Cabinets of Curiosity - The Chaos Game (2019)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a seven pieces big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, saxophones, flute and vocals.

This band released an EP in 2016 and this album three years later. Both are still available through Bandcamp.

The Chaos Game is clocking in at exactly one hour.

The music can best be described as Eclectic Prog.

Take some art-rock, fusion and eclectic prog and you get the picture.... sort of. 

Nat Hornyak's (female) vocals are in the front of the mix. Her vocals are great and one of the better vocals I have heard for a long time. They are both powerful and gentle. Her vocals cover a wide range of styles. 

There are also some cool flutes and piano here. The songs are very intricate and not particular melodic. 

This is therefore true eclectic, esoteric music. 

The music is pretty good too. It is a tad too esoteric and a bit lacking in quality. That said, this is an album you should check out from their Bandcamp site.

2.5 points 

 

  

 

Conventum - Le Bureau Central Des Utopies (1979)

 

The second and final album from this band from Canada.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, violin, dulcimer and vocals.

One guest added a flute on this album. 

I reviewed their first album A L'affut D'un Complot (1977) for ProgArchives back in November 2011. The review can be found here. It is a good album. It has taken me almost fifteen years to follow up this review with this review of their second album. That is far too long.

Le Bureau Central Des Utopies is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

In my review of their first album, I compared the band to the Dutch band/masters Flairck. I was also reviewing their album around the same time and the comparison was made. It is a comparison which is pretty correct on both their albums... but still not entirely correct. 

Aranis too is a good reference here as the music is acoustic chamber-orchestra folk rock and neo-classical music. 

There are some sparse electric guitars, dulcimer and French vocals here. Most of the music is violin dominated mid-tempo music.

The music is both very esoteric and very eclectic. It is the type of music I am not entirely familiar with and the type of music I encounter once every second year. The quality is decent enough though.

If esoteric folk rock is your thing....

2 points 

 

 

 

Different Light - Binary Suns Part 2 (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from the Czech Republic.

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

One guest added female vocals on this album.

I have reviewed their previous two albums and you can find the reviews here and here. I have also now got their first two albums and they will be reviewed later this year.  

The album is clocking in at sixty-five minutes.

The music here is neo-prog.

Their take on neo-prog is in the British neo-prog tradition from the 1980s and 1990s. There is also some pretty strong Dutch neo-prog scene influences here.

The music is therefore more straight forward melodic than intricate bold symphonic.

The vocals are very good.

The music is good throughout. This is another good album from this band. It is an album neo-prog and melodic prog fans will love.

3 points 

 

Lindh Project. Per - Time Mirror (2011)

 

The fourth album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, piano, organ, celesta, clavinet, harpsicord, mellotron, church organ, synths and vocals.

A handful of guests added drums, violin, trumpet and vocals.

The band returned after a ten-year break. I have reviewed their first five albums and they can be found somewhere else in this blog.

Time Mirror is clocking in at just over forty minutes.

The music is again symphonic prog with a lot of neo-classical music influences. The album also has some baroque classical music here.

The band is very influenced by ELP and some of Keith Emerson's solo albums here. They have copied his and ELP's sound and added it to their music.

The music here is original music and all songs was composed by Par Lindh.

There are some really good celesta, clavinet, harpsicord and church organs here. Ditto for the vocals.

This album wins big on the ELP comparison and that makes this a good album. One album ELP fans should lap up and enjoy. 

3 points 

 

 

 

Bruin. Christiaan - The Black Codex Episodes 27-39 (2015)

 

The second 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.

A handful of guests added guitar, violin, cello and clarinet.

Four weeks ago, I reviewed the first two albums in this series. Then I took a small break from them. I will review the fourth and final album in this series sometime in the next days. 

The first two albums are two good symphonic prog albums. 

The Black Codex Episodes 27-39 is clocking in at one hundred minutes. That is almost one hour and three-quarters worth of music.   

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

The vocals are really good and the clarinets are adding a lot of colours here. 

There are no great pieces of music here. Neither is there any sub-standard pieces of music here. This is another quality album in this series of albums and this underrated artist. 

3 points 

 

Argos - Halfway Between Heaven and Mirth (2024)

 

The seventh album from this band from Germany.

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

Three guests added keyboards, violin, electric violin and saxophones.

I have always rated Argos as one of the best neo-prog and indeed one of the best progressive rock acts in today's world. So I was happy to get a copy of their latest album.... just to disover that their 2024 album, the one I am reviewing now, fell down the cracks in my office and has not been reviewed... until now.

Halfway Between Heaven And Mirth is clocking in at fifty minutes.

