North Sea Echoes - Really Good Terrible Things (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band is a duo with two ex Fates Warning members and the lineup is bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Two guests added drums and organ.

The two members here are Ray Alder and Jim Matheos. The duo has just released their new album and I will review it in some days time.

This album clocks in at forty-two minutes.

The music is mainstream rock.

There are some Americana and progressive rock influences. Enough progressive rock influences for me to review this album... to make the music a bit more interesting.

The music is melancholic and reflective. The lyrics are very serious and deep.

The music is well performed and the vocals are very good.

The music is not particularly interesting. This is still a pretty good album and worth checking out.

2.5 points 

  

3rd Ear Experience - Danny Frankel's 3rd Ear Experience (1991)

 

The seventh album from this band from USA.

The band was a nine pieces big band on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, didgeridoo, bass, guitars, organ, synths and vocals.

I have reviewed some of their first albums and I have liked them a lot. Hence my interest in the band.

This album clocks in at sixty-four minutes.

The music here is space rock. Outer space rock.

In this case, long compositions with long guitars and organ solos.

The vocals here are more like instruments more than expressing some form of content.

The music feels like jams and improvisations.

The sound is good and this is an enjoyable, good space rock album. Check it out.

3 points 

 

 

Riffstone - Zodiac (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band returned again for their third album of this year.

Zodiac clocks in at seventy-three minutes.

The music is symphonic prog.

Riffstone reminds me more and more from album to album about the Dutch duo Us. The same take on symphonic prog.

Zodiac is a journey through the twelve different zodiac signs.

The music is mid-tempo, pretty epic and pretty complex.

The sound is not particular big as the instrumentation is sparse.

Most of the music is good. There are some not-so-good parts here too.

The result is somewhere between decent and good. This is not their best album.

2.5 points 

 

 

Datura Lodge - Datura Lodge (2026)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

A trio of guests added drums, violin and keyboards.

This is a new band from the New Jersey area of the East Coast of USA. They have released two EPs before this album.

Datura Lodge clocks in at forty-two minutes.

The music here is heavy prog.

There is a lot of Mars Volta and Rush in their music. There is also a lot of college rock in their music.

The music is mid-tempo to fast.

The music is not particular heavy though. It is more hard than heavy. 

It also has some 1970s hard rock influences.

The vocals are good and the musicians does a good job. The result is a good album and one to check out.

3 points 

 

 

 

Black Bonzo - The Guillotine (2009)

 

The third album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, bouzouki, piano, organ, mellotron, synths, flutes, chants and vocals.

Two guests added tambourine, shaker, violin, cello, saxophone and trumpet.

This is the third and final album from this band. The first two albums has been good albums.

The album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is heavy prog.

The music is heavier this time around. There is a lot of Uriah Heep and Deep Purple influences here. There are also some early heavy metal influences here. 

The music is mostly hard and catchy though. More so than heavy metal.

There are some great organs and some good guitars here. The vocals are great.

The music is very good throughout and the band left on a high note. Check out this album and check out their first two albums too.

3.5 points  

 

 

Sigur Rós - Atta (2023)

 The 11th album from this band from Iceland.

The band was a trio with a lineup of vibraphone, bass, harpsichord, piano, synths and hurdy gurdy.

A number of guest added violin, woodwinds and voices.

This is so far their latest album. Their first ten albums, with the exception of the debut album, have all been interesting, good albums.

Atta clocks in at one hour.

The music here is post-rock.

The music is slow, floating, airy, flowery and a bit ambient. There are a lot of voices here and the music is full of echoes and reverbs. 

The music is classic Sigur Ros and not much different from their previous albums.

This is another good album from the band. It is not their best but it still does it's job and it satisfies their fans.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Sleeping Pandora - Trails (2026)

 

The 12th album from this one-man-band from Germany.

Mathias Rosman did all the bass, guitars, programming and the synths here.

Mathias returned with his project after a three years long album break. I have reviewed some of his albums in earlier editions of this blog.

