Children In Paradise - Morrigan (2016)

 

The second album from this band from France.

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

A handful of guests added drums, bass, guitars, harp, carnyx, keyboards, uillean pipes and whistle.

I reviewed their debut album Esyllt some days ago and liked that album a lot. 

The fifty minutes long Morrigan is unfortunate their latest album and there has been no sign of life from the band in the last eight-nine years. 

The music is celtic rock influenced art rock. There are also some neo-prog influences here.

The music is dominated by some great female vocals and some very good guitars. Both the guitar harmonies and the solos are very good.

There are still a lot of The Corrs and Mostly Autumn influences in their music.

The quality of the music is an improvement on the debut album. Morrigan is indeed a good album and one to check out if early Mostly Autumn floats your boat. 

3 points 

 

 

 

Spock's Beard - The Archaeoptimist (2025)

 

The 14th album from this band from USA.

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

The band returned again with this one hour long album after a seven years long album break.

The music is as per usual US symphonic prog. This has been their music from their very first album, the Neal Morse era.

The music is pretty elegant, a bit hard and pretty epic too.

There are a lot of harmonies in their music and the music is big and bold.

 The vocals is good and the band cannot really be faulted on anything... well, just one thing. 

My main gripe with this album is the lack of any really great songs here. There is none. The sound is very good and the saving grace on this album. This is one of their weakest offerings ever, I am afraid. It is still a good album and that says everything about their normally high standards.

3 points 

 

Year Of No Light - Les Maîtres Fous (2025)

 

The sixth album from this band from France.

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

The Year Of No Light albums is a bit of a mixed bag, music wise. Some are extreme post-metal and others are more like dirges and movie soundtracks.

This album clocks in at thirty-five minutes. It has two pieces. The half an hour long title-track and another five minutes long piece.

The music is lo-fi dirge like music with downtuned guitars and bass. 

There it not much variations here and the music is not particular interesting. The music is very self-introspect and art for the sake of art.

This is not one of their best albums. Nevertheless, this is a decent enough album.

2 points  

 

Wilderun - Epigone (2022)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

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

The band returned again three years after their good 2019 album Veil Of Imagination. 

The band started out as a folk-rock & extreme metal band before they changed to a more orchestral extreme metal band. That transformation was complete on the Veil Of Imagination album.  

The seventy-two minutes long Epigone album is another orchestral extreme metal album. 

There is even some electronica on this album which has a lot of variations. From extreme metal to more pastoral prog and electronica.

This album is therefore in other words pretty much a rock opera.  

The vocals is both clean and extreme metal vocals. Both are good.

The music here is not as good as the music on Veil Of Imagination. That said, this is still a pretty good album and one to check out. I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

2.5 points 

Ceres Phenomenon. The - The Ceres Phenomenon (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

One guest added bass on a couple of tracks. 

The band is a collaboration with some ex Ywis and Timelock members. All four members are veterans in the Dutch prog rock scene, in other words. 

This album clocks in at just short of seventy-five minutes and the music is neo-prog.

The music is hard and muscular neo-prog too with some psych rock and heavy prog influences.

Some of the music is also rather melancholic. The music is clearly in the Dutch neo-prog tradition.

The music is pretty melodic too with some good vocals.  

The result is a pretty good album and a more than acceptable debut album. Let's hope this band return again for their second album.

2.5 points 

 

 

Almendra - Almendra (1969)

 

The debut album from this band from Argentina.

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

One guest added organ on one track. 

This band released three albums between 1969 and 1980 before they split up for the final time. I am reviewing all three albums this winter.

This forty minutes long album is also the first album for Luis Alberto Spinetta, a guitarist who became one of the leading lights in the Argentine music scene. This both as a solo artist and member of bands like Almendra, Invisible and Spinetta Jade. His birthday, 23. January, is annually celebrated in Argentina as the official day of music. He is the vocalist and guitarist on this album.  

The music here is a blend of beat, psych rock and folk rock. Latin Rock is the best label on this music as the vocals are in Spanish.

The music sounds a bit primitive anno 2025. Nevertheless, the vocals are good and this is a pretty charming album. The songs are decent enough too and the band were really talented.

Check out this old charmer.

2 points 

 

Tempano - Tempano (1987)

 

The fifth album from this band from Venezuela.