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

The music is mid-tempo, lush and pretty groovy.

The vocals are good and the saxophones are adding a lot of colours to the music.  

The result is another good album from this band. This is not one of their better albums. It is still an album well worth checking out.

3 points 

 

Uriah Heep - Raging Silence (1989)

 

The 16th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Three guests added drums, percussion and spoken words.

The band returned again after a four years long break.

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

The band continued on down the heavy metal road.... or rather, they took a sharp turn to the left and were leaving this scene behind.

The band returned to their hard rock roots on this album. There are indeed some hints of blues here too.

This is other words a hard rock album and there is a lot of 1970s hard rock here.

The vocals are good and the guitars are good too. There are still a couple of cheesy football terrace-like choruses here. 

The result is a massive improvement on previous albums and a pretty good album in its own right. Check it out.

2.5 points

 

Løvetann - En Dag Som Løve (1999)

 

The second album from this band from Norway.  

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

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

En Dag Som Løve was released as a CD-R album in a limited run of 100 x. Their eight albums were compiled and re-released in the widely available Opus Magnum box last year. I am reviewing their albums and this box this summer.

En Dag Som Løve is clocking in at thirty minutes.

The music is a blend of dark art-rock and dark symphonic prog. Both Thule and Høst are good references.

As I did in the review of their debut album, I am tempted to label their music as Arctic Prog. This as they have the same depressive, dark sound and take on progressive rock and art-rock as their brethren 1000 km further north, Thule. Both Løvetann and Thule released their music well north of the Arctic Circle.

The music is made further dark by some dark operatic male vocals, darkened guitar harmonies and guitar solos. The bass are also brooding.

The four songs are all good and this is another good album from this band. 

This is an album fans of Thule and dark prog should check out.

3 points 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Sabbath - Jazz Sabbath (2020)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band has so far released three studio albums. 

The tongue-in-cheek story of the band, featuring on their Bandcamp site is that the piano player wrote all the Black Sabbath tracks before he had an accident, went into a coma and woke up again to find out that Black Sabbath had stolen the tracks and made them into big hits. Off course this story is a joke as the three band Jazz Sabbath members were born years after the release of the songs featuring on this album. It is a good, funny story just as the band intended.

I became aware of this album just after the sad passing of Ozzy Osbourne, one of the greatests personalities we have ever seen on the British islands in my lifetime. A truly great man and I mourned his passing. So I got this album.

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

The music is piano based with the bass and drums playing a supporting role.

The songs here are nowhere near the original versions. This is due to the piano being the main instrument here. It is pretty difficult to guess the name of each songs. 

This album is a novelty album as much as the band is a novelty band. The music is decent enough but this album will only interest the Black Sabbath fans... People like myself, that is. 

2 points 

 

 

Jamaha!! - Extended Noise (1986)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band started out as AHA who released an album I have reviewed in an earlier edition of this blog. My review can be found here. The emergence of the pop group A-Ha meant the band had to change name and their new name was Jamaha!!. The band then released this album before they split up and returned to their successful solo careers.

Extended Noise is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is jazz. 

The jazz here is a blend of avant-garde jazz and more accessible, melodic jazz. There is even some zeuhl in their music.

There are a lot of saxophones here and some keyboards. The other instruments have a more supporting role.

This may be a bit too hardcore jazz for the progheads like myself. There is some pretty good music here. The zeuhl like bits here are the best pieces here on this pretty good album.

2.5 points  

Agami - Exquisite Guild (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from Costa Rica.

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

Three guests added keyboards, moog, sax and vocals.

This band was suggested to ProgArchives last month for the Canterbury prog genre and I found this so interesting that I got this album from Bandcamp and put it on my to-review list. The band has now been re-suggested for the Eclectic Prog genre.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

Eclectic prog is probably the best description of the music. Take some symphonic prog and Canterbury scene prog too and you get the picture.

The music is still surprisingly melodic. The music is also dynamic and it has some 1970s moog too.

The vocals are very good. Ditto for the other instruments. The arrangements here are very clever.

There are one piece of eclectic symphonic prog here which comes complete with some baroque operatic female vocals. The rest of the album is more melodic.

The result is a good album and a more than acceptable debut album. I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

3 points 

 

 

  

D Sound - Balkan (2004)

The second album from this band from Hungary.

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

This is the final album from this band. I reviewed their 2002 debut album Kisember last week and really liked that album. Hence the Good rating. It is a crying shame that this band has only released two albums. 

Balkan is clocking in at one hour.

The music is again a blend of airy space rock and electronica. 