Trails clocks in at three-quarters of an hour.

 The music is psych rock.

The music is more a blend of instrumental psych rock and symphonic prog.

Some of the music are pretty ambient too. 

The sound is airy, light and fluffy.

The music is mid-tempo and elegant. It is performed by half-acoustic and electric guitars. The guitars are supported by some rhythm machines, bass and some organs.

The quality of the music is somewhere between decent and good. This music is good for relaxing but not for much else.

2.5 points 

 

  

Amorphis - Elegy (1996)

 

The third album from this band from Finland.

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

The band returned again two years after the release of the Tales From The Thousand Lakes album. A great album and one of my favourite metal albums.

Elegy clocks in at fifty-six minutes.

The music is extreme metal.

There are some strong folk-rock elements in their music. Scandinavian folk rock... or to be more precise, Finnish folk rock. There are also some notable progressive metal and electronica elements here.

The music is very varied here. There are even some accordion and some keyboards generated strings here. 

The electronica elements are pretty poor. The band has abandoned most of what made the Tales From The Thousand Lakes album so great. 

Elegy is a mishmash of various genres. It is a confusing and frustrating album. It is nowhere near as great as Tales From The Thousand Lakes.

This is a decent album. It is the worst of their first three albums too. I am disappointed.

2 points 

 

 

Parsons Project. The Alan - The Sicilian Defence (2014)

 

The 11th album from this project from Great Britain.

The project was a duo with Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson on acoustic guitars, piano, keyboards, projectron and vocoder.

This scaled down album was also their final album. Eric Woolfson passed on five years before the release of this album. Alan Parsons has released a handful of solo albums and I will review two of them later this month.

The Sicilian Defence clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is ambient neo-classical music.

The music feels like left over pieces of music from previous albums. As this album was release five years after Eric Woolfson's passing, it probably is too.

There are some ideas and ditties collected here. The music has some charm.

This is still their worst album and not really worthy of their name. It is a half-decent album.

1.5 points 

 

Old Man & the Sea. The - Witches Brew (2020)

 

The second album from this band from Denmark.

The band was an eight pieces big band with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, guitars, piano, moog, oboe, flute, saxophone and narrations.

The band returned again after an almost fifty years long break. Which is a long, long break between a debut album and a second album. They have also released two more albums that I will review later this month.

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is fusion.

There is also a lot of space rock and jazz here. A combination of fusion, jazz and space rock is the best way of describing the music here.

The music is fast, lively and pretty fast. There is a lot of improvisation and jams here.

The instruments mostly in the forefront are organs, guitars, bass and the woodwinds.

The sound is good and the quality is somewhere between decent and good. 

This is an album well worth checking out if space rock and/or fusion is your thing.

2.5 points 

 

 

Giant Sky - Giant Sky II (2023)

 

The second album from this project from Norway.

The project is a side project of Soup. It is Erlend Aastad Viken's project and he does the percussion, drums, bass, guitars, banjo, piano, synths, electronics and vocals here 

A number of guests added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, lap steel, church organs, synths, flute and vocals.

I reviewed the debut albums some days ago and liked it a lot. I was therefore looking forward to reviewing this album.

Giant Sky II clocks in at seventy minutes. 

The music here is art-rock. 

There is also a lot of post-rock in their music.

The music is big, bold and pretty symphonic. 

The music is melodic and engaging warm. 

The vocals and the vocal harmonies are great. 

The music here is not as good as on the debut album. It is still a good album and one worth checking out. 

3 points 

 

 

 

Toundra - Siete (2026)

 

The eighth album from this band from Spain.

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

I reviewed their fifth album Vortex (2018) some years ago and liked it a lot. I have forgotten to review their sixth and seventh album. I will do that sometime in the next three months.

Siete clocks in at forty-two minutes.

The music here is post-rock.

There is also a lot of post-metal in their music. I was in fact in two minds about which label to use on this music. Post-rock or post-metal.

