincenzo's versions is a bit more electronica influenced than the original versions. That makes the result even worse than the orginals.

This is a name-your-price Bandcamp album. Which means zero risk for the buyers. This album is though a turkey and one I want to forget as much as I want to forget the music from the 1980s.

1 point  

 

Argos - Doctor Wilde`s Twilight Adventure (2026)

 

The eighth album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals.

Three guests added drums, violin and woodwinds.

This album is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

This album is inspired by a project the Northern Irish band Fruupp worked on before they split up. Fruupp's drummer is indeed a guest on this album. The other two surviving Fruupp members were also involved in this project in another capacity. The album is dedicated to the memory of the recently passed on two other Fruupp members.

This album is also a concept album about a mad doctor in Dublin, Ireland. 

There are indeed some Fruupp influences here. But Argos has their own take on neo-prog. 

The music is indeed neo-prog with some art-rock and Canterbury scene influences.

Van Der Graaf Generator also pops up here loud and clear as a reference. The same also goes for the vocals which are very Peter Hammill at times.

The music is melancholic and a bit dark. The music is mid-tempo. Thevocals are very good.

The music is also very good and I am very glad that Argos has honoured Fruupp by taking over the project the band abandoned fifty years ago. Check out this album from one of the best neo-prog bands in the world.

3.5 points 

 

 

Katatonia - Dead End Kings (2012)

 

The ninth album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added percussion, keyboards and female vocals.

The band returned again after a three years long break.

Dead End Kings is clocking in at one hour.

During their first eight albums, the band has migrated from the death & doom metal genre to the alternative rock genre. A journey they share with the likes of Anathema and a few other bands.

The music is hard alternative rock.

This album was also their most melodic album. To that date, that is. The music is also melancholic.

The vocals are good and there are some good programmed strings here too.  

The quality of the music is not that impressive. It is a bit too run-of-the-mill. That said, this is still a pretty good album.

2.5 points