Mike Oldfield is a good reference here. Jean Michel Jarre is also a good reference. There are still some subtle hints of Eloy here.

The music is still a bit minimalistic. There are some long and lingering guitar solos here. This in addition to the keyboards.

There are some sparse, but still some useful female and male vocals here. Most of the vocals are without any words.

The quality is very good throughout. This is one of the better albums from this country and an album you should get if airy space rock is your thing. 

3.5 points 

 

 

 

 

 

Color - Új Színek (1982)

 

The second album from this band from Hungary.

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

I reviewed their 1978 self-titled debut album last week and awarded it a Good rating. That album is a good symphonic prog and psych rock album.

Uj Szinek is clocking in at forty-one minutes.

The music on this album is pomp rock.

The Canadian band Saga springs to mind. The band sounds like a Saga copycat on large parts of this album. Some parts of this album are also commercial, slick mainstream rock. 

The album also includes a ballad. The obligatory ballad on an album like this. 

There are a lot of guitars and keyboards here. The male vocals are in their mother tongue, magyar.

The music is decent enough. This is not a progressive rock album and the quality is not on par with their debut album. It is a typical 1980s album, the lost decade.

2 points 

 

 

 

 

Magenta - Tarot (2026)

 

The 11th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A number of guests added drums, oboe, flute and backing vocals.

Magenta has been one of the biggest names in the post-millenium UK prog rock scene. I have had the joy of reviewing their first ten albums in both ProgArchives and in all the editions of this blog.   

I was therefore looking forward to review this album.

Tarot is clocking in at fifty-three minutes.

The music is soft neo-prog. References are the first Magenta albums and Renaissance. 

The music is melodic, a bit symphonic and pretty soft. The music is also dynamic and a bit epic. Christiana Booth's vocals are on the top of some strings, woodwinds, keyboards and guitars.

Some of the music brings back memories from the 1970s pop scene.   

The songs are all good here. The band has released better albums than this album. This is still a good album and one all neo-prog fans should check out.

3 points 

Klone - Unplugged (2017)

 

The sixth album from this band from France.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of acoustic guitars, accordion, keyboards and vocals.

I have reviewed their first five albums in this blog and you can find these reviews somewhere else in this blog.

Unplugged is clocking in at fifty minutes.

MTV has a lot to answer for. One of the least desirable things MTV has given us is a ton of unplugged albums.

Klone and this album is not affiliated with MTV at all. The album still follows the MTV Unplugged format, minus the audience participation. There is no audience here.

The music is acoustic versions of song originally done with a full electric band setup. 

The vocals here very good. The music is just half decent... at best. I am no fan of unplugged music delivered like this and find these fifty minutes a stern test. If acoustic, unplugged music floats your boat...

1.5 points 

Lindh Project. Per - Veni Vidi Vici (2001)

 

The third album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, violin, piano, organ, harpsichord, church organ, mellotron, synths and vocals.

A number of guests added bass, guitars, flute, horn and bassoon.

The band returned again after a four years long break.

I have reviewed their first two albums and I have given them some favourable reviews. You will find these somewhere else in this blog. 

This album is clocking in at one hour.

The music is a blend of symphonic prog and neo-classical music. Add in a lot of goth metal too this time.

There is a lot of female vocals, piano, organs and church organs on this album. The music is monumental and epic.

The music is also pretty melodic too.

The quality is good throughout this album. This is therefore an album well worth checking out.

3 points 

 

 

 

Blow Up Hollywood - Take Flight (2010)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band was a duo with a lineup of synths and programming.

I have reviewed the first three Blow Up Hollywood albums ten - fifteen years ago in ProgArchives and in an earlier edition of this blog. Pretty good albums. This album has been forgotten among the many other unreviewed albums I have. The band has also released two more albums 2011 - 2014. Albums I am considering for reviews sometime in the next years.

Take Flight is clocking in at fifty-two minutes.

The music is a drone ambient soundscape.

There is not much variations here as the music is a soundcollage performed by synths.

The music is also very slow.

I gladly admit this is not my cup of tea. The quality is half decent and this is by far their worst album.

1.5 points 

  

Black Widow - Sleeping With Demons (2011)

 

The sixth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a duo with a lineup of bass, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, saxophone, flute and vocals.

Two guests added vocals on a couple of tracks. One of the guests was the ex Black Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin.

This is the final Black Widow album due to the passing of members of this band just after this album was released. 

This is an album I have put off reviewing for the last fifteen years as I am not comfortable with overt religious music, satanic or Christian. In this case, the opening track is satanic. The band also had a satanic image and I also knew the late leader of this band, Clive James, from Facebook. He passed on ten years ago. R.I.P, Clive.