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

A handful of guests added bass, harmonica, saxophones and backing vocals.

Their last two albums was a couple of horrible 1980s teenybopper pop albums. The album art-work on this album, Tempano, did not give any hope at all. A new turkey, in other words...

The music on this forty minutes long album is still 1980s pop music. But there are some soul here too.

The music is not that far away from Genesis at their most commercial, after they had ditched their progressive rock roots and gone for a more pop and soul/tamla motown style of music. Tempano has also gone down this route. 

The music is pretty barren when it comes to quality. The Spanish vocals are good and there are some decent guitars too.  

This album is not a turkey though. It is a small improvement on their two albums as both were turkeys. But the album art-work.... awful, awful, awful.

1.5 points 

 

Cholo Visceral - Cholo Visceral (2013)

 

The debut album from this band from Peru.

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

This is another two albums band who released two albums between 2013 and 2016. My review of their second album will follow in some days time.

The music on this almost forty minutes long album is colourful, weird heavy prog.

There is a lot of saxophones here in addition to the drums, bass and guitars. The vocals are more like sound effects than proper vocals. 

There is also a lot of sound effects here on this mid-tempo to fast music.

The music is very playful and pretty Zappa'esque throughout. 

The music is wild but still well composed. The result is a good album with some good stuff and some very good stuff. 

If esoteric prog is your thing....

3 points 

 

Children In Paradise - Esyllt (2011)

 

The debut album from this band from France.

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

A handful of guests added drums, bass, guitars, harp, piano, keyboards, uillean pipes and whistle.

This band released two albums between 2011 and 2016. A review of the second album will follow in some days time.

The music on this sixty-five minutes long album is melodic progressive rock with a lot of mainstream rock and pop influences. There is also a lot of celtic rock on this album. 

The Corrs is a good references. So is Mostly Autumn too. The angelic female vocals is the main reasons for these comparisons. 

There is still some bite and muscles in the music here although the vocals are soft. 

There are some very good guitar hooks, harmonies and solos here from the other half of this duo. Those are the best parts of this pretty good album.

If commercial, melodic celtic folk influenced prog is your thing, this is an album for you.

2.5 points    

Moron Police - Pachinko (2025)

 

The fourth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, melodica, keyboards, synths, programming and vocals.

Some guests added drums, percussion, violin, harding fiddle, cello, woodwinds and backing vocals. 

The band returned again after a six years long album break. Reviews of their first two albums can be found somewhere else in this blog. I reviewed their 2019 album A Boat On A Sea back in October 2019 for # 2 of this blog and liked it a lot. 

This album clocks in at one hour and we get a lot of the same they gave us on their first three albums.

That means catchy heavy prog with some 1970s hard rock and glam rock influences. Queen and The Ark also spring to mind here as a reference.

The music is positive and joyful too. It is very much in tune with the album art-work.

The vocals are also very good throughout and the band does a good job.

The result is a good album which fans of catchy melodic prog will find very enjoyable.

3 points

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Of No Light - Consolamentum (2021)

 

The fifth album from this band from France.

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

The band returned after an eight years long break with this one hour long album.

The music is really darkened post-extreme metal. Really dark music with a wall of both dissonant and harmonic guitars. 

The music is slow throughout. The music is like a wall of sound.

There is still some well structured music here and the music is well structured and composed.

There are a lot of post-rock structures here too and post-rock fans will find a lot to like on this album.

The overall quality is pretty good throughout and this is another interesting album from this good band.

2.5 points 

 

 

Wilderun - Veil Of Imagination (2019)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

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

Three guests added piano and narrations.

The band started out as an extreme metal - folk rock combo on their debut album before they went a bit more extreme metal on their second album. Both have been reviewed in this blog.

The sixty-seven minutes long Veil Of Imagination sees the band go extreme metal opera. Yes, that is possible as this album proves.

The music is big, bold and majestic. There are some pastoral slow pieces here too and that makes this an album full of contrasts, an album full of extremes.

The vocals are both clean and growls. They are all good.

The result is indeed a good album and their so far best album. A review of their fourth and so far latest album will follow sometime soon.

3 points 

 

 

Esthesis - Out Of Step (2025)

 

The third album from this band from France.

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

This is their follow-up to their first two good albums. I really like their first two albums as you can see in my reviews in # 3 of this blog. 

