Hughscore - Highspotparadox (1997)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, accordion, piano, keyboards, samples, woodwinds and vocals.

One guest added keyboards on one track.

This is the follow-up album to the 1995 album Caveman Hughscore album. A decet album reviewed some days ago. 

This is also the late Hugh Hopper's band. A bassist & a legend who does not need any introduction.  

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

Caveman Hughscore were all over the place and disconnected, music-wise. A bit of a clean-up would have benefited the music on that album.

That cleanup has been completed on Highspotparadox. The music is quirky, jazzy Canterbury scene fusion. 

There are some accordion and female vocals floating on the top of the drums, bass and woodwinds. 

The music is still pretty melodic. It is also whimsical and quirky.

The music is pretty good too. This album is not as good as their third and final album Delta Flora from 1999. It is still an album well worth checking out if you are into the Canterbury scene.

2.5 points 

House. Simon. Rod Goodway - House Of Dreams (2002)

 

The third solo-album from this late artist from Great Britain.

Simon House did the drums, bass, guitars, violins and keyboards here.

Rod Goodway did all the vocals here.

Simon House sadly passed away last year after a long career in bands like Japan and Hawkwind. He released three solo-albums. I reviewed his second album some days ago and is planning to review his debut album next week.

House Of Dreams is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is psych rock with a lot of space rock and some hard rock influences. 

There are also some pretty strong neo-prog influences here and the songs have some notable neo-prog structures. The frequent use of some pretty dissonant violins takes the music into the psych rock genre.

The sound is pretty good. Ditto for the vocals. 

There are some good stuff and some not so good stuff here. The result is a pretty good album.

2.5 points 

 

Exit Stage Left - Gentle Otherworld (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Sweden.

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

I reviewed their 2023 debut album Appleberry Trees some days ago and liked it a lot. Hence the Good award.

Gentle Otherwordly is clocking in at eighty-three minutes.

The music here is neo-prog.

There are some heavy prog and Scandinavian symphonic prog influences here. Both Rush and Kaipa are good references.

The sound is good. The sound has a warm 1970s symphonic prog sound based on guitars and organs.

The vocals are also good.

There are no outstanding tracks here. Nevertheless, the music is really good and this band should be checked out by all neo-prog and melodic prog fans.

3 points 

  

 

 

Bruin. Christiaan - The Black Codex Episodes 1-13 (2015)

 

The first of four albums in this series of albums from this artist from The Netherlands.

Christiaan Bruin did the percussion, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals here.

He had help from some guests who added violin, cello, flugelhorn, trumpet and flute.

Christiaan Bruin has released albums under the name of Chris, The Black Codex, Invention and his own name. I have reviewed the Invention and the Chris albums in both the previous editions of this blog and in ProgArchives.

I will review the four The Black Codex albums within the next two - four weeks.

This album clocks in at ninety-five minutes. 

The music here is a blend of neo-classical music and symphonic prog. There are also a lot of folk rock influences here.

The music is both epic, melodic and symphonic. There are also some very good vocals here too.

Ninety minutes is long and not everything is up to a high standard. This is still a good album and one to check out if modern epic symphonic prog is your cup of tea.

3 points 

 

Barrett. Syd - The Madcap Laughs (1970)

 

The debut album from this artist from Great Britain.

Syd Barrett did the guitars and vocals here.

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

Syd Barrett's life is without any doubt one of the most tragic stories in the history of popular music. Once a leading member of Pink Floyd, drug use and mental illness destroyed what could have been a great career in music and robbed the world of some great music.

The recording of this album is also well known. The session included members of Pink Floyd and The Soft Machine. The latter band were not aware that they were recording this album. 

Syd Barrett recorded two albums before he became seriously mentally ill and then lived a life in obscurity before passing on in July 2006. I will review his second and final album next month.

The Madcap Laughs is clocking in at close to forty minutes.

Most of the music is Syd Barrett on vocals and acoustic guitars. The music is folk rock with some psych rock influences.

There is one pretty good song here in the form of the only single from this album.. Octopus. The rest of the songs are suffering from some dubious vocals and guitars.

If anyone other than Syd Barrett had released this album, it would have been at best, forgotten. At worst, never released. Taking into account his vital role in the breakthrough of Pink Floyd and his later tragic life, it is difficult to judge this album in an objective manner.  

There is some decent stuff here and this is a decent enough album. And I am probably (too) kind to award it a decent album award. 

2 points 

 

 

  

Astrolabio - Una Volta Qui Era Tutta Campagna Pubblicitaria (2026)

 

 

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

 

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

 

One guest added keyboards.

