Pennelli di Vermeer. I - Misantropi Felici (2017)

 

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

This half an hour long album is the last sign of life from this band. I am not sure if they have split up or not. If they have split up, that is a loss to the RPI scene.

The band has gone more mainstream RPI on this album after three albums with theatrical vaudeville rock. There is still an avant-garde edge in their music, but the music is now more melodic.

The music is also pretty pastoral with some elegant music performed with some mostly acoustic instruments and electric guitars. The vocals are both male and female Italian vocals.

There is a lot of folk rock in their music on this album. The vocals is bordering to being great and the music is really good. 

I am kind of missing the very edgy old version of this band. Nevertheless, this is their best album and I cannot argue against that. 

3.5 points 

 

Krokofant - 6 (2025)

 

The sixth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio here with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths and saxophones.

The band returns as a trio on this forty-five minutes long album after having expanded, with two guests, to a quintet on the previous two albums.

The band has become one of the best jazz acts in Norway and this album continues down that path. 

The music is hard and fast jazz too with a lot of solos. Both sax and guitar solos. Tom Hasslan delivers some smoking hot solos here and he is the star on this album. 

There are some melodic pieces here too but they are in the minority. Most of this album has eclectic jazz. 

The music is good though and the three musicians does a great job on some good pieces of music. Sadly, their drummer Axel Skalstad passed on after this album was recorded. R.I.P.

3 points 

 

Book of Revelations. The - Olympus Mons (2025)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a one-man-band on this album with Gerard Freeman doing the bass, guitars, keyboards, programming and vocals.

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

I reviewed their 2023 debut album for # 3 of this blog back in December 2023 and gave it a very good rating. Hence, I was looking forward to this album.

Olympus Mons is a one hour long album. The music is symphonic prog with some very big Gabriel era Genesis and Fish era Marillion influences.

The sound is more in the vein of neo-prog than symphonic prog. 

The vocals is good and instruments are competent played. The music is pretty melodic and elegant. 

The music is good though until it comes to the final three tracks which is partly a Supper's Ready rip-off with some of the best pieces of that Genesis suite.  

On balance, this is still a good album although it falls a bit short of my expectations as the debut album was such a very good album.

3 points 

 

Proportions - Visions From A Distant Past (2019)

 

The second album from this multi-national band.

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

A handful of guests added congas, guitars, Chapman stick, synths, and vocals.

I was not particular impressed by their 2018 debut album Reboot. But this band has some excellent art-work and I am being seduced by them. Hence, I had some really good feelings about this, the follow up album.

Visions From A Distant Past is an one hour long album. The music is pretty elegant and a blend of symphonic prog and cinematic rock. Two of the tracks have vocals. The remaining ten tracks are instrumental pieces.

The music is very flowery throughout this one hour. It is also a bit pastoral with some RPI influences. The two songs are flower too with some folk rock influences.

This album is an improvement on their debut album and a good album in it's own right. I got four more of their albums to review. I am looking forward to that...

3 points 

 

 

Qumma Connection - Message From Stardust (2011)

 

The third album from this band from Finland.

The band was a one-man-band on this album where Rami Talja did the bass, warr guitar and programming.

Two guests added drums and female vocals.

Their 2010 album Unique was a good album and one that gave me a great deal of hope. This after a not so good debut album.

The fifty minutes long album I am here listening to is the follow up and one I hoped was on the same level or better than their second album. 

The music on this album is a mix of electronica, cinematic rock and instrumental psych rock. 

There are some wailing male and female voices here. Besides of that, the music is instrumental.

The sound is a bit darkened gothic. The musicianship is not really impressive. Neither is the sound. 

The result is barely a decent album. It is also a disappointment and a big, big step backwards for this band.

2 points 

Ujig - The Necessity of Falling (2018)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

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

I had the joy of reviewing their 2015 debut album 8 Out Of 8. In the review, I wrote that the band has released three albums. This is not correct, as I discovered in Discogs. The band has indeed released four albums. So I put reviewing their third album on hold and started to listen to this, their second album instead.