Their music on this fifty minutes long album is a blend of neo-prog and heavy prog. 

Their sound is very contemporary and has a lot of Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree influences.

The music is also very muscular with some good electronica interwoven into their music.

The vocals is good and so is the music too.

This is another quality release from this band. Their three albums should be checked out.

3 points 

 

 

Man - Rhinos Winos & Lunatics (1974)

 

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The band had experienced some internal turmoil since their last album. So two members from the British band Help Yourself was drafted in together with the return of Deke Leonard.

The result is a bit of a different album than expected.

Their blend of psych rock, blues and rock'n'roll is not as hard as on previous albums. 

Psych rock has taken a more prominent space in their blend of the three genres. That is obvious on the best track here, Californian Silks And Satins. A very good song, indeed.

The band is still rocking out and the music is pretty good throughout this album.

This album is not their best album but it is still worth checking out.

2.5 points 

 

 

Aktuala - Aktuala (1972)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of percussion, violin, viola, guitars, balalaika, dulcimer, zither, woodwinds, harmonica and whistles.

This band released three albums between 1972 and 1976. Albums now up for reviews in this blog during the next week or two.

The music on this album is a blend of world music and avant-garde rock. 

The opening track When The Light Began is a coherent, good composition. The rest of the album is more a kind of a loose session recorded without any coherent thinking.

There is a lot of wild woodwinds here and other instruments who come in and out without much coherence. 

The music is decent enough but nothing more than that despite of this album being ranked as a semi-classic album by some websites and reviewers. I do not share that view...

2 points 

 

 

 

 

Mosaico - Vola (2014)

 

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

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

A couple of guests added saxophones and backing vocals.

This forty minutes long name-your-price Bandcamp album takes us on a journey to Italy and the RPI scene.

The music is classic RPI in the same vein as Banco and PFM. Mid-tempo prog in other words with Italian vocals and lots of colourful melodies. The music is also leaning towards folk rock. 

There is a lot of organ here, both Hammond and Rhodes organs. There is also a lot of accordion here in addition to the good male vocals.

The result is a good album and one to check out. An album that sits well together with the rest of the RPI albums in my album collection.

3 points 

  

 

 

Mahogany Frog - Faust (2022)

 

The eight album from this band from Canada.

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

One guest added clarinet on a couple of tracks.

I am a fan of a couple of this band's albums, DOS and Senna to be more precise. The band has never delivered uninteresting albums though. Their music has been eclectic and interesting throughout their career.

This seventy-five minutes long album takes us to a dark landscape. The music is a blend of electronica, 1930s movie soundtracks and some eclectic prog.

The music is dark throughout and has a bit of horror movie ambience. The music is also a bit dissonant too.

There are couple of good pieces here and some half-decent pieces. This is therefore a decent enough album but not more than that. This is not one of their better albums.

2 points 

  

Deposed King - Letters to a Distant Past (2025)

 

The second album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a duo with a lineup of bass, guitar, keyboards, synths, drum programming and vocals.

One guest added a guitar solo on one of the tracks.

I had the pleasure of reviewing their 2023 debut album One Man's Grief some days ago and that was a very good album. Their new album is high on ProgArchives list of albums of the year too so I was looking forward to reviewing it.

The extended version of this album is clocking in at eighty minutes while the normal version is clocking in at fifty-five minutes. This is a review of the extended version. This version of the album is offering the best value for money.  

The music is melancholic art-rock with a lot of post-rock influences. Gazpacho is a good reference on this album.

The music is a bit ambient at times. The main parts of this album is dynamic with some good vocals.

The result is a good album indeed. I still prefer their debut album to this one... but this is still an album you should check out.

3 points 

 

Ovrfwrd - There Are No Ordinary Moments (2024)

 

The fifth album from this band from USA.

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

This is their so far latest album and the follow up album to 2020's good StarStuff album. An album reviewed earlier this week in this blog.

This seventy minutes long album takes us down the same path as the band has followed since their debut album. That means more instrumental heavy progressive rock.

The band embraced a more softer organic progressive sound on the StarStuff album and that is something they have also done on this album too.

There are some programmed flutes and woodwinds here. Even some programmed violins too. This in addition to the cascades of guitars and piano.   

Some of the stuff here is even a bit jazzy too.