The music is pretty hard. There are some ebbs and flows in their music here. 

The music is also guitar-based, and the sound is good. 

The band does not bring anything new to this genre. This is still a solid album and one to check out of post rock/metal is your thing.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Black Bonzo - Sound Of The Acopolypse (2007)

 

The second album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, bouzouki, piano, organ, mellotron, synths, flutes, chants and vocals.

Two guests added saxophone and narrations.

This is the follow up album to their 2004 debut album Lady Of The Light. A good album I reviewed earlier this month. A review of their third and final album will follow in some days time.

Sound Of The Acopolypse clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is heavy prog.

The music is again rooted in the 1970s hard rock and hard prog sound and scene.

The music is melodic, pretty complex and pretty hard. There is also a lot of Jethro Tull influences in their music. There are indeed some folk rock influences here too.

There is a lot of organ and mellotron here. The vocals are very good. 

The result is a good album and one to enjoy. Check it out.

3 points   

Sigur Ros - Kveikur (2013)

 

The 10th album from this band from Iceland.

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

A number of guests added string and woodwinds.

I have reviewed all their previous albums and have liked them a lot. Hence, I was looking forward to reviewing this album.

Kveikur clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is post-rock.

The music is melodic, flowery and floating. There is indeed a lot of dream-pop in the music here.

There is a lot of piano and keyboards here. The guitars are more in the background.

There are some very good vocals here too.

The ambience is very good throughout.

This is another very good album from this band. The kings of post-rock, no doubts. 

3.5 points 

 

Cydonia - Second Sight (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Germany.

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

A handful of guests added violin, viola, violoncello, keyboards and narration.

Their 2022 album Stations was a good album. See my review from last month. I was therefore looking forward to this album.

Second Sight clocks in at one hour.

The music here is neo-prog. 

The neo-prog here is in the German neo-prog tradition. There is also a lot of art-rock in their music. 

The music is melodic, complex and muscular. Some of the music is also hard.

The guitars and the keyboards are good.

The vocals are very good.

This is another good album from this band and one to check out.

3 points  

Breidablik - Vinter (2017)

 

The debut album from this one-man-band from Norway.

Morten Birkeland Nielsen did all the synths here.

Morten has so far released five albums under this name. All of them will be reviewed this month.

Vinter clocks in at thirty-five minutes.

The music is electronica.

The take on electronica is the Berlin school. Tangerine Dream is a good reference here.

The music is pretty light in colour and texture. 

The sound is light and there are a lot of analogue synths here. 

I am not a fan of electronica. This is a decent enough album and one to check out.

2 points 

 

3rd Ear Experience with Dr Space - Ear to Space (2019)

 

The sixth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, analog synths, synths and chants.

Three guests added percussion, guitars, organ and saxophones.

This album is an cooperation between Dr Space and 3rd Ear Experience.

Their first five albums were good albums I was really looking forward to listen to this album.

This album clocks in at seventy-five minutes.

The music is space rock.

There are also some electronica here and that more at the end of the album. Some of the ambient stuff here reminds me a lot about Sigur Ros too.

The first hour of the album is occupied by some long pieces of outer space rock. Some really groovy pieces of music.

The music is pretty good throughout. Some of the pieces are indeed very good. Check out this album.

3 points  

 

Old Man & the Sea. The - The Old Man & the Sea (1972)

 

The debut album from this band from Denmark.

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

Two guests added guitars and flute.

This band has just released their new album. Their fourth album, that is. I will review all of them this month. 

The Old Man & The Sea clocks in at seventy minutes.

The music here is heavy psych.

The music varies between melodic and hard rocking. 

The music is also groovy with a lot of good organs. The music is still psych rock throughout. Although with some forays into hard rock too.

The music is pretty good throughout this album. There are some decent and some good stuff here. I am not entirely won over by this album. But this long album is good value for money. Check it out.