 

This album is the follow up to the 2017 album I Paralumi Della Ragioni album I reviewed some days ago. An album I liked a lot and awarded a Good rating.

 

Una Volta Qui Era Tutta Campagna Pubblicitaria is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

 

The band continued with their exploration of classic RPI on this album.

 

The music is muscular and pretty hard at times. It also has some strong folk-rock influences.

 

The vocals are good and the flute adds some spice to the music. The sound is very good.

 

This is another good album from this band. I hope this band will continue and release some more albums.

 

3 points 

 

 

 

Uriah Heep - Head First (1983)

 

The 15th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

The band returned again for another stab at the emerging heavy metal scene. A stage where Iron Maiden were the new force, but where also 1970s greats like Kiss and Aerosmith were big bands too. 

Uriah Heep was not in the same league, though.

The music here is catchy and hard. There are some good guitars from Mick Box here, the only original member left at this stage.

This album is mired in all the 1980s heavy metal cliches. There are some 1970s hard rock here too but there is not enough of it to make this a decent enough album.

Hence....

1.5 points 

 

 

 

Lolli. Claudio - Un Uomo In Crisi (1973)

 

The second album from this artist from Italy.

Claudio Lolli did the guitars and vocals here.

A number of guests added percussion, bass, guitars, violin, viola, accordion, piano, harmonica and flute.

Claudio Lolli (1950-2018) was a big artist in Italy back in the 1970s and until his passing four decades later. His music was mostly pop and folk rock.

I have three of his albums and they are up for review in the next two weeks. 

This album is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is pop-folk rock.

Claudio Lolli's vocals dominate the music. There are some acoustic guitars here too. The other instruments are sparingly used.

The vocals, which is in Italian, is pretty good and the music is pretty decent. This is therefore a decent enough album which fans of Italian folk rock may want to check out.

2 points 

 

 

Hughscore - Caveman Hughscore (1995)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, accordion, piano, organ and vocals.

Two guests added digeridoo and French horn.

Hughscore was lead by Hugh Hopper and it released three albums. I am reviewing their first two albums this week. Back in July 2015, I reviewed their final album Delta Flora (1999) in # 1 of this blog and you can read the review here.

Caveman Hughscore is clocking in at one hour.

The music is a blend of psych rock, jazz and avant-garde rock.

The music is rather weird and quirky. The accordion is adding a lot of extra weirdness. Ditto for the female vocals which are bordering on dissonant at times.

There are also a lot of male spoken vocals here on top of some jazzy pieces of music. Groovy music, indeed.

This is a weird album. The music is not particular good but it is still a decent album. This album is widely regarded as their weakest effort.

2 points 

 

 

House. Simon - Spiral Galaxy Revisited (2000)

 

The second album from this artist from Great Britain.

Simon House did the violin, keyboards and drums programming here.

Simon House sadly passed away last year after being a longtime member of Hawkwind (+ session musician on numerous albums) and releasing three solo albums. I will publish my review of his third album sometime next week. I will also publish a review of his debut album later this year if I can find it.

Spiral Galaxy Revisited is clocking in at fifty-three minutes.

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

Into that blend, add in some eclectic rock too as the music is eclectic. There are also some space rock in the blend too.

There are a lot of violins and keyboards here.

The music is dynamic, mid-tempo to fast. The music sometimes reminds me about Jean Luc-Ponty's best fusion albums from the 1970s.

The result is a good album and one to check out if fusion and symphonic prog is your thing.

3 points 

 

 

 

Trion - Terra Tiempo (2026)

 

The fourth album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

This is the follow up album to the 2013 album Funfair Fantasy. A pretty good album, it was. 

The band album debuted back in 2003 and their release schedule has been sporadic, to put it that way. I am pretty sure I have reviewed all their albums.

Terre Tiempo is clocking in at one hour.

The music is largely instrumental symphonic prog with some cinematic rock influences. There are some vocals on two of the twelve tracks.

The music is mostly mellow and melodic. The music is also pretty epic and monumental. Camel is a good reference here as Trion has always been in that mould.

There are a lot of guitars here and some flutes and keyboards generated church organs. 

The overall quality is good throughout. This album was really unexpected as we all thought the band was disbanded. This album and quality of the music here comes as a very positive surprise. Hence, I am grateful.

3 points 

Kikagaku Moyo - Kumoyo Island (2022)

 

The sixth album from this band from Japan.

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

This fifty minutes long album is the so far latest album from this band. 

According to some reports, the band has been put on indefinite hold. That is a great shame for us progressive rock lovers as this band is a very good band and a very welcome part of our scene.

The music here is a blend of psych rock, space rock and electronica.

The sitar makes the sound and music exotic in the ears and minds of those of us who are more used to the Anglo-US take on progressive rock. This is one of the reasons why this band is so interesting.