The result is a pretty good album and their second best album. If instrumental heavy prog is your cup of tea, this band should be checked out.

2.5 points  

  

 

 

 

Moron Police - Defenders of the Small Yard (2014)

 

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

Three guests added bass, fiddle and backing vocals on a couple of tracks. 

This is the follow up album to the 2012 album The Propaganda Machine, an album I reviewed earlier this week and gave pretty good rating.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is pretty hard and heavy as it is rooted in the 1970s hard rock scene, Frank Zappa's weirdo music and punk rock... Not so much punk rock this time, though.  

The music is very catchy and quirky. It some sort of party music and the mood is happy and life-affirming.

The music here is not as good as on their debut album. There is no really good songs here.

The result is a decent enough album, though. Thankfully, their third album, reviewed in # 2 this blog, is a good album. I will review their fourth and brand new album before the end of the year.

2 points 

 

Lunar Clock - Lunar Clock II (2025)

 

The second album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

This is the follow up album to their 2020 debut album The Scream Of Nature. That was a good album and I am pleased that the band has returned again for their second album.

The music on the one hour long Lunar Clock II is symphonic prog. 

Their debut album were a mix of Genesis and Yes with a good helping of RPI and neo-classical music too.

The same also applies to this album. The music is also influenced by fusion on some parts of this album. 

The music is pretty dynamic with some good fusion like runouts. There are some good vocals here. Most of the music is instrumental though.

The music is also quirky throughout and there is a lot of Canterbury scene influences here.

The quality is good throughout this album and this is another good album from this band. A band well worth checking out.

3 points 

 

Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards (1972)

 

The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

One guest added bass and vocals on some tracks.

This cover art-work from Roger Dean is one of the most iconic album art-works from the 1970s rock scene....

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is good old hard rock. There are some progressive elements to their music too. That was their modus operandi on their first albums. 

Easy Livin is perhaps their signature song and that song can be found on this album. A very good catchy hard rocker. 

The rest of the album is also good with some very good keyboards and vocals. 

This is a classic hard rock album from the 1970s and is off course an album you should check out.

3 points  

Steely Dan - Aja (1977)

 

The sixth album from this band from USA.

 

The band was a duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker with a lineup of bass, guitars, piano, keyboards and vocals.

They got help from some guests who provided drums, haldorophone, percussion, vibes, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards, woodwinds and backing vocals.

The three previous albums Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied and The Royal Scam are all great albums so I had a lot of hope for the forty minutes long Aja too.

The music is jazzy, quirky rock with some pop sensibilities. 

The music is well developed and has some strange twists throughout. This is really clever music and a break with the rest of the scene. Steely Dan was the thinking man's pop/rock band.

Although the music here is a bit of a drop in quality compared to the three above mentioned albums, the music is still both good and in the same vein as those three albums. What is missing is the couple of killer tunes each of the above mentioned albums had.

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

3 points 

 

Moon Halo - Together Again (2022)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

One guest, Anne-Marie Helder, added her female vocals.

This is the follow up album to the 2020 debut album Chroma. That was a pretty good album in the borderlands between neo-prog and mainstream rock/pop.

The seventy minutes long Together Again takes us to the same landscape again.

The music is melodic with some hooks and clever details. The vocals is mainly male vocals. There are also some supporting female vocals here.

The music is slick, melodic and pretty catchy.

There are some good and some decent stuff here. I am not really won over but I am glad that the band really improved their music and went more progressive rock on their third album, the follow up album to this album. See review from earlier this year.

2.5 points  

  

Mahagon - Slunečnice pro Vincenta van Gogha (1980)

 

The second album from this band from the Czech Republic.

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

Some guests added strings and woodwinds.

This band started out as a jazz/fusion band on their debut album but then moved to a more pop direction before the two main members moved to USA and the band was disbanded.

This three quarters of an hour long album is indeed mainly in the pop and rock direction.

It is more fair to label this as a brass rock album than a pop album. There is indeed a lot of brass here and Chicago springs to mind on most of the songs here. 

The female vocals, in their local language/brogue, is powerful and cover the whole vocal range. 

The brass rock here is pretty powerful with some sporadic fusion influences. The music is also catchy at times.

The music is decent enough. There is no good songs here though and this album is not as interesting or good as their debut album. The band should be remembered for their debut album only.