2.5 points   

 

Giant Sky - Giant Sky (2021)

 

The debut album from this band/project from Norway.

The project was a ten pieces big project with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, viola, keyboards, church organs, flute and vocals.

This band is a side project of the band Soup. I have reviewed their albums.

Giant Sky has so far released four albums. I am reviewing them this month, starting with this album.

Giant Sky clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is a blend of dream-pop and post-rock.

There is also a lot of art-rock and electronica in their music. 

The music is softly spoken throughout. It is still pretty complex too. 

The music is melodic and engaging warm. 

The vocals and the vocal harmonies are great. 

The music is very good throughout. It is therefore an album well worth checking out.

3.5 points 

Arabs In Aspics - Sorgens Kapittel (2026)

 

The eighth album from this band from Norway.

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

This band is one of the biggest names in the Norwegian psych rock scene and their first seven albums has been good to very good. I was therefore happy when I received this album.

Sorgens Kapittel clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is heavy psych rock.

There is a great deal of tongue-in-cheek in their music and not at least in their Norwegian lyrics. Lyrics which is bypassing those who are not speaking this language (as I am doing). 

There is a great 1970s hard rock and psych rock vibe in their music.

The guitars and in particular the organs are great here. The sound is good too.

The vocals are in Norwegian. They are good, though.

This is not their best album. It is still a good album and one to check out if retro psych rock is your thing.

3 points 

 

Phaedrus - Pleiades Suite (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Spain.

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

This band was set up by two members of Kotebel and October Equus. The debut album was a 

This album clocks in at one hour.

The music is eclectic prog.

The music is also instrumental and not a million miles away from Kotebel. 

The music is dynamic, eclectic and with a lot of classical music influences too.

King Crimson is also a big influence on the music here.

The overall quality is good and this is a good album for all King Crimson, Kotebel and eclectic prog fans.

3 points 

 

Ageless - Echoes Of Five Years (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from USA.

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

The band returned again after a one year long album break.

I have so far enjoyed their albums and was therefore looking forward to this album.

This album clocks in at sixty-six minutes.

The music here is neo-prog.

The music here is melodic, muscular and complex. All three things at the same time..

 The music is also elegant throughout.

The guitars and the vocals is very good. 

The band knows what they are doing. Their take on neo-prog is not bringing anything new to the genre. 

The music here is good and this is a good band who would really please the neo-prog fans.

3 points 

 

 

Nexus - 1042 (2026)

 

The ninth album from this band from Argentina.

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

One guest added male vocals on one track.

The band returned again after a three years long break. I have reviewed their albums and have really liked them. This is one of the best bands from this region of the world.

1042 clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is symphonic prog.

The music also got a lot of neo-prog influences too. The sound is modern and with strong Latin-American influences.

The music is melodic, epic and pretty complex. It is also mid-tempo.

The vocals is mostly female vocals and they are good. There is also some great organs and mellotron in their music. Ditto for the guitars. There is male vocals on one track too. Good vocals. All vocals are Spanish.

The result is a good album which will please their fans and everyone else into Latin-American symphonic prog. A good album from a great scene.

3 points  

 

Black Bonzo - Lady of the Light (2004)

 

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, organ, mellotron, synths and vocals.

The band released three albums between 2004 and 2009. All three are up for review this month. Something I have been looking forward to for a long time as they have come highly recommended to me. 

Lady Of The Light clocks in at one hour.

The music is heavy prog.

The sound and music are retro 1970s heavy prog.  

The music is really rocking at times. It is also pretty hard too.

There are also some more softer, pastoral pieces of music here.

The organs here are brilliant. The guitars are really good too. The vocals is great.

The quality of the songs are very good and this is an album I would put on the hidden gems list. Check it out.

3.5 points  

 

 

Argent - Ring of Hands (1971)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band returned again two years after their pretty decent debut album.

Ring Of Hands clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of psych rock and progressive rock.

The band started to branch out and experiment on this album. They deviated from the standard rock and pop formula.