The music is dynamic and mid-tempo. There is a lot of variations here between psych, space and electronica.

The vocals here are good, although without any pronounced lyrics. The sitar and guitars are good too.

This is indeed a very good album and one to check out if psych rock is your thing. Even fans of both eclectic and melodic prog will find a lot to like here. Check out this album and their first five albums too.

3.5 points   

 

 

Kingfisher Sky - Feeding the Wolves (2024)

 

The fifth album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

A number of guests added cello, violin, flutes, uilleann pipes and vocals.

This three quarters of an hour long album is the latest album from this band so far. I do not know the current status of the band. I hope they are still around.

The band started as a hard and heavy prog band before they gradually became a more melodic neo-prog band.

This is where we find the band on this album. Neo-prog with some Celtic folk rock influences. 

The music is melodic but still has a lot of interesting details. The music is still progressive. Judith Rijnveld's vocals are great.

The music may be too sugary sweet for some. Nevertheless, this is another good album from this very good band. A band who deserve a lot more respect and attention.

3 points 

  

  

Tusmørke - Balderdom (2026)

 

The 12th album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, glockenspiel, bass, guitars, organ, moog, mellotron, keyboards, synths, flute and vocals.

A number of guests added bass and backing vocals (choir). 

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

Tusmorke albums can be a bit hit and miss. The band is Norway's answer to Daevid Allen's most whimsical stuff on Gong and his solo career.  

The music on Balderdom is whimsical psych rock/pop with a lot of children's rhyme influences. The Norwegian lyrics are weird. Ditto for the music.

The vocals are pretty good and the musicians does a good job on some pretty simplified psych rock. This is one of those "miss" albums from this band and decent album in it's own right.

2 points 

Klone - The Dreamer's Hideaway (2012)

 

The fourth album from this band from France.

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

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

This album is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

Their music were esoteric alternative extreme metal on their first three albums. So much that large parts of their music were dissonant.

The band has mellowed a lot on The Dreamer's Hideaway. The music is much more melodic and the band has moved a lot towards progressive metal on this album.

There is still some djent, extreme metal and dissonant metal here. But the music is much more accessible.

The music is still hard and heavy. The vocals are a blend of clean and harsh. 

There is a lot of good stuff here. A lot to enjoy. 

This is their best album to this point and a good album in its own right. 

3 points 

 

  

 

Lindh Project. Per - Gothic Impressions (1994)

 

The debut album from this artist from Sweden.

Per Lindh did the percussion, drums, bass and keyboards here.

He had help from some guests who added percussion, drums, bass, guitars, harp, flute, bassoon, tinwhistle and vocals. 

Per Lindh has so far released two classical music albums and four rock albums. I will review the four rock albums in the coming weeks.... starting with this album.

This album is clocking in at fifty-three minutes.

The music here is clearly inspired by classical music. Gothic classical music in this case. The music is indeed a blend of gothic classical music and symphonic prog. 

ELP is a clear reference here. The rock parts are sometimes heavy gothic and sometimes soft symphonic prog. The music is epic throughout this album.

There are a lot of organs, guitars, flutes, and vocals here, in addition to the keyboards generating classical music.

The quality is good throughout this album. Fans of symphonic prog should check out this album. 

3 points 

 

 

Exit Stage Left - Appleberry Trees (2023)

 

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

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

One guest added flute to this album.

This is another new band to me. Another band I discovered through some positive reviews on ProgArchives. Those made me purchase both their albums, including their brand new album. A review of that album will follow next week.

Appleberry Tree is clocking in at fifty minutes. 

The band name is alluding to a well known live album from Rush. I therefore thought the music would be a Rush worship. I was wrong... largely wrong.

The music is a blend of neo-prog and heavy prog. Yes, there are some Rush influences here. The music is influenced by a wide variety of bands.

The guitars are good and this is a guitar-driven album. There are also some organs and flutes here. The vocals are very good.

The music is pretty muscular and rocking throughout. There are some americana influences throughout. The music is also good without really impressing me. The sound is good.

This is a good album and a more than acceptable debut album. Check it out.

3 points  

 

  

 

Astrolabio - I Paralumi Della Ragione (2017)

 

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

A handful of guests added guitars, violin, flute and vocals.

I have just got their new album, their fourth album. But before I review that album in some days' time, I am reviewing this album.

I have reviewed their second album, their first album under the band name Astrolabio, in the # 1 of this blog and you can find the review here. I intend to review their debut album sometime this summer, hopefully next month. But back to their third album..

I Paralumi Della Ragione is clocking in at three quarters of an hour. 