I have reviewed their first five albums in the first two editions of this blog. That is ten years ago. They are decent to good albums.

This album is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is hard rock with some prog rock elements. The music is very much retro 1970s hard rock. There are also some newer hard rock influences here. This in addition to some more mainstream rock and psych rock. The music is therefore pretty commercial.

The drums are replaced by a drum machine. The sound is big with lots of guitars, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

The music is decent enough. I am not really won over by this band at all. This band is a cult band. Ditto for their six albums. If retro hard rock is your thing....

2 points 

  

 

 

  

Kraan - All In (2026)

 

The 16th album from this band from Germany.

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

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

All In is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music here is fusion.

There is a lot of cinematic rock, funk and some jazz elements in their take on fusion.

 The music is indeed pretty funky and melodic.

The music is driven by some half-acoustic guitars, bass and keyboards. The few vocals are all good.

There is no real bite in their music and the music is too fluffy and light.

That said, this is a pretty good album and one to check out.

2.5 points 

 

 

D Sound - Kisember (2002)

 

The debut album from this band from Hungary.

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

One guest delivered vocals on one track.

This is another band from Hungary who only released two albums before they split up. Both albums are being reviewed in this blog. The review of their second album will be posted early next week.

Kisember is clocking in at one hour.

The music on this album is a blend of psych rock and space rock. Good references are Pink Floyd, Sensation Fix and Hawkwind.

The music is both melodic and a bit trippy. The music is also pretty muscular with some good guitars and keyboards.

Most of the music is instrumental. There are some good vocals here too.

The overall quality is good and this is another quality album from this country in the Eastern Europe.

3 points 

Color - Color (1978)

 

The debut album from this band from Hungary.

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

Two guests added guitar and saxophone on a couple of tracks.

This band released two albums before they called it a day. Both of them are up for reviews in this blog.

Color is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

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

The sound is the typical warm early 1970s prog rock sound. The vocals are in their local language Magyar. 

The music and the vocals are lush, colourful and pretty symphonic. 

Both the music and the vocals are good. This makes this a good album. Those into the early 1970s prog should check out this album.

3 points    

GreenLady - GreenLady (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

This album is clocking in at just over half an hour.

The music here is folk rock.

Take the early folk rock movement. The early Steeleye Span albums. Then you get this album.

The music is bare-boned. It is based on acoustic guitars and female vocals. There are also some gentle electric guitars here too.

The music is songs based. The songs are pretty short. They are very gentle though. 

The vocals are very good. The music is not particular interesting or exciting.

Folk rock fans should check out this album. I am not won over.

2.5 points   

 

 

Katatonia - Night Is The New Day (2009)

 

The eighth album from this band from Sweden.

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

Two guests added percussion, organ, synths, progamming and vocals.

This is the follow up album to the 2006 album The Great Cold Distance. I have reviewed that and all their other albums in this blog.

Night Is The New Day is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is heavy alternative rock. 

The band has moved a lot closer to Porcupine Tree this time around than on the previous albums. The last Porcupine Tree albums, that is.

The sound is big and monumental. The music is also elegant and melodic. 

The vocals is very good and add a lot of quality to this album.   

The result is a good album and one to check out if alternative rock is your thing.

3 points 

Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000)

 

The ninth album from this band from USA.

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

A number of guests added bass, keyboards, programming and backing vocals.

The band returned after a three years long break. I have reviewed all their albums in this blog.

Disconnected is clocking in at fifty-three minutes.

The band has gone from a power/heavy metal band to a prog metal band over the last albums. 

On Disconnected, the band has incorporated both alternative rock and progressive rock into their take on prog metal.

The music is pretty heavy. The music is not as heavy as on their previous eight albums. The music is more symphonic here than on previous albums.

The vocals is also good and the music is pretty melodic too.

The quality of the music is good throughout this album. The music is indeed intriguing. This is their best album up to that point.

3 points 

 

 

 

Belling The Tiger - Lost (2020)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

One guest added vocals to this album.

This is so far their one and only album. I do not know the current status of this Detroit-based band. This album is now available through Bandcamp where you will also find one EP and some singles from the band.

Lost is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

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

The music is muscular throughout with a good sound. 

There are a lot of guitars, keyboards and vocals here. 

The vocals are decent enough. The music is too much run-of-the-mill to really be good. There are not many positives here. 

I am not really impressed by this album. It is still an album well worth checking out.

2 points 

 

 

 

Banten - Banten (1972)

 

The one and only album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, cello, piano, electric piano, mouth organ, whistle, kazoo and vocals.