It is pretty clear that the likes of ELP and Yes had influenced the band. Not in a major way, but the influences can still be heard here.

The music is still mostly standard rock. It is also pretty catchy with some good guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This is a decent album and one to check out. More reviews of Argent albums will follow this month.

2 points  

 

 

Cydonia - Stations (2022)

 

The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

The band has just released their second album and I will review that album early next month. But before that.. 

Stations is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is neo-prog.

Two thirds of this album, three songs, are studio recordings. The remaining one third is two live tracks. There are no duplications of tracks here, so we get five different tracks altogether.

The music is classic neo-prog with a blend of more poppy neo-prog and symphonic prog.

The blend of guitars and keyboards are good. There is a lot of harmonies here and not so many solos.

The vocals are very good.

The two live tracks are a bit more hard rocking than the three studio tracks. This is still a middle of the road neo-prog album and a good one too.

This is a promising debut album, indeed.

3 points 

Coyote - Coyote (1972)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

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

This was a short-lived band who only released this album and then broke up.

The album clocks in at forty minutes. 

The music here is psych rock.

There is also some strong Americana influences throughout. The music has several places been described as progressive country music.

That is not a bad label as there is some honky-tonk throughout this album.

The organs, piano and the guitars are really good.

The vocals is really good too.

The music is not particularly progressive. It is pretty charming though. 

This is a decent enough album which should interest fans of old style psych rock.

2 points 

 

 

Temic - Ceiba (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

The band returned again after a three years long break. Their debut album was a good album. 

 Ceiba clocks in at sixty-five minutes.

The music here is progressive metal.

The music is both operatic and pretty melodic. The music is also very complex and eclectic in some parts. Most of the music is epic.

There are also some very heavy pieces of music here. 

The guitars are very good. Ditto for the vocals.

The quality is good throughout and this band is a rising star on the progressive metal scene. Check out this album.

3 points 

Phaedrus - Triptych (2017)

 

The debut album from this band from Spain.

 The band was a seven pieces big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, cello, piano, keyboards, clarinet and flute.

This band was set up by two members of Kotebel and October Equus. The band has just released their second album and I will post a review early next month.

This album clocks in at one hour.

The music is eclectic prog.

The music is also instrumental and not a million away from Kotebel. 

There are also some strong ELP influences here.

The main themes here are based on classical music. There is not much traditional rock based music here.

The music is really eclectic throughout and not so much melodic. The music is still working and this is a good album. 

Those who are missing Kotebel should and must check out this album.

3 points 

 

 

Ageless - 4Ever 1310 (2024)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

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

The band returned again after a one year long album break.

Their first three albums are good albums and I was looking forward to review this album too.

4Ever 1310 clocks in at fifty - two minutes.

The music here is neo-prog.

The music is melodic and pretty symphonic.

The music is guitars, keyboards and vocals based.

The music is also mid-tempo with some good harmonies and guitar solos.

The vocals are really good and the music has a good ambience.

This is another good album from this band. An album neo-prog fans should check out.

3 points 

 

Winter Of Our Years. The - Nautilus (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from Puerto Rico.

The band was a trio with a lineup of bass, guitars, violin, cello, keyboards and drum programming.

This album is their second album of the year. The first album this year, Soundscapes II, was a pretty good album.

Nautilus clocks in at one and a half hour.

The music is symphonic prog.

The music is instrumental symphonic prog with some heavy prog influences.

The music is dynamic, melodic and pretty hard. 

The music is dominated by guitars. Guitars in the Steve Hackett mould. There are also some nice violins here.

The music is pretty good and the album length offers some really good value for money. Check it out.

2.5 points 

Sigur Rós - Valtari (2012)

 

The ninth album from this band from Iceland.

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

I have really enjoyed their albums after a shaky start with their debut album I am not a fan of. The rest of their albums more than prove that Sigur Ros is the undisputed kings of post-rock.