This album is a forty minutes long album and we are again being treated to jazz. Their record label Ma.Ra.Cash Records has labeled it as a fusion album.

It is true that the band has moved far more towards fusion on this album compared to their rather orthodox jazz album. But we are still talking about a jazz album here. That is not a bad thing.

There is a lot of half-acoustic and electric guitars here and a lot of piano and keyboards too.

The music is pretty melodic and an upgrade from their debut album. This band has matured a lot since their debut album, according to the music on this album. 

The result is a good album and one to check out if you are into jazz and/or fusion.

3 points

 

 

 

Rocking Horse Music Club - The Last Pink Glow (2025)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, programmed woodwinds and vocals.

Tony Banks added keyboards on one of the songs.

This band/project is based on the recording studios of the same name. Owner and friends then record and release the results of these recording sessions. That means four albums so far and I reviewed their third album last week.

This album is an interpretation of Jack Kerouac's novel The Haunted Life. A novel which is popular in the beat culture in USA and world wide. A novel which has inspired numerous artists and bands.

The music on this one hour long album is melodic neo-prog with some americana and psych rock influences.

The music is both elegant and melodic. It has a funky undertone with some good vocals on the top.

The music is mid-tempo and it has some good details. It also has a big US sound. 

This is indeed a good album and one to check out if elegant melodic prog is your thing.

3 points 

 

Nihilists. The - Oroboro (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band is totally new to me and they are new to me. The band comes from Modena, the home of the Ferrari cars and their Formula 1 team. Lamborghini, another sports car brand, also comes from this town in the northern part of Italy.

The music on this sixty-six minutes long album is indisputably RPI... but with a twist, as their take on RPI is not exactly run-of-the-mill and does not follow the formula. 

The music is a blend of RPI and eclectic psych rock. Mostly RPI it has to be said. There are also some avant-garde RPI influences here.

The songs are very eclectic and complex at times. This is not easy listening music. Neither is the music at times comfortable. 

The male and female vocals are in Italian. There are also some spoken words here too.

The art-work alludes to this being a dark music album. Well, that is not true. The music is slightly twisted and sinister but most of it has a good ambience. 

The result is a good debut album, showcasing a band with a great deal of promise. I hope we hear a lot more from them in the future.

3 points

  

 

    

Pennelli Di Vermeer. I - NoiaNoir (2014)

 

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

Some guests added their bass, guitars, violin, cello, theremin and vocals.

This band is a strange bird in the RPI scene. This is because their music is both vaudeville and very theatrical. Something I have noted in my reviews of their first two albums. One of them reviewed ten years ago in # 1 of this blog and the other one reviewed last week in this blog.

NoiaNoir is a forty minutes long album and the band has not changed much during the six years long break from their previous album.

The vocals ranges from shouty ones, talking ones, normal vocals and operatic ones. The vocals are both male and female vocals. The music is vaudeville and theatrical again. There are a lot of folk rock influences here too. 

The music is not as dense, bombastic this time around. It is more fluffy with a lot of air. 

The quality is somewhere between decent and good here. The songs are simply not up to an acceptable standard. Those into weird and wild music should check out this album.

2.5 points 

Krokofant - Fifth (2021)

 

The fifth album from this band from Norway.

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

Two guests, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Ståle Storløkken, added their bass and keyboards. Hence the undertitle of this album.

This is the second album where the band cooperated with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Ståle Storløkken. They also did this on their fourth album Q from 2019. 

The addition of these two guests means a less raw and eclectic jazz than the band as a trio. The band is more, far more melodic with these two guests in their soundscape. 

The music on this forty minutes long album is still eclectic jazz. The jazz is pretty raw and as always from this band.... not fort the faint hearted.

There are even some slow'ish mid-tempo and pastoral pieces here. That in contrast with the full on speed-jazz we normally get from this band.