The music is RPI. Classic RPI with a lot of folk rock and symphonic prog influences. The music is also muscular. There are therefore some notable hard rock influences here.

The vocals are good and the guitars are good. Ditto for the organ sound and the flutes.

This is another good RPI album from one of the more unknown bands in today's RPI scene. Unknown but still a band RPI fans should check out.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

 

Myrath - Wilderness Of Mirrors (2026)

 

The seventh album from this band from Tunisia.

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

Numerous guests added guitars, violin, graqeb, saz, choir and female vocals.  

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

Myrath and Orphaned Land (Israel) have always been regarded as the two best and most well-known bands in the oriental metal scene. A scene where the bands combine Middle East folk music with progressive metal.

There is a lot of Middle East folk rock and pop music here. There is also lots of progressive metal here. This is blended well together. The result is some pretty melodic, yet still hard and edgy songs.

There are some children choir here. One of my pet hates is children choirs. 

The music is slick and pretty commercial. There are some ballads here too and some of the music reminds me about the 1990s.

That said, the music is pretty good. This is one of the better progressive metal bands around and a new album from this band is always an event. This is not their best album, though.

 2.5 points

 

 

 

Kikagaku Moyo - Masana Temples (2018)

 

The fifth album from this band from Japan.

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

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

The band has gone from being a more freeflowing space rock band to become a more structured psych rock band. This process started on the previous album House In The Tall Grass and is carried on here on Masana Temples. 

The music is pretty melodic. It is still quirky and weird. 

The album starts with some sitars before the more western music like instruments takes over. The uncredited organs is also adding some weirdness to the album.

The guitars are good and so is the vocals. The words are a bit difficult to grasp. Hence, they may be in  Japanese, their local tongue. In any case, they work as an instrument and add a lot to this album.  

The music is psych rock but still pretty exotic to a pair of Western civilisation ears. The band is pretty exotic and colourful. 

The music is really good throughout this album and this makes this another good album from this band. This is a band I really like.

3 points 

Kingfisher Sky - Technicoloured Eyes (2018)

 

The fourth album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

I have earlier this winter & spring reviewed their first three albums. Three pretty good albums as you can read in my reviews.  

Technicoloured Eyes is clocking in at fifty minutes. 

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

Judith Rijnveld's vocals are in the forefront of the sound and are pretty dominant. The vocals is great so that is not a problem. 

There are some heavy guitars now and then. This is still their most melodic album to that date. The music is pretty melodic, yet pretty muscular.

The music is pretty engaging too and there are some good stuff here. Most of the music is good here and that makes this a good album. Check out this album.

3 points 

 

Reija. Xavi Electric Quintet - Nu Breed (2026)

 

The eight album from this artist from Spain.

 Xavi Reija played drums on this album.

He had help from a quartet who added bass, guitars, electric piano, mini moog and saxophone.

Astonishingly, this is the first of his album I have got. Astonishingly because I have known about his albums for years and his music is the type of music I really like. I will therefore try to get his seven first albums and then review them.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

The music is jazz with some fusion influences.

The music is mid-tempo to fast. There are some solos from the guitars, electric piano and the saxophones. The music is dynamic and pretty feisty.

The music is pretty workmanlike jazz and nothing special. The quality is pretty good throughout.

This is an album for the jazz fans although the fusion fans may also find this album interesting.

2.5 points 

 

Katatonia - Viva Emptiness (2003)

 

The sixth album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band returned again after their 2001 album Last Fair Deal Gone Down. A pretty good album, it was.

Viva Emtiness is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

The band continues down the alternative rock and alternative metal path.

The vocals are mostly clean with some djent vocals in the beginning.  

The music is mid-tempo and pretty hard & heavy. The guitars are chugging riff-based. 

The music is also pretty melodic at times.  

The quality of the music is again pretty good. There are some decent and some good songs here. Hence...

2.5 points 

 

 

Fates Warning - Inside Out (1994)

 

The seventh album from this band from USA.

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

A number of guests added extra vocals and some synths.

This album is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The band returned again three years after releasing the pretty good Parallels album. An album reviewed in this blog.

That album saw the band turning more into a progressive metal band instead of a heavy and power metal band. 

That development is continuing on this album too. There is indeed a lot of hard progressive rock here. There is also a lot of metal here.

This album is their most melodic album up to that point. The vocals and the guitars are good. Ditto for the sound.

This is indeed a pretty good album. I am still not won over by this band...

2.5 points 

 

Edge - Sarcastic Fringeheads (1991)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This is their second and final album. Which is a bit of a shame as the band were talented. Both their albums was also self-released but deserve re-releases.  

I really liked their first album which I reviewed some days ago. 