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

Valtari clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music here is post-rock.

The music is slow, cinematic and pretty pastoral throughout. The music is also dirge-like. 

There are a lot of keyboards here and some vocals. The sound is very organic throughout.

The quality is good throughout. This is not their best album. It is still an album which cement their position as the best post-rock band around.

3 points 

  

Belda. Juan - I Love You (2008)

 

The debut album from this artist from Spain.

Juan Belda did the percussion, keyboards, synths, samples and all electronics here.

Juan Belda has released six albums so far. The latest one earlier this year. All of them are up for review this fall.

This album clocks in at one hour.

The music is a blend of electronica and jazz.

Mostly electronica, it has to be said. There are some latter days Miles Davis in the music and that is the jazz contribution here.

The music is really playful and funky.

There are a lot of sampled and programmed woodwinds on the top of the electronica here.

The music is not particular interesting. This is a decent enough album though and an acceptable debut album.

2 points 

 

 

Gomrath - Gomrath (1971)

 

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

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

This album was originally released as a private pressing in Wimbledon, London before the reissue label Bright Carvings gave it a more official release in 2024. 

I will review around five Bright Carvings albums, their more prog/psych rock albums in the coming weeks. 

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is heavy psych.

Bright Carvings has done an impressive good job in cleaning up the sound here. The sound is pretty good. So much that the music is pretty clear. This also makes this a pretty charming album too. 

This album includes a version of Spooky Tooth's Better By You Better By Me, later also covered by Judas Priest. 

The rest of the songs varies from hard rockers, mid-tempo psych rock and slower psych rock. 

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

I am surprised that no record label released this album back in 1971. They lost out on an album which probably would have sold very well back in those days. The quality is surprisingly good. Very surprisingly good. 

There are some not so good songs here. But the rest is really good. Hence, this is a pretty good album and a bit of a charmer. An old charmer, no less.

2.5 points 

 

Giardini D'Autunno - Frammenti di Idee Perdute (2002)

 

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, e-bow, organ, mellotron, synths and vocals.

This band was the vision of Tiziano Rea. He is is helped by a drummer and some sporadic female vocals here. The rest of the album is performed by himself.

This album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is RPI.

There is a lot of King Crimson influences here too. There are also a lot of cinematic rock here too.

The album start with some slow cinematic rock, heavy influenced by early King Crimson. The final part is more traditional RPI in the Banco vein.

There are some very good female operatic vocals in the beginning while the final parts has some very good male vocals.

There are also some good synths, organ and mellotrons here.

The result is an untraditional RPI album. Indeed an unusual album. The quality is good throughout. This album is indeed a hidden gem in the RPI scene and deserve a lot more attention. 

3 points 

  

 

 

 

Aisles - Irrationally (2026)

 

The sixth album from this band from Chile.

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

The band returned again after a three years long album break. An album I liked quite a lot.

Irrationally clocks in at one hour.

The music here is heavy prog.

A great reference here is Muse. 

The music is commercial with a lot of 1970s-80s disco structures. The music is also very muscular at times.

The guitars are good. Ditto for the keyboards.

The vocals are very good.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. This album is not their finest hour.

2.5 points 

Aranis - Made In Belgium II (2014)

 

The 8th album from this band from Belgium.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of double bass, guitar, violin, viola, accordion, piano, flute, alto flute, voice and vocals.

One guest added guitar on two tracks.

The band returned again after a one year long album break. This is part II of the Made In Belgium series of albums. A two-album series. The first album was good.

The album clocks in at one hour.

The music is chamber orchestra classical music.

The music is pretty dark on this album. Dark chamber orchestra music. There are even some bars of Led Zeppelin's evergreen classic Rock'N'Roll here. Other parts of this album are dissonant and melancholic.

There are also some atonal vocals here.

This is a bit of an uncomfortable listen, this album. The music still works and this is therefore a good album.

I got a bit of a soft spot for this band and I recommend their albums.