Three guests added double bass, cello and piano.

This band came, released this album and then disbanded. All the members had had good careers in other bands.

Banten is clocking in at thirty-five minutes.

The music here is mostly avant-garde jazz. 

There are also some vocals here. The vocals, female vocals, are in some strange old jazz songs in the 1920s-30s tradition. 

The music is really dense, hardcore jazz. A bit too hardcore for my ears as I am coming from the rock and prog rock musical tradition. This is still a decent album and one to check out if jazz and/or esoteric music is your thing.

2 points 

Brass Camel - Brass Camel (2026)

 

The third album from this band from Canada.

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

Two guests added guitars and vocals.

I have been pretty impressed by their first two albums. You can find my reviews of them somewhere else in this blog.

Brass Camel is clocking in at three quarters of an hour.

The album starts out as Rush on their Fly By Night album and that is misleading the listener to believe we are getting a Rush copycat album. 

The music is rather a blend of funk, mainstream rock and heavy prog. There is still some Rush influences too. 

The music is catchy, groovy and pretty hard. There are a lot of good hooks and melodies here. The vocals is good too.

This album has some pretty big commercial potential and should appeal to anyone into modern rock.

3 points 

 

Christofersen. Inge - Refleksjoner (1970)

 

The debut album from this artist from Norway.

Inge Christofersen did the bass, guitars, piano, keyboards and vocals here.

Two guests added drums and woodwinds.

This album is clocking in at thirty-five minutes. 

This artist actually comes from my area of Norway, 20 km or so from where I was born. He released two albums before he passed on in 2008. I am not going to review his second album.

The music here is 1970s pop/rock. There are some beat influences here as some of the songs are from 1966. One of them was a minor hit. Another song got Inge banned from Norwegian radio as it included mild criticism of Mao Tse Tung, the genocidal dictator in China. The loony-left stalinists influenced NRK, the only radio station in Norway at that time, did not tolerate this criticism and banned this LP. 

The music is light and fluffy. In today's standards, the music sounds a bit teenybopper and irrelevant. 

There is no progressive rock here although Inge Christofersen's influences are the same as for example Genesis and Yes. 

The music is pretty decent with some interesting hooks and melody lines. This is one of the forgotten albums from the Norwegian pop/rock scene. The album was re-released on CD last year through the NAKCD series.

1.5 points  

 

Cactus Cathedral - Suspending All Belief (2023)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

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

This is their so far latest album and it is a name-your-price Bandcamp album.

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

The music is mainly stoner rock. 

There are also some 1970s hard rock here and strangely enough.... some country'n'western influences here. Not only that... One of the tracks here is entering into a country'n'western landscape. Strange.

The music is pretty hard, but not particularly heavy. The rhythm section and the guitars are loose and not as tight as on the debut album.

The vocals are pretty decent.

This album not in the same class as the debut album. It is still a pretty decent album.

1.5 points 

Zen Carnival - Fusion (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from USA.

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

Zen Carnival is a band I have problems putting in one genre. Their four first albums have been jumping from genre to genre. The albums have been good though so I have no complaints.

Fusion is clocking in at forty minutes.

This album is totally different from their other albums. The music is electronica blended with some fusion and cinematic rock.

The music is also instrumental throughout.

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

There is nothing really interesting and newsworthy here.

The music is decent enough. This is by far their weakest album and not an album I would recommend. Check out their first four albums instead.

2 points 

 

Marbin - Russian Dolls (2020)

 

The eighth album from this band from USA.

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

 This is the follow up album to the 2019 album Strong Thing. 

Russian Dolls is clocking in at thirty-five minutes.

When I was a kid, I was given a russian doll by a relative for my birthday. It is actually quite a funny, impressive toy... well, piece of kit. Something Marbin too has noted as this is an instrumental concept album about russian dolls and how to open it up, revealing a new doll which reveals a new doll... and so it goes on. Marbin describes it as a picture of life as we are shedding the layers as we go on in life. I must say I agree with Marbin here. They have a very good point.

The music here is jazz. Trio-format jazz and pretty much bare-boned jazz.

The main instrument is the saxophone. It has been claimed that this is mainly the saxophonist Danny Markovitch solo album. He also came up with the concept which the band developed into this album.

The other two band members does a good job on their instruments although more in a supporting and rhythm capacity.

The music is pretty melodic. It is also pretty uncomplicated and groovy.

The quality is good throughout this album and this is another good album from Marbin. 

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Q - Znovu (2013)

 

The eighth album from this band from the Czech Republic.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, organ, emulator and mini-moog.