The result is a very good album and another proof that this band is one of the better bands from Norway. Sadly, their drummer Axel Skalstad passed away some weeks ago. 

3.5 points 

  

Moon Letters - This Dark Earth (2025)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

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

I have reviewed their first two albums in both # 2 and # 3 of this blog so this band is pretty familiar to me and I was therefore happy when I got their new album. In particular because their first two albums was so good.

This quintet still plays some flowery progressive rock with a lot of US symphonic prog, psych rock, eclectic prog and heavy prog references. 

The music is pretty complex and I can hear some clear Queensryche influences in the hardest parts of music here.   

The more melodic parts are flowery with some psych rock and eclectic prog influences. 

The music is still melodic with some very good vocals and musicianship.  

This is another good album from this band and one to check out if melodic, flowery prog is your thing.

3 points 

 

Magnum - Goodnight L.A. (1990)

 

The eight album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests, including two members from Saga, added percussion, saxophones, programming and vocals.

The band continued on. This time with major label backing... and then grunge arrived and turned the music business upside down.

The music on this fifty minutes long album is pomp rock laden AOR with a lot of heavy metal influences. 

The music has a very commercial sound with a first class 1990s production and sound. 

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

The quality of the songs are barely decent and is the main problem here. The band tried to write and record commercially catchy tunes... but failed.

The vocals is the saving grace here on this barely decent enough album.

2 points 

 

Robe - Destrozares, Canciones Para El Final De Los Tiempos (2016)

 

The second album from this band from Spain.

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

A guest added woodwinds.

Their debut album was a good album, see my review from earlier this month, and proved that Roberto Iniesta had done the right thing by going on his own by setting up this band. 

The fifty minutes long follow up, this album, continues more or less in the same direction.

That means Spanish symphonic prog with a lot of chamber rock and Spanish folk rock influences.

The music is pastoral and has a good chamber rock feel. The music is also pretty melodic but it is also pretty eclectic and has a lot of interesting details.

In this anglo-american dominated music world, the music sounds both exotic and authentic. It is indeed both.   

Roberto's Spanish vocals are both powerful and good. The band does a very good job too.

The overall quality is good and this is an album well worth checking out.

3 points 

Ujig - 8 Out Of 8 (2015)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

Ujig is a new name and band to me. I was recently sent their new album and then discovered that the band already had released two albums. All three of them will be reviewed this summer in this blog.

This, their debut album, is a three quarters of an hour long album. The music is jazz. No less and no more.

The music is mainly mid-tempo with some solos and a tight rhythm section.

The guitars are a mix of electric and half-acoustic guitars. There is also a lot of piano and keyboards here.

The music is a bit bare-boned and standard quartet jazz. The music is not particular melodic.

There are some decent and some good stuff here. This album is perhaps more for the jazz crowd. But I think even they would come to the same conclusion as the one expressed in this review. This is an acceptable debut album.

2.5 points 

 

 

Rocking Horse Music Club - Circus of Wire Dolls (2022)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, electric piano, keyboards and vocals.

An army of guests added percussion, bass, guitars, strings, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

This band/project is an entity based on the Rocking Horse Recording Studios. Like minded musicians then writes and records music they like to perform. Guests are then invited to join in and add their vocals and/or instruments. The likes of Tim Bowness, David Cross and John Hackett, for example.

This album is ninety-six minutes long digital and double cd album. The music is melodic progressive rock with some folk rock and celtic rock influences. It has a rock opera feel although I have yet to find any concept here or the theme for a rock opera.

The music is sprawling with some off-Broadway musicals influences.

There is lots of male and female vocal harmonies and some duets. The many musicians is doing a good job.

The music is good although a bit wishy-washy. But the quality is undeniable good and this album cannot be faulted. It does not score many points in the originality stake. Nevertheless...

3 points 

  

Itinera - La Sintesi Del Tempo (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band is a new name to me and it was recommended to me by the author of a book about the RPI scene.