3 points 

 

 

 

Atom Made Earth - Songs For A Dreamer (2023)

 

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

The band returned again after their pretty good 2019 Severence album. An album that saw the band break out from the post-rock genre to a more broader soundscape.

Songs For A Dreamer clocks in at thirty-seven minutes.

The music here is post-rock.

There is a lot of cinematic rock influences in their music. A good reference is Sigur Ros.

This means the band has again changed genres as they have returned back to how they sounded on their debut album.

The music is really slow here. It has some dirge qualities here. 

The vocals are also really slow and sound like a funeral procession. This too is how the music sound.

The vocals are good and the band does a good job.

Not everything here is good. But this is still their best album and good album. This is a band worth checking out.

3 points  

 

Moloken - Moloken (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band returned again after a six years long album break. I reviewed their first four albums earlier this year on this blog. Interesting albums.

Moloken clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is experimental/post metal.

The music is harsh, brutal and heavy throughout.

The music is still pretty melodic, though.

The music is mid-tempo throughout. 

The vocals are harsh and growling. There are some cleaner vocals too here.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. Experimental/post metal fans should check out this album.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes (1994)

 

The second album from this band from Finland.

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

One guest added clean vocals. 

The band returned again after the debut album and the Privilege Of Evil EP the year before. Both reviewed in this blog. Reviews of their other albums will also be added this fall and winter.

The band had expanded their lineup to a quintet and added a clean vocals vocalist to this album.  

Tales From The Thousand Lakes clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is a blend of death metal and progressive metal.

Add in some symphonic prog and ethno metal and you get the full picture here. 

The music is loosely based on the Finnish national epos Kalevala. 

The big song on this album, Black Winter Day, is among my five favourite metal songs of all time. A song with some great Moog, guitars and clean vocals. A true fantastic song.  

The rest of the songs are superb and really marks this album as a masterpiece. A true masterpiece and one of the best ten albums I have ever encountered. Only a Masterpiece status will suffice for this album.

5 points 

 

Parsons Project. The Alan - Gaudi (1987)

 

The 10th album from this project from Great Britain.

The core of the project was a duo with a lineup of piano, organ, keyboards, synths, drum programming and vocals.

A number of guests, including a symphony orchestra, added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths, strings, woodwinds and vocals.

The project returned again two years after the previous album.

Gaudi clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is pomp pop/rock.

The music is commercial, elegant and pretty engaging. My guess is that the album spawned some hit singles as there is some songs here who sounds familiar to me. This is from when I was listening to the radio. Something I have stopped doing decades ago.

The music does not sound too outdated either.

The music is decent enough and this is one of the better albums from The Alan Parsons Project.

2 points 

 

 

 

Ghost Town Riot - Ghost Town Riot (2013)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

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

This band comes from Seattle up in the north-west corner of the vast USA. This town is also the birthplace of the grunge genre. Queensryche also comes from Seattle.  

Ghost Town Riot clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is heavy prog.

There are also some college rock influences here. 

The music is catchy, engaging, charming, pretty hard and melodic. 

There is no grunge or even depression in their music. The mood is bright/light and positive.

The guitars and the keyboards are very good. The vocals are great.

The result is an old school heavy prog album and a good one too. This is an album I really enjoy a lot.

3 points  

 

 

 

 

Gabriel Construct. The - Interior City (2013)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

This is the solo project of Gabriel Lucas Riccio who did the percussion keyboards, programming and vocals here.

He had help from a number of guests who provided drums, bass, guitars, violin, saxophones and voices.

I know next to nothing about this project. I got this album many years ago and forgot about it until I added it to my to-review list some months ago. 

Interior City clocks in at seventy-three minutes.

The music here is eclectic prog/metal.

The music is mostly dissonant and pretty esoteric. The tones are twisted and broken. Most of the music is hard to very hard.

There are also some more melodic music here too. 

The vocals are at times operatic male vocals. There are also some more clean vocals here. The vocals are all good.