Sarcastic Fringeheads is clocking in at one hour.

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

There is a lot more fusion this time around though. There are also a lot of lounge jazz here and some cinematic prog. All this is quite a blend.

There are some very good female vocals here from Frances Pearless. The flutes are also very good. The rest of the band also does a good job here.

There are some long instrumental fusion pieces here in between the vocal pieces. Those are really cool/good.

There is a lot of good music here. This is indeed a very good album and one who deserve a proper re-release. Or at least a Bandcamp release. I live in hope...

3.5 points  

 

Flying Norwegians - Wounded Bird (1976)

 

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

Their 1974 debut album New Day was a decent enough album as you can read in my review from last week.

Wounded Bird is clocking in at almost forty minutes and it got the band some international popularity. Flying Norwegians and their first two albums were pretty popular in USA and Canada. It was the first time Norway's pop and rock scene got some considerable international exposure. 

The music is country rock, a much maligned genre.  

There is a lot of country'n'western style vocals and slide guitars here. The music is very melodic. The music is also mid-tempo.

There are not many interesting details here. Neither is the music prog rock influenced.

The quality is slightly lower than on the New Day album. This is still a decent album. These two albums are the only two albums from this band worth checking out. 

2 points 

Purple Skies - A Million Years (2026)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This forty minutes long album is another album I have received from Apollon Records, one of this planet's leading, best record labels.

This band is new to me. Then again, that is not a bad thing as I have lost touch with the Norwegian scene many decades ago.

The music here is retro-hard rock with a lot of stoner influences.

Someone, I think it is either the band or their record label, has labelled this album as proto-stoner rock. This is indeed a good label, fitting the music here.

The vocals are good and the music are guitars dominated. There are some cool guitar themes and harmonies here. The music is mid-tempo and pretty hard.

The quality is pretty good and this is an album stoner rock and hard rock fans should and must check out. I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

2.5 points 

  

Hemlok - Of Entropy And Illumination (2025)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, sitar, moog and synths.

I reviewed their 2023 debut album Reflections some days ago and that is a pretty good album. The music were a mix of art-rock and heavy prog. I therefore had some hopes about this, the follow up album.

Of Entropy And Illuminations is clocking in at fifty minutes.  

The female vocalist has left the band and the music here is instrumental.

The music is a blend of psych rock and heavy prog. It is quite a change from their debut album. Which makes me wonder... is this the same band ? It probably is.

The sound is slightly retro. There is a lot of fuzz guitars here and some moog. 

The music is mid-tempo and the sound is good.

There are some good themes here and some not so good themes. The overall quality is in other words pretty good. I have yet to be won over by this band but I hope they will release some more albums in the coming years.

2.5 points  

Golem - Gathering Of the Legendary Elephant Monsters (2024)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

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

This band was formed from the ashes of Wicked Minds, a band that released some albums. Albums I have reviewed in previous editions of this blog. I should have included this information in my review of their debut album some days ago... An album I really liked.

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

The music is again heavy prog. 

The music is a bit more melodic and more symphonic progressive influenced this time around. There is a lot of the 1970s organ sound on this album.

There is indeed a great 1970s retro sound on this album. This despite the lack of guitars in their sound. Some of the music is even bordering on stoner rock.

The vocals are good. Ditto for the sound.

This is another good album from a band who I really like a lot. This is a band I hope we will hear a lot more from in the future.

3 points 

 

Fälaren - Ljora (2026)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This is a new band from Norway, debuting on Apollon Records. This label is one of this planet's best prog, metal and rock label these days. It says a lot about this band that this label has picked them up.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

The band has labeled their music as "folkgaze". I would not disagree with that. Post rock is the more wider and more inclusive label on music like this.

There is a lot of indie, fusion and folk rock in their music. The music is dissonant at times.

The music is in other words eclectic.

The vocals is pretty good throughout. The guitars are the stars here and there is some really good half-acoustic and electric guitar themes here.

The music is unusual and eclectic. It is also pretty original too. The quality is good throughout and this is an album worth checking out.

3 points  

Marbin - Israeli Jazz (2018)

 

The sixth album from this band from Israel & USA.

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

I have reviewed their first albums in both ProgArchives, # 1 of this blog and during the last weeks, also in this edition of this blog. I have really liked their albums and given them good ratings.

I suspect this is one of the bands who ten-fifteen years ago made me interested in jazz and fusion. Something I am grateful to Marbin and their then record label MoonJune Records for.

This album is clocking in at one hour. 

The music is guitars based jazz and fusion. There is also some saxophone here. But Dani Rabin's guitars are the dominant solo-instrument here. The guitar solos are really good. The guitars are a bit dissonant too. 