I have no info about where in Italy this band comes from. I got a band photo and the band members are all middle-aged.  

The music on this one hour long album is melodic RPI. The music is still pretty quirky with some Canterbury scene influences and some art-rock influences. There are also some notable jazz influences here.

The music is in other words playful.

The vocals are both male and female Italian vocals. There are indeed some vocal harmonies here and they are good. The rest of the band also does a good job here.

The music is not exactly traditional RPI but it is nevertheless RPI, but with a new modern approach. Hence, RPI fans should check out this album.

This is a good album in it's own right and the band is one to check out. 

3 points

  

 

 

 

Pallas - The Messenger (2023)

 

The eight album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band returned again after a long break for this album which is their latest album to this date.

This album is fifty minutes long and the band takes us back to their neo-prog roots again on this album.

There are also some art-rock and heavy prog influences here too. But the main part of this album is epic, symphonic neo-prog.  

Alan Reed's vocals are great and a big improvement on the vocals on the two previous two albums. There are also some good guitar solos here and lots of good keyboards. A real drummer is missing. Nevertheless, the programmed percussion gives the music an extra edge.

The sound is good and the six songs are an improvement on the two previous albums. This is indeed a good album and one well worth checking out.

3 points 

Kraan - Zoup (2023)

 

The 15th album from this band from Germany.

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

A handful of guests added percussion, keyboards, vocoder, saxophones and female vocals.

I love the art-work on this album. This album is so far the latest album from these veterans from Germany. A band who album debuted back in 1972. 

Zoup is an almost one hour long album with mostly instrumental music with a blend of fusion and krautrock. 

Well, the music is krautrock, but with a fusion take on krautrock. 

The music is pretty quirky and melodic throughout. 

There are some good pieces and details here. Most of the album is rather decent and does not impress me much.

It is still an album well worth checking out and I hope this is not their final album.

2.5 points

 

Astra Arcana - Tightrope (2025)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band comes from Umbria in Italy and consists of four young men. 

The music on this sixty-six minutes long album is indeed youthful too.

Take some heavy prog and blend it with art-rock and psych rock. There is also some djent here, a couple of minutes of djent, that is. There is hardly any RPI elements here although I believe this band and album may be labeled as such.

The vocals are in English and these male vocals are good, although a bit forced on the more heavy parts of this album.

Most of the album is mid-tempo, with some heavy parts blended into the mix to create contrast and variations.

The result is a pretty good album and one to check out. The band is still not in full bloom and I hope this band will progress into a great band on their next album. Check out this album.

2.5 points 

Papir - V (2017)

 

The sixth album from this band from Denmark.

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

This album is one and a half hour long, ninety-five minutes long. It is a double CD album too. 

The band continues on from their previous albums with their relative gentle space rock. Outer space rock as the music is really far out there.

The music is more gentle than harsh. This as a contrast to the music from most other outer space rock acts.  

The music is pretty melodic while retaining all the outer space rock hallmarks. The music is also pretty ambient and perhaps a bit too pedestrian at times.

This album is still good value for money as the band does what they knows best on this album. 

This is a pretty good, but still a good album from a band who is surely one of the best space rock acts in the world right now.

3 points  

Pennelli di Vermeer. I - La Primavera Dei Sordi (2008)

 

The second album from this band from Italy.

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

A couple of guests added saxophone and female vocals.

I reviewed their 2003 Mod.Barocco album for # 1 of this blog back in October 2014. The band has later released three more albums between 2008 and 2017. These three albums will be reviewed this month in this blog.

The music on this almost forty minutes long album is theatrical and eccentric. It is still RPI with a lot of folk rock influences.

Vaudeville and circus music is what this really is. The vocals is operatic, theatrical & over the top. There are both male and female vocals here.

Unusual music is the phrase here. Nevertheless, this music works and it it good music. Italy and the RPI genre has some weird bands. This band is one of them.

3 points

  

 

Foundation. The - Mask (2023)

 

The debut album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a ten man big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, ebow, violin, keyboards, flute and vocals.