2 points 

 

Pieretti. Massimo - The Next Dream (2025)

 

The second album from this artist from Italy.

Massimo Pieretti played the keyboards here.

He got help from numerous guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, chapmann stick, grand piano, church organ, synths, flutes, woodwinds and vocals.

I have not checked out his 2022 debut album A New Beginning so this is my first meeting with his music.

The music on this fifty minutes long album is not RPI. There is no Italian vocals here. The sound is Anglo - American. 

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

Well, the music is much more mainstream rock/pop than progressive rock. The vocals is both male and female. Mostly female vocals.

The music is mid-tempo to slow. The music is sugary sweet. There is not many interesting details here.

The music is decent enough but not more than that. I am not won over.

2 points 

 

Ovrfwrd - Starstuff (2020)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests added congas and flute.

I am not a fan of their first three albums. They are too much run-of-the-mill instrumental heavy prog albums. Hence, I had no expectations whatsoever to the forty minutes long Starstuff.

The music is still instrumental heavy prog.... With some variations. 

The introduction of flutes, keyboard and some acoustic guitars has softened up their sound and made it far more organic.

The melodies is also better here. 

The result is some more interesting music than I am used to from this band.   

The result is a pretty good album and their best album so far. I am positive surprised.

3 points 

  

Moron Police - The Propaganda Machine (2012)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band has recently released a new album, their fourth album, and I decided to review their first two albums before I review that album in the next days/weeks. 

I reviewed their third album A Boat On The Sea (2019) back in October 2019 in # 2 of this blog and liked it a lot. But I forgot to review their two first albums.... My bad/mistake.

The Propaganda Machine is clocking in at thirty-five minutes and it is fair to say that this album is all over the place when it comes to genres and the music.

Take hard rock and blend it with some Zappa'isms and punk rock. That is what we get here.

The music is both hard and heavy. The band is very influenced by the 1970s hard rock scene. Some of the music is also catchy and influenced by Blink 182. 

Most of the music is catchy enough and pretty weird. The clean vocals is pretty good. There are also some harsh death metal vocals here too.

This makes this album a pretty good album. Those of you who likes weird and hard music should check out this album.

2.5 points 

 

  

Magic Fig - Valerian Tea (2025)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

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

This is the follow up album to last year's debut album. A very good album where the music were a blend of psych rock, dreampop, Canterbury prog, indie rock and quirky progressive rock.  

The band is more or less going down the same path on the forty minutes long Valerian Tea album too.

The band comes from San Fransisco in California. That town/city has had a psych rock scene for the last sixty years. Bands like Jefferson Airplane springs to mind. Magic Fig is in the same genre too.

The vocals are female vocals and ethereal dream pop vocals too.

The music is melodic and a bit ethereal. This is west-coast psych rock indeed and the music is rooted in the late 1960s.

The music is also good throughout. Magic Fig is one of the most exciting psych rock bands around and their two albums should be checked out.

3 points

  

Magnum - The Serpent Rings (2020)

 

The 20th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added bass, a philharmonic orchestra and vocals.

The band continued on as they had got some more wind in their sails. More fans in other words.

This album clocks in at one hour and we get an hour's worth of pomp rock.

The music is pretty heavy and at the heavier end of the pomp rock spectrum.

The vocals is per usual very good and there are some good melodies here. There are also some dubious stuff here.

The result is a pretty good album from this band and one of their better albums.

2.5 points 

Year Of No Light - Tocsin (2013)

 

The fourth album from this band from France.

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

This is the follow up to their movie soundtrack album Vampyr from the same year. That album was a diversion from their usual music.

The one hour long Tocsin is a return to intense, fast post-metal. 

The music is harsh and slightly dissonant.

The music is also pretty sad and is mainly performed by electric guitars.

The music has a lot in common with black metal at times too.

The music is also epic and that makes this an interesting one hour worth of music.

The result is a pretty good album too. This is not their best album but still an album well worth checking out. Reviews of their latest two albums will be posted in some days time.

2.5 points 

 

Moon Halo - Chroma (2020)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added guitars and additional vocals.

I reviewed their third album, this year's album Trichotomy back in September this year and I added in the review that I would also review their first two albums too. That is what I am now doing before the end of this year.