The rhythm section is very tight and the saxophone is adding lots of extra textures and colours. 

The music is still pretty melodic. There are lots of interesting details here too.

This is not their best album. Nevertheless, this is still a good album and one to check out for those into jaz and fusion. 

3 points 

 

 

 

Jazz Q - Hodokvas (1979)

 

The sixth album from this band from the Czech Republic.

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

Two guests added percussion, whistle and harmonica.

The band returned again for this three quarters of an hour long album.

The band was one of the better jazz and fusion bands from behind the Iron Curtain. In other words, a band not widely known in the rest of the world. Which is a huge injustice to this band and the musicans who graced this band.

The music is this time pretty slow to mid-tempo fusion. 

The music is pedestrian at times with some slow and lingering guitars and organ solos. The music is still pretty dynamic throughout.

The result is another good album from this band. A band well worth checking out if you are into fusion.

3 points 

 

Edge - Suction 8 (1986)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

 

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

 

This band released two albums between 1986 and 1991. Both of them essentially self-released if I am not mistaken. I will review their second album in some days time.

 

Suction 8 is a one hour long album.

 

The music is a blend of neo-prog, folk rock and fusion.

 

An eclectic blend in other words.

 

The sound is pretty flat and pretty poor during the first quarter of this album. It improves a bit but not much. The sound quality is my main gripe with this album.

 

The flutes, guitars and keyboards are very good. The female vocals sounds a bit flat too. They are pretty good but not impressive.

 

The quality of the music is pretty good too. There is some good stuff here and some decent stuff. This is another album who deserve a remix, remaster and a re-release.

 

2.5 points  

 

 

Flying Norwegians - New Day (1974)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

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

This band was one of the more internationally known bands from Norway in the 1970s. They released six albums between 1974 and 1996. I got their first two albums up for review this month. 

The music here is country-rock. This genre, or rather this sub-genre was established by the likes of Poco and Eagles. It was a very popular genre in Norway back in the 1970s. It is still a popular genre in Norway. It is much derided by the music critics. The likes of me, for example.

The music on New Day has the hallmarks of the country'n'western genre. Slide guitars, vocal harmonies and some sugary sweet ballads. There is also some faster country-rockers here.

The music is very melodic in other words. The vocals are good. The musicians does a good job. The sound is very much the US country-rock sound. 

The result is a decent enough album. An album that does not change my not-so-positive views on this genre.

2 points 

 

 

 

Czyszy - Aftermoon (2026)

 

The tenth album from this band from Poland.

This is a one-man-band where Marek Krol does the guitars, synths, saxophones, percussion, programming and vocals.

I have previously reviewed two of his albums, the Uwe Slaughter album in # 3 of this blog and the Secret Clockwork album, which I reviewed earlier this year in this edition of the blog. I gave both albums a good rating.

Aftermoon is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of neo-prog and symphonic prog. There is also some electronica and neo-classical music here. Some of the music sounds like ELP too.

The vocals are pretty good. The music is a bit weird due to the electronica. Some of the music is organic and based on organs.

The quality of the music is not as strong this time around as on the two albums I have reviewed. It seems like Marek Krol has run out of good ideas here. Some of the music is good though and this is therefore a pretty good album.

2.5 points 

 

 

Hemlok - Reflections (2023)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin, piano, moog, mellotron, synths, programming and vocals.

This is another band who has released two albums and whom I became aware of through ProgArchives. The review of their second & latest album will be posted in some days time.

This album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is a blend of quirky art-rock and heavy prog.

The music is pretty weird throughout with some psych rock influences. Strong psych rock influences. There are also some raga-rock influences here. There are a lot of violins here and they are pretty dissonant throughout.

The vocals are female vocals and they are pretty good.

The result is a pretty good album. It is an album for those into weird art-rock. If this is your cup of tea..

2.5 points 

Golem - Gravitational Objects of Light, Energy and Mysticism (2022)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This is a new band to me and I discovered them through ProgArchives. Something I am grateful for.

The band has so far released two albums. This one and their second one in 2024. A review of that album will follow in some days time.

This album with the long winded title is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is good old 1970s hard rock with a lot of psych rock, folk rock and progressive rock influences. Heavy prog is the correct label here.

The sound is vintage 1970s with a great organ and mellotron sound. There are no guitars here at all. That is strange, but it really works.

The Swedish band Agusa is a good reference here. 

The vocals are very good and ditto for the sound.

The result is a good album and one heavy prog fans should check out. 

3 points 

 

 

 

Benjamin's Kite - Celestial Indulgences (2026)

 

The fourth album from this band from Canada.

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

I have really enjoyed their second and their third album as you can read in the reviews of them in this blog. So I was looking forward to reviewing this, their new album too.