Some of the music works. Other parts falls a bit flat on it's face.

The result is a pretty good album, well worth checking out if eclectic music is your thing.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Confusion Field - Resilience Remains (2026)

 

The third album from this band from Finland.

This is a one-man-band with Tomi Kankainen on bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added drums, guitars and backing vocals.

I really liked the first two albums. Read the reviews from earlier this month. 

Resilience Remains clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is heavy prog.

There is also a lot of art-rock and neo-prog in their music too.

The music is really muscular and very heavy at times. It also has some melodic pieces too.

The music is also elegant and classy.

The vocals is very good. The guitars too is good.

This is another good album from Tomi Kankainen. I hope to hear a lot more from Confusion Field in the future.

3 points 

 

 

 

Aranis - Made In Belgium (2012)

 

The sixth album from this band from Belgium.

The band was a sextet with a double bass, guitar, violin, accordion, piano and flute.

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

Made In Belgium clocks in at just over one hour.

The music here is RIO/avant-garde.

Or more precise, chamber orchestra music.

The music is far more classical music than rock. There is no rock music here at all.

The music is pretty fast at times and virtuosic.  

All the instruments are active here at the same time and the sound is pretty big and bold.

There are some really good music here throughout. There are also some music that leaves me a bit cold too.

This is therefore a pretty good album. It is not this band at their best, though.

2.5 points 

Atom Made Earth - Severance (2019)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

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

Their 2016 debut album was a decent album. It showed that the band had some promise and talent.

Severance clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is post rock..

... Sort of...

The band has changed their style between their two albums. There are a lot of psych rock in their music too. A blend of psych rock and post-rock is what we get here.

The music is also pretty folky and has a good warm feel.

It is also pretty mainstream.

The vocals are good and the band does a good job.

The result is a pretty good album and one to check out.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Pure Reason Revolution - Terrifying Angels (2026)

 

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Two guests added bass.

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

Terrifying Angels clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is heavy prog.

The music is pretty heavy, make that djent, in some places. It is also pretty pastoral in some places too.

The music is both melodic and complex.

There are some great guitars here. The vocals are also very good.

This is a good album. This is not their best album but still one that will keep their fans happy and probably win them some new fans too. 

3 points 

 

 

Ageless - The Power Of III (2023)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

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

The band's first two albums were good so I was looking forward to reviewing this album too.

 The Power of III clocks in at one hour.

The music is neo-prog.

The music is melodic, elegant and pretty complex.

There are no guitars here and that makes the music sound a bit strange. Nevertheless, I have got used to it from this band.

The sound is still beefy and muscular.

The vocals are good.

The overall quality is good and this is another good neo-prog album the fans of this genre should check out.

3 points  

 

 

 

3rd Ear Experience - Stoned Gold (2017)

 

The fifth album from this multi-national band.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths and electronics.

Two guests added vocals and chants.

This band has established themselves as one of the better space rock bands in the scene by now. I really like their first albums.

Stoned Gold clocks in at eighty minutes.

The music here is space rock.

The music is hard and outer space'ish.  

There are a lot of long floating guitar solos here. Most of the music sounds improvised. 

This is space rock at it's most extreme.

The sound is good and the Native American chants on one of the tracks adds some good colours to this album.

The quality is good and this is an album space rock fans will like.

3 points 

 

Backstage. The - Isolation (2020)

 

The debut album from this multi-national project.

The project was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and saxophone.

A number of guests added drums, bass, guitars and keyboards.

This band consists of members from The Tangent and some Swedish prog rock bands. It is an interesting project.

 Isolation clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music here is fusion.

The music is more like jazz, in fact. Straight jazz.

There are some pieces of fusion here too.

The music is dynamic with lots of harmonies and solos. There are a lot of saxophones here in addition to the other instruments.

The music is good throughout. The music is not very original. This is still a good, traditional fusion/jazz album which will please everyone into this genre.

3 points