Their third album was a melodic blend of neo-prog and psych rock. So I was hoping for more of the same as Moon Halo is a sort of a supergroup with some well known names from the neo-prog scene in Great Britain.

Chroma clocks in at one hour and the music is more mainstream rock and pop than progressive rock.

There are still some progressive rock influences here though. But most of the music is mainstream pop/rock. There is also a lot of electronica and some funk here.

The blend of male and female vocals is good. Ditto for the sound and the efforts of the musicians.

Some of the music is decent enough and some of the music is good. 

This is a promising debut album indeed and one those into melodic rock and pop should check out.

2.5 points  

Mahagon - Mahagon (1978)

 

The debut album from this band from the Czech Republic.

This band was a twelve-piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, electric violin, clavinet, piano, woodwinds and vocals.

This band released two albums between 1978 and 1980 before the two main persons in the band managed to emigrate to USA and the rest of the band split up. I will review their second album in some days' time.

The music on this forty minutes long album is somewhere between fusion and jazz. Weather Report is a good reference here.

The fusion here is mid-tempo with some pastoral pieces. 

There are a lot of flutes and female voices on this album in addition the woodwinds. The sound is good throughout this album.

The music is pretty good throughout this album. Fans of fusion and jazz should check out this album.

2.5 points 

 

Gazpatcho - Magic 8 Ball (2025)

 

The 12th album from this band from Norway.

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

This three quarters of an hour long album is another visit to their art-rock universe. 

The band started out as a Marillon, the Steve Hogarth era, sounding band. Then they slowly developed their own sound who greatly influenced other bands like their fellow countrymen Airbag.

The music on their previous album Fireworker (2020) was epic and grand. Magic 8 Ball sees the band retreat to a more introspective, melancholic sound and music. 

Introspective, melancholic art-rock is what we get here. As usual, there are some post-rock influences here as well. The music is pretty softly spoken. There is one vaudeville rock song here too.

The vocals is a per usual superb and the violins is adding a lot of quality to this album.

This is not their best album. Nevertheless, this is a good album and one I really enjoy as much as I enjoy the rest of their albums. 

3 points 

Riffstone - Sanctuary Sky (2025)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Their Richard III album from earlier this year was an interesting, good concept album about the much-maligned English king Richard III. A king who reigned over England 550 years ago and who were finally laid to rest in Leicester Cathedral ten years ago. 

The one hour and five minutes long Sanctuary Sky is a more straight forward symphonic prog album. The album is somewhere in the borderlands between symphonic prog and neo-prog.

The music reminds me a lot about the first Us (The Netherlands) albums. The music is a bit primitive and not particular epic and technical. 

The music is melodic through and songs based. 

The vocals are good. There are some good details here. The music is lacking a bit, quality wise. Nevertheless, this is a good album. 

3 points  

 

 

Prognosis. The - Runs Deep (2025)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This three quarters of an hour long album is the follow up to their 2018 album Still Waters. I reviewed that album some days ago and liked it a lot.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is symphonic prog.

The music is really melodic here as it was on their debut album too. 

The music is also based on songs and not so much free-form. 

The music is pretty funky and jazzy at times too. The vocals is a blend of male and female vocals. There are also some good flutes here.  

The overall quality is good. This album is not as good as their debut album but it is still an album well worth checking out.

3 points 

Winter of Our Years. The - Soundscapes (2025)

 

The third album from this band from Puerto Rico.

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

This is their second and final album this year. I have earlier this year reviewed their first two albums in this blog and they are both good albums.

This three quarters of an hour long album is an instrumental symphonic prog album. There are some neo-classical and mostly cinematic rock influences here.

In other words, the music here is in the same vein as the two previous albums.

There are a lot of piano, guitars and strings here.

The music is mid-tempo, melodic and pretty elegant.

There are some notable Camel influences on this album, indeed. 

The music is pretty good throughot this album. Some parts are too pedestrian, too much run-of-the-mill and that is the only gripe I got with this album. Check out this band.

2.5 points 

 

Wilderun - Sleep At The Edge Of The World (2015)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

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

This is the follow up to the 2012 album Olden Tales and Deadly Trails, a pretty good album I reviewed earlier this month.

Sleep At The Edge Of The World is clocking in at fifty-five minutes and sees the band continues down the path between folk rock and death metal.

Their 2012 album were a much more folk rock album than a death metal album. The band has moved far more towards death and progressive metal on Sleep At The Edge Of The World.