This album is three quarters of an hour long. 

The music is a blend of neo-prog, old Genesis and Rush, the Presto era.

The music is melodic, slick and a bit commercial.

The vocals is very good and ditto for the guitars. The mellotron and organs is adding a lot of extra texture and details to the music.

The result is another good album from this band. A band I hope we will hear a lot more from in the future.

3 points  

 

 

Uriah Heep - Abominog (1982)

 

The 14th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This is the follow up album to the pretty dire 1980 Conquest album. 

Since that album, the main composer Ken Hensley had left the band together with three other members. Only the guitarist Mick Box were left and he had recruited four other musicians for this album.

The album art-work is pretty iconic. It is a pretty bad album cover. This was the 1980s, the age of bad taste and this art-work is very much in bad taste.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is a blend of hard rock and heavy metal.

The music has this 1980s heavy metal sound and most of the other ills of this decade. The Uriah Heep DNA still shines through at times.

The vocals is pretty good. The quality is pretty decent. There are some dire stuff here and this album is their weakest effort so far. 

1.5 points 

  

Kikagaku Moyo - House In The Tall Grass (2016)

 

The fourth album from this band from Japan.

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

This is the follow up album to the 2014 album Mammatus Cloud. A good album I reviewed earlier this month.

House In The Tall Grass is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here is psych rock. 

The band has changed the music a lot since the Mammatus Cloud album. There is hardly any sitar any longer. It has been replaced by acoustic guitars and proper vocals.

The music is much more songs based. There are a lot of folk rock influences in their psych rock too.

The music is quirky with some quirky electric and acoustic guitars. Those are good and the same goes for the vocals.

This is indeed a good album and one to check out. 

3 points 

 

 

 

Aliscioni. Alessandro - Il Rivoluzionario (1977)

 

The second album from this artist from Italy.

The musicans lineup is not entirely clear here. But I guess Alessandro played the keyboards and some vocals. Renato Biagioli contributed vocals too while some uncredited musicians did the percussion, bass, guitars, orchestrations and children's choir.

This album is clocking in at half an hour.

The music is a blend of pop, folk-rock, gospel and RPI. 

The record label was a Christian record label and the lyrics, which is in Italian, is preaching Christian. 

The children choirs is a bit cheesy to say at least. 

The male vocals, which is Alessandro's or Renato's, are very good.  

Most of the music is very cheesy, preaching and pretty dire. There is some decent stuff here. There are far better Christian Italian and RPI albums out there than this album. Don't bother about this album.

1.5 points 

 

 

Also Eden - It's Kind Of You To Ask (2008)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This is an album which has been hanging around in my collection for the last fifteen years. As the band is now active again, releasing some EPs this year, it's about time to review this album as I have also reviewed their three other albums.

This album is clocking in at one hour.

The music is classic British neo-prog.

The music is pretty epic and symphonic. There are still some pop sensibilities here.

Genesis is a massive influence on this album together with early Marillion, which again is massive Genesis influenced.

The vocals and the guitars are all very good to great. The quality of the music is very good and this is one of the British neo-prog albums you should have in your collection.

3.5 points 

 

Mai Più Inverno - Lassù Gli Ultimi (2026)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

A handful of guests added drums, percussion and vocals.

This is another new band to me. I became aware of it through ProgArchives and got a copy of this album.

This album is forty-two minutes long and the music is largely folk-rock.

That means folk-rock with some RPI influences. The singer/songwriter influences are far stronger than the RPI influences, though.

The music is a blend of electric and acoustic guitars. Add in the flutes and the vocals too. The music is therefore pretty gentle and pastoral. There are some good details here too.

There is a lot of vocals here and they are good.

Some of the stuff here is good and some is rather decent. This is an interesting debut album and I hope the band will release some more albums in the future.

2.5 points 

NoPlaceToHide - Zukunft (2005)

 

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

This is the follow up album to their great 1995 album Vergangenheit, one of the best extreme metal albums from the 1990s Norway. 

Zukunft is clocking in at forty minutes. The album was recorded and mixed in 2001-02. 

The music is very dark and industrial metal like. The genre is more industrial metal than alternative extreme metal. A blend of those two genres is the best description of the music here.

The vocals are very dark and harsh. The music is very fast too.

The music is both ugly and brutal. There is still some decent to good themes here. The music is leaning towards punk inspired black metal at the end.

The result is a decent enough album which is nowhere as good as the debut album. Both albums are now on Bandcamp. I think both albums deserve proper re-releases.

2 points 

  

Lone Wanderer - The Faustian Winter (2020)

 

The second album from this band from Germany.