One guest added percussion.

The band returned again after a twenty-nine years long pause.

The Iron Curtain and communism was gone. Czechoslovakia, the band's homeland was also gone, split into two states. The Czech Republic had become a normal European country. A lot of fundamental changes in other words. Enough to make anyone dizzy.

Znovu is clocking in at seventy minutes.

Most of the old lineup has returned again for this album.

The music is more jazz than fusion on this album. The music is scaled back from their previous, more lush and bigger sounding albums.

The result is some minimalistic jazz with some few solos and some pretty good melodies and ideas.

This album is not their finest hour. It is one of their weakest albums. It is still a pretty good album.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Mur - Mur (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from Iceland.

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

This band is new to me. I discovered them through ProgArchives as per usual.

This album is clocking in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is post-metal. 

The music is big, bold and monumental. Tool is a good reference here. There is also some post-rock influences here.

The music is also very heavy with some doom and death metal stuff. Most of the music is leaning towards death and doom metal. 

The vocals are growling and brutal.

The music is in other words esoteric and not for the faint-hearted. The quality is good and this is a more than acceptable debut album.

3 points 

M. L. Bongers Project - Pacific Prison (1978)

 

The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

One guest added flute on this album.

This is one of the one-album only bands who released an album which has been hyped up as a classic album. The main member was the vocalist Marcel L. Bongers and that is all I know about this band and album. 

The album is clocking in at thirty-five minutes.

The music on this album is a blend of symphonic prog and psych rock. There are also some krautrock and folk rock here.

But most of all, the music is symphonic prog. Eloy springs to mind as a strong influence.

The organ and flutes are very good here. The vocals are good. There are also some good guitars here.

The music is really flowing around. The music is also symphonic.

The music is also very good and this album is a gem from the German prog rock scene. An album symphonic prog and Eloy fans should check out.

Marcel returned in 2016 and released one album that year and the third M. L. Bongers Project album two years later. I will come back to these two albums sometime later this year. 

3.5 points 

 

 

 

Refestramus - Morri's Rock Boutique (2026)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, clarinet, saxes and vocals.

A number of guests added percussion, bass, guitars, violin, viola, keyboards and vocals.

The follow up album to the 2024 album Intourist. A good album which had a mix of US neo-prog, psych rock and americana. You will find a review of this and their debut album somewhere else in this blog. 

Morri's Rock Boutique is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is a blend of mainstream rock, psych rock and heavy prog.

The music is slightly eclectic with some weird sounding keyboards, woodwinds and vocals. 

The music is generally speaking vaudeville rock and upbeat.

There is some decent and some good stuff here. This album is a step backwards from the Intourist album. This is still an interesting album and their three albums so far should be checked out.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Ciruelo Cilindrico - Gemini (2007)

 

The debut album from this band from Spain.

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

This band released two EPs and two albums between 2005 and 2008. I reviewed their second album Ciruelosis back in April 2010 in ProgArchives. I gave it a Decent award. You can find the review here. I have actaually also reviewed their final EP too in ProgArchives.  

Gemini is clocking in at seventy minutes and the album is a name-your-price Bandcamp album.

The music here is rooted in the punk rock movement. Add in a lot of alternative rock and some hard rock too. Add in some hints of heavy prog too as there is some early days Rush influences here.

The guitars are dominant here together with the vocals.

The pretty decent vocals are in their native tongue, Spanish.

The music is pretty decent throughout. I am not won over but the heavy prog and hard rock elements here are enjoyable. That elevates this album up half a point.

2 points 

Cactus Cathedral - The Forgotten Frontier (2020)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

This band is new to me. They have released numerous songs and EPs plus two albums as a name-your-price Bandcamp offers. I have got their second album up for review next week.

This album is clocking in at thirty-five minutes.

The music here is stoner rock. No less and no more.

The music is more song-oriented than free flowing. The songs are more retro-1970s than free flowing pieces of music. 

The guitars are more rhythm based than guitar solos based. The bass and drums are like a wall. The music is not as heavy as I expected either. 

The vocals are pretty decent.

The music is indeed decent. This is a name-your-price Bandcamp album stoner rock and retro-hard rock fans should download and check out.

2 points 

 

  

 

Proportions - Stories Untold (2026)

 

The seventh album from this multi-national band.

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

The band is more of a project than a band as the band is an online band and probably has never met each other in one room. 

I have reviewed their first six albums in this blog last year and earlier this year. I liked them a lot.

Stories Untold is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is a blend of neo-prog and symphonic prog with some Canterbury prog and pop influences.