The music is more brutal during most of this album. There is though some pastoral pieces and some folk rock pieces here. This band reminds me a lot about Enslaved although Enslaved in their viking metal is leaning a lot more towards Norwegian black metal whilst Wilderun is leaning towards US death metal. 

The vocals here is a mix of growls and clean vocals. The music is epic and monumental throughout this album. The music is also good to very good at times.

This is indeed a good album and one to check out. The reviews of their, so far, latest two albums will follow around New Year's eve.

3 points 

 

 

 

Tempano - Seducción Subliminal (1984)

 

 The fourth album from this band from Venezuela.

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

A guest added guitars.

This is the follow up album to the horrendously bad pop album En Reclamacion album from 1983. That is why I did not have any hope for this album, the follow up album.

I did not get a positive surprise.

The music on this thirty-five minutes long album is 1980s pop music. The sound is horrible synthetic and the vocals is pretty bad.

This is another turkey from Tempano, I am afraid.

1 point 

  

Forgotten Gods - Memories (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Pete Jones did whistle on one track. 

The debut album from this band who were voted the best new band in 2024 by the Prog Magazine. That says something...

Hence there were a lot of expectations to this album who were released fourteen months ago. An album that is clocking in at fifty minutes.

The music is neo-prog with some funk and folk rock influences. 

The music is melodic and songs based. 

The sound is very good and ditto for the vocals. There is a good earthy ambience in their mid-tempo take on neo-prog. 

The music may be a bit too safe and pedestrian but he quality is good throughout this album. This is an album neo-prog fans should check out.

3 points 

 

 

 

Deposed King - One Man's Grief (2023)

 

The debut album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a duo with a lineup of bass, guitar, keyboards, synths, drum programming and vocals.

This is another case of getting their new album, then discovering that the band has released their debut album some years ago and therefore picking up that album too. The review of their second and new album will therefore be published sometime before the end of the year.

The music on this one hour long album can best be described as eclectic prog. There is some post-rock and electronica influences in the music here too. 

The album starts with a long post-rock influenced instrumental piece before the good vocals come in.  The music is then a mix of instrumental pieces and vocals. The balance between instrumental pieces and songs are pretty much spot on and cannot be faulted. 

The music is rather melancholic and downcast. It is also very beautiful at times.

The result is a very good album indeed and a debut album that promises a lot. I have added this band to my list of highly talented bands. 

3.5 points 

 

 

Barclay James Harvest - Relativity (2025)

 

The 22nd album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The official name of the band is John Lee's Barclay James Harvest and this has been their name for their last albums. I just prefer to call them Barclay James Harvest, the band who were formed back in 1966.

Relativity is clocking in at almost eighty minutes and this is a sort of concept album.

The music is progressive rock anno the early 1970s. 

There is also a lot of good old mainstream rock here and some Americana influences. 

The music is slow to mid-tempo and songs based. 

The vocals is good and ditto for the vocal harmonies. The band does a good job on some not in particular technical songs. 

The music is pretty pedestrian and not particularly interesting.

The result is a decent enough album which fans of this band will perhaps like a lot. I am more a fan of their older material than this album.

2 points 

 

Riffstone - Richard III (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This is the first of two albums this duo has released this year. I will publish my review of the second album sometime before the end of the year.

Richard III (1452 - 1485) is an English king who has fascinated the likes of William Shakespeare and numerous others for the last five hundred years. His remains was recently discovered beneath a car park in 2012 and he was reburied, after a funeral service and funeral procession attended by tens of thousands of people in 2015, ten years ago. Bizarre is the word.... Anyway, everyone deserves a proper funeral.

The deeply flawed tragic Richard III is also the subject of this almost ninety minutes long debut album from Riffstone.

This is of course a concept album and full of narrations. The music is melodic symphonic prog. 

The music is a bit light and fluffy at times. The narrations and the lyrics tells the story about Richard III and that makes this album better than the pretty good music.

That makes this a good album. An album that makes me want to read a Richard III biography. I will get onto Amazon and see what they got... Check out this album.

3 points 

 

Prognosis. The - Still Waters (2018)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band has just released their second album and I thought it would only be appropriate to review their debut album before I review their new album sometime before the end of the year.