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

This is the follow up album to the 2016 album The Majesty Of Loss and precessor of this year's album Exequiae. Both of them have been reviewed this year in this blog.

This album is clocking in at one hour and the music is funeral doom metal.

The music is slow, majestic and epic. 

The music is also harsh and heavy. It is like a funeral dirge. The vocals are throaty and harsh. They are more like an instrument than proper vocals.

There are some acoustic guitars and acoustic melody lines here. The vast majority of the music is slow, grinding electric guitars dominated. 

This is their best album and slightly better than their two other albums. It is still a decent album and one worth checking out.

2 points 

 

Morse. Neal - NMB Lift (2026)

 

The 35th album from this artist from USA.

Neal Morse did the guitars, keyboards and vocals here.

He had help from his band who added drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Neal Morse has released a lot of albums and they have been split between Gospel praise albums and symphonic progressive rock albums. I only review his progressive rock albums. 

NMB Lift is clocking in at seventy minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog. US symphonic prog, that is. 

Neal Morse has created his own sub-genre within the US symphonic prog genre. A genre which again is a sub-genre of the symphonic prog genre. 

The music is majestic, epic and uplifting sunny symphonic. 

The vocals are very good and there are some very good guitar solos and themes here. Neal Morse is repeating himself and recirculating some old ideas on this album. Some of the stuff is too familiar for those of us who has followed and are following his career. To a certain degree, Neal Morse is threading water here.

That said, the music is very good and this is one of his better albums. Hence....

3.5 points 

Klone - Black Days (2010)

 

The third album from this band from France.

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

One guest added bass on one track.

I have not been particularly impressed by their first two albums. But I am here to be impressed so I am continuing to review their albums.

This album is clocking in at fifty-five minutes. 

The music is a blend of djent, alternative extreme metal and progressive metal.

The music is more melodic than on their previous album All Seing Eye from 2008. A good reference is Tool.

The vocals and the guitars are still harsh and not everyone's cup of tea. There is a lot of good details here though and the music is pretty good throughout.

I am not yet won over. This is the best of their first three albums though and the band is improving. I hope that continues on their next albums too. Albums to be reviewed later this spring/summer.

2.5 points 

 

Kingfisher Sky - Arms of Morpheus (2014)

 

The third album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

One guest added bass.

This album is clocking in at close to fifty minutes.

The band were playing heavy prog with female vocals on their first two albums. 

The female vocals is still here and again pretty dominant in the sound. The music has become more like neo-prog with some folk rock and pop influences.

The music has become less heavy and more melodic, more folk rock influenced in other words.

There are some cello here and they are good. There is also the usual guitar riffs and chugging.

The vocals is very good and they are slick and elegant. The band tries to write catchy songs and they are almost succeeding here. A lot of the music is therefore pretty commercial.

There are some good and some decent stuff here. I am again not entirely won over. Hence....

2.5 points 

Norman Haines Band. The - Den Of Iniquity (1971)

 

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

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

The Norman Haines Band was formed on the ruins of Locomotive. That band too only released one album and I will review that album later this month. 

Please note that I am reviewing the original album, the LP, here. The CD and digital version is double the length of the LP version, clocking in at an hour. Get the CD/digital version as it offers better value for money.

This LP is clocking in at thirty-four minutes. 

The music is a blend of hard rock and psych rock. The music is very influenced by blues, which makes sense as this album is from the early 1970s.

The guitars are very good and the vocals are good.

The long guitar solo at the end of this album is the main positive thing about this album. It very much makes this an interesting, pretty good album. An album well worth checking out as it is one of the hidden gems from the British scene.

2.5 points 

Nationalteatern - Barn Av Var Tid (1978)

 

The fifth album from this band from Sweden.

The band was an eight pieces big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, flutes, woodwinds and vocals.

This band was in fact a theater company and they were a part of the Swedish progg movement. The xtra G here means this was on the marxist-leninist-stalinist end of the political spectrum in Sweden/Scandinavia. Some people tends to confuse the progg movement with the prog movement. Those two movements has almost nothing in common, music wise and in most other cases.

The progg movement based their music on the leftist lyrics. I am Norwegian and therefore understand the Swedish lyrics here. The lyrics here are pretty good, although based on the life in the 1970s. 

But back to the music.... 

This album is clocking in at thirty-five minutes. 

The music is mainly pub rock with some strong punk rock and power pop influences. There are also some faint prog rock influences here.

The vocals is pretty good. There are both male and female vocals here where the female vocals are the best vocals. 

The music is pretty decent to decent throughout. There is one pretty good ballad at the end of the album. 

This is therefore a decent album. It does not tempt me to get any more of their albums.

2 points