The music is both quirky and melodic. The songs are a mix of melancholic and upbeat. 

The music is also elegant & classy.   

Large parts of this album remind me of The Tangent's more poppy moments.  

The vocals is great and one of the best things about this album. The piano and keyboards does a very good job too.

In short, this is a very good album and perhaps their best album so far. This album has cemented my status as an admirer of this band.

3.5 points 

 

 

 

 

 

Uriah Heep - Equator (1985)

 

The 16th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Two guests added Synclavier and Fairlight programming.

This is the follow-up album to the pretty poor Head First opus from 1983.

Equator is clocking in at three-quarters of an hour.

The previous albums had a blend of their 1970s hard rock and the new sound of heavy metal. Uriah Heep were one of the victims of this new heavy metal scene. A scene that stole their thunder. 

So Uriah Heep adapted and went commercial heavy metal on this album.

There are some decent to good guitar riffs from Mike Box here. Most of the album has the full 1980s heavy metal package and sound.

That is not a good thing.

Parts of the music here is dire and at best half-decent. That is exactly what this album is... half-decent. 

Hence...

1.5 points 

 

 

 

Løvetann - I Løvens Hule (1999)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band was formed by Odd "Fezza" Ellingsen, the guitarist in St. Helena, Akasha and Høst. Odd Ellingsen was indeed the main force in the best Høst album Hardt Mot Hardt, a masterpiece in the great Norwegian progressive rock scene.

Løvetann released eight CD-R albums in limited runs of 100 x each. They were compiled and re-released in the Opus Magnum box last year. I will review all their albums this summer.

I reviewed their 2002 compilation album En Duft Av Roser in # 3 of this blog back in April 2024 and you can read this review here.  

I Løvens Hule is clocking in close to thirty minutes.

The music is a blend of prog folk and heavy prog. Both Thule and Høst are good references. There is also some Jethro Tull references here. 

I am tempted to label the music here (and indeed Thule's music) as Arctic Prog. The music and sound are pretty unique. That's not least because of the pretty operatic male vocals. The music is also bombastic and slightly symphonic.   

The songs are pretty long with a lot of progressions throughout the songs. The vocals is good but the star here is the very good guitar solos and riffs.

That makes this a good album indeed and one to check out. This album is indeed a hidden gem and one to check out.

3 points 

 

 

Avventurieri Del Rock - Un Viaggio Senza Fine (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band from Milan is a new band on the scene.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

I learned about the band in ProgArchives as usual. They are not included there. I would be surprised if they ever get included there as the music is not progressive rock although the band claims this is progressive rock.

The music is a blend of muscular Italian rock, hard rock and folk rock. Add in some Italian pop too and you get the picture.

The music though is essentially folk rock with Italian lyrics and vocals.

The music is also pretty commercial too.

The music is surprisingly good. Both folk rock fans and RPI fans should check out this good album.

3 points 

 

Pangaea - Artica: Liquid Placidity (1995)

 

The debut release from this band from USA.

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

This band was named Artica before they changed their name to Pangaea and later released four albums. The last one in 2024. 

I reviewed their second album, the 1998 album Welcome To The Theatre back in July 2014 in # 1 of this blog and were not impressed at all. You can read my review here.

This EP clocks in at thirty minutes.

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

The sound is pretty poor. The band does a decent enough job. The vocals is pretty poor.

There are a couple of decent songs here. Those still don't save this album from inclusion on my list of turkeys. Avoid.

1 point 

  

Baco Dì Silenzio - La Caratura Delle Penisole (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

The band is a one-man-band with Salvatore Scuderi on electronics and vocals.

Numerous guests added drums, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards, piano and flute to this album.

I reviewed the debut album Aquile E Ciele on the last day of February and gave it a Good rating. I was therefore very pleased when this album showed up in my box.

La Caratura Delle Penisole is clocking in at seventy minutes. 

The music is again classic RPI.

In this case, that means mid-tempo to slow RPI with folk music and Italian pop influences. 

The vocals are very good. The musicians does a good job. There is a lot of guitars, piano and keyboards here. 

The music is pretty elegant and melodic. The songs are good. That makes this a good album and an album RPI fans should check out.

3 points 

 

Zen Carnival - Star Creatures (2022)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

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

One guest added female operatic vocals.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

I have reviewed their first three albums in both # 1 and this edition of the blog. They are pretty good albums. I will review their new album next week. 

The music here is a blend of heavy prog, US symphonic prog and electronica.

That sounds like an eclectic blend and indeed it is. 

The music has a laidback, sleepy feel. This is mostly due to the electronica here. 