 Still Waters clocks in at thirty-seven minutes and we get melodic symphonic prog here.

Genesis is a big influence here. In particular from their Trespass era. There is also a lot of early Marillion influences here.

The music is mid-tempo and mellow. It is also melodic.

The vocals is great with some Peter Gabriel and Fish influences. 

The result is a good album and a more than acceptable debut album. Check out this band.

3 points 

 

Murky Red - Long Time No See (2025)

 

The third album from this band from Belgium.

The band was by now a one-man-band with Stef Fleming doing the drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A handful of guests added triangle, bass, backing vocals and female lead vocals on some tracks.

The album title on this three quarters of an hour long album alludes to the fact that it is ten years since their last album. I have reviewed their albums in # 1 and # 2 of this blog. They are both good albums.

The music is a blend of psych rock and progressive rock. The music is rooted in the early 1970s psych and prog scene.

There is a fairly good cover of The Doors classic Riders On The Storm here. There is also a tribute song to the much missed late Colin Tench on this album too. 

The music is mid-tempo and the vocals are both in Stef's local language and in English. The vocals are pretty good throughout.

The music is good throughout and this band's return is very much welcomed. Check out this album from their Bandcamp page.

3 points 

 

Man - Back Into The Future (1973)

 

The sixth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A choir added vocals on some tracks.

This album is seventy-seven minutes long. The first half consists of six new studio tracks. The final three songs, and two of them are around the twenty minutes mark, are live tracks.

The music on both the studio and the live tracks is hard rocking psych rock. The exception is the rather strange track with a Welsh male choir. 

The live tracks are long improvised tracks with some space and blues rock influences. 

The overall quality is good and this is one of the albums that cemented Man's good reputation. Check it out.

3 points 

 

 

Ovrfwrd - Blurring The Lines.. A Democracy Manifest (2018)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

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

The album is clocking in at close to one hour and we are again being treated to instrumental heavy prog.

The music is pretty symphonic throughout.

The music has a lot of heavy guitars in addition to some keyboards.

The music here is not an improvement on the previous two albums. In other words, the music is slightly dull and does not really sparkle.

This is a decent enough album. If instrumental music is your thing....

2 points 

 

Jacula - In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum (2001)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

The band was a trio with a lineup of bass, guitars, church organ, electronics and vocals.

This album was originally recorded and released in 1969 in a very limited run. Black Widow Records overhauled the album and gave it a proper release in 2001. 

This forty minutes long album is mainly a neo-classical album with lots of church organs.

There are a lot of Italian lyrics narrations here. And there are some electric guitar solos too.

The music may be occult rock and the lyrics may be satanic or occult. I do not understand Italian.

The music is not particular interesting. Most of it is decent enough and that is the best I can say about this album.

2 points 

Fruteria Toni - El Porvenir Está En Las Huevas (2020)

 

The third album from this band from Spain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, violin, piano, keyboards, clarinet, saxophone and vocals.

A handful of guests added bass clarinet, flute and vocals.

First of all, I love the weird album art-work.....  

This forty minutes long album is their so far latest album. I really hope they will re-emerge one day as they are a seriously good band. 

The music is eclectic prog with a lot of Spanish folk rock and in particular... jazz influences.  

The vocals are in Spanish and they are all very good. There are a lot of saxophones and keyboards here. There are no guitars here whatsoever.  

The music is dynamic, mid-tempo and full of interesting details.  

 This band has become better and better by each album. This album is their best album and a very good album indeed. This is an album you should check out at their Bandcamp site.

3.5 points 

 

 

 

Homme - Ma Vie en Théorèmes (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from France.

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

This band was formed some years ago after the band members left other bands and converged into Homme. A single was recorded and released back in 2022 before the band recorded and released this album earlier this year.

This album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here can best be described as heavy prog. 

There are some Porcupine Tree influences here and some more modern rock influences. There are even some reggae here at the end of this album.

The music is pretty heavy and rocking throughout. The heavy stuff reminds me a lot about the hard rock scene in the 1970s and the 1980s. Indeed, there are some Trust references here. 

The vocals is good though and the band does a good job throughout. 

There are some good stuff here and some rather less good stuff. Their reggae stuff is, and I am no fan of that genre, some of the best stuff on this album.

I am not won over yet. But I still hope we will hear more from this band.

2.5 points