This band should not be confused with the older Swedish band with the same name. This Dutch band has so far released two albums and I suspect this is more a studio project than a proper band. It has members from other Dutch bands like Knight Area and Odyssice. 

The music on this fifty minutes long album is epic, symphonic prog influenced neo-prog. Dutch neo-prog, that is.

The music is bold and epic. It still has a lot of interesting details and melodies.

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

This is indeed a good album. It is a debut album which showcases this band/project as a very talented entity. I will try to get their new album and then review it as soon as I can.

3 points

 

Foschia - Dalla Citta al Cielo (2019)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This one hour long album is so far the only album from this band.  

The music here is a mix of psych rock and RPI.

...sort of....

The psych rock is pretty evident and there are some soft RPI here in the vein of Locanda Delle Fate. That said, the music is not lush. It is more bare boned and barren.

The vocals is good throughout and they are in Italian.

There are some good piece of music here and some not so good piece of music. 

I am not entirely won over by this album. It is a weird album indeed.

2.5 points

 

Guildmaster. The - Gathering of Souls (2025)

 

The third album from this multi-national band.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, bouzouki, mandolin, electric violin, violin, zither, organ, dulcimer, piano, keyboards, synths, recorder, woodwinds and vocals.

Some guests added guitars, chapman stick, flute and vocals.

This band is a side project of the Samurai Of Prog project.. which again is a side project of numerous other bands. 

I have yet to get and sample their first two albums. I am not sure if that will ever happen.

The music here is more folk-rock orientated than the Samurai Of Prog albums. I suspect this is the reason why the project The Guildmaster was set up as the material is not suitable for that project. Fair enough.

That gives us one hour of folk rock with a lot of keltic rock, in the vein of Horslips, and symphonic prog influences.

The music is both elegant and melodic. There are some good vocals in addition to the cascades of various instruments. 

The music is good throughout without really impressing me. This is a good album for those who likes that Samurai Of Prog series and who also likes elegant, proggy folk/Celtic rock.

3 points

 

Pallas - Wearewhoweare (2014)

 

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band returned again three years after the disappointing XXV album. 

Wearewhoweare is a one hour long album. It contininues on in the same vein as XXV as the music is hard and heavy. 

The genres are both neo-prog and heavy prog. There are also some prog metal here. Most songs are between five and ten minutes long.

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

That said... The songs are again pretty sub-standard and very far from being as great as Pallas best songs from the 2005 album The Dreams Of Men and earlier albums.  

It feels like the band is threading water on this album. A decent enough album but still a failure.

2 points 

Kraan - Sandglass (2020)

 

The 14th album from this band from Germany.

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

A quartet of guests added percussion, piano, keyboards, flute, horns and backing vocals.

The band continued on as a trio on this album.

The band has had a long career with Helmut Hattler on bass the longest serving member of the band. A band whose albums has been a mixed bag, both genre wise and quality wise. Krautrock is the most genre who fits this band best.

This fifty minutes long album is also a mixed bag. It has both long instrumental pieces and some songs. 

The music is pretty elegant throughout with some pretty good vocals and some good guitars and drums.

The quality is a mixed bag again. Most of the music is too much run-of-a-mill and does not sound very inspired and sparkling. The music is too laidback and too mainstream likeable. There is a couple of interesting pieces of music here and that is all. That said, this album is not too bad.

2.5 points

 

Perséide - Passages Secrets (2025)

 

The fourth album from this band from Canada.

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

Some guests added steel guitars, synths and backing vocals.

This band is, as Barrdo is, from Quebec in the French speaking part of Canada. Hence the French vocals.

I have reviewed their first three albums in # 3 of this blog and given them a good to very good albums status.  

The music on this forty minutes long album is a mix of French folk rock and symphonic prog. Harmonium is a band that springs to mind here. It is easy and probably a bit unfair to declare that Perseide is Harmonium's heir apparent. But it feels like it when you are listening to this and their first three albums.