The music is still melodic and pretty hard at times. The female operatic vocals are a good support for the male vocals.

The quality is good throughout and this is an album that should interest those into a blend of melody and electronica.

3 points 

Lolli. Claudio - Claudio Lolli (1988)

 

The eighth album from this artist from Italy.

Claudio Lolli did the vocals here. 

He had help from a handful of guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and saxophone.

I have three of his albums and I have so far reviewed two of them. This is my third and final review of his albums.

This album is clocking in at forty minutes.

Claudio Lolli was never an artist in the RPI scene. He was influential though and very popular in the 1970s Italian popular music scene. Indeed, in Italian culture where he left a big legacy behind him when he passed on in 2018. 

The music here is Italian pop music with some pretty big folk music influences. The music here is much more pop music than folk rock.

The music is also colourful with Claudio Lolli's vocals on top in the sound/mix.

The music is pretty enjoyable. It is also decent too. If Italian pop music is your thing....

2 points 

 

General Purpose - One Last Word (2026)

 The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, guitars, violin, clarinet, saxophone and vocals.

Two guests added backing vocals.

This is a new band from the North Carolina area of USA who was formed on the ashes of some cover bands that played and gigged rock and jazz standards. The musicians joined their forces in this band and started to write some original material. The result has so far been two EPs and this album.

This album is clocking in at thirty-five minutes.

The music is a blend of psych rock, jazz, folk rock, Canterbury prog and art-rock.

The music is quirky and slightly eclectic. Some of the music is theatrical and vaudeville rock. 

The music is very varied with a lot of influences. The musicians do a good job and the vocals are also good.

There are a lot of good music here and the sound is good too. 

This is a good debut album and I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

3 points 

   

 

 

Klone - Here Comes The Sun (2015)

 

The fifth album from this band from France.

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

This is the follow up to their 2012 album The Dreamer's Hideaway. That album was their best album up to that point and a break with their almost avant-garde alternative metal on their first albums. My hope was that they would continue their progress.

Here Comes The Sun is clocking in at three quarters of an hour. 

The band has continued on their road over to a more alternative rock and post-rock landscape. A good reference here is Anathema. Klone sounds a lot like them on this album.

There is no metal left in their sound. The music is still muscular. There is a lot of post-rock in their sound and music too. There are some ebb and flow in their music.

The music is also melancholic and moody. 

The vocals are clean vocals. They are also good and are fitting for the music genres Klone is now pursuing. 

There are no outstanding pieces of music here. That said, the music is really good and this makes this album both enjoyable and good. This album is up to this point their best album.

3 points  

 

Lindh Project. Per - Mundus Incompertus (1997)

 

The second album from this band from Sweden.

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

A handful of guests added violin, oboe, trombone, recorder and backing vocals.

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

This album is the follow up album to the Gothic Impressions album from 1994. A good album I reviewed last month. 

We get much of the same on Mundus Incompertus. A blend of symphonic prog and neo-classic music. 

Gothic neo-classic music is the sub-genre explored here. Just as on the debut album, that is.

There are some female operatic vocals here and a lot of church organs. There are also some pretty hard rocking guitars here. Some parts are pretty heavy too.

There are again some ELP, Trace and Triumvirat influences here. The music is more fifty/fifty of symphonic prog and neo-classic music than most other bands in this genre.

The result is barely a good album... but still a good album. Symphonic prog fans should check out this album.

3 points 

 

Aora - Gestalt (2018)

 

The one and only album from this band from Argentina.

It is hard to find any information about this band. From what I have gathered, the band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, synths and vocals.

This album is clocking in at fifty-three minutes.

The music is a blend of hard rock, grunge and psych rock.

There are a lot of guitars here and the sound is indeed guitar-based. 

The vocals are pretty raw and rocking. They are also decent enough. The vocals are in Spanish.

The music is muscular and a bit melodic. There are no really good songs here. 

The quality is only half-decent and this album is an forgetable Bandcamp album.

I am not impressed.

1.5 points 

 

Amaze Knight - The Key (2013)

 

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

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

This band only released this album before they broke up. A free download album which I downloaded many years ago. 

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

Dream Theater has made a huge impression on these five musicians from Italy. The music here is very much in the vein of the Awake era Dream Theater.

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

There are also a couple of neo-classical pieces here too. That sets the music apart from being just Dream Theater copycats. And to be fair, the band and this album have their own identity.  

The music is both heavy and melodic. There is some good stuff here and some not so good stuff.

The result is a pretty good album and one to check out. Dream Theater fans must check out this album.

2.5 points