The music is both melodic and intricate. It is also clever and quirky. There is indeed some Canterbury scene influence in their music.

The vocals are very good and the music has some good guitars and keyboards too. The band and the guests do a very good job indeed.

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

3.5 points 

 

Krokofant - Krokofant III (2017)

 

The third album from this band from Norway.

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

I have already reviewed three of their six albums and am now reviewing the remaining three unreviewed albums this summer.

The band, and the music world, sadly lost their drummer Axel Skalstad last month. A big loss indeed.

Krokofant III is a forty minutes long album and jazz is the music here. 

The music is pretty avant-garde with some eclectic prog elements. This is not music for the faint hearted.

Some of the guitars and most of the saxophones are dissonant too. The rhythm section, consisting of drums only, is like thunder and lightning, underpinning the music. 

The music is fast to very fast at times. 

The result is both an eclectic and esoteric album. This is also a good album which is pretty fascinating and endearing too. 

Check out this album.  

3 points 

 

Modern Stars - Silver Needles (2020)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This band has so far released four albums on LP and through Bandcamp. I will review all four of them this summer. 

Silver Needles is just short of half an hour long album. Too short to really be called an album. Nevertheless....

The band has labeled their music as neo-psych. That is a pretty good description of what we get on this album. Add in some spaced out krautrock too and you get this album.

The music has a dirty sound and that is done by purpose, I guess. The vocals is OK and the band does a decent job on some half-decent songs. The sitar sound is decent enough.

The quality is only decent but I hope the band will improve on this album on their next albums.

2 points

 

 

 

 

 

Plenilunio - Nascere qui... (2025)

 

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

This band's members has an average age of fifty or so. They have established themselves as one of the bands in the new wave of RPI. Their first three albums is indeed well worth checking out.

Pastoral and gentle RPI is what we get on this three quarters of an hour long album. The Trespass album by Genesis is a good reference here. 

The sound is still pretty muscular on these seven songs. One of the songs is a quarter of an hour long suite. That is the best piece of music on this album. An album which is very much vocals and songs based.

Roberto Maggiotti's vocals is superb and one of the best ones in the RPI scene. That says a lot..... The rest of the band does a great job on some pretty good songs. 

The result is still a good album which should please everyone into vocals based gentle pastoral progressive rock.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Obiymy Doschu - Vidrada (2025)

 

The third album from this band from Ukraine.

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

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

The band returned again afther their 2017 album Son. An album I reviewed earlier this month in this blog.

The Son album, and indeed their 2009 debut album Elehia too, was a good album indeed.

Their music on this fifty minutes long album is a dark blend of art-rock and Ukrainian folk-rock. There are some symphonic prog influences here too. 

The music is a bit gloomy. It has been written in a war-torn country and the vocals are in their local Ukraine language. Male vocals and they are a bit operatic and great.

There are some strings here who brings the Ukraine folk rock to the fore here and gives the music a strong local flavour. This band is indeed an Ukraine band and the mid-tempo compositions, songs, here reflect their nationality.

The death metal vocals on one of the tracks adds some good colours to that song and this album. 

The result is a good album and one to check out. I really likes this album but I wish they could release albums on a more frequent basis. Then again, releasing albums and music is very understandable not the first priority these days for the people in Ukraine.

3 points 

Barrdo - Amer Faste (2025)

 

The seventh album from this band from Canada.

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

This band comes from Quebec, the French speaking part of Canada. I have always compared them to Harmonium, the band fronted by Serge Fiore who sadly passed away last month (24. June). 

I have always liked this band as you can read in my reviews of their albums in # 3 of this blog. Hence, a new Barrdo album is something I am always looking forward to.

This forty minutes long album sees the band scaling back again and retreating more into a chanson and French folk rock band. There is not much symphonic prog and not many Harmonium influences either. 

The music is a bit bare-boned and not so progressive. Neither is it that exciting.

This is not among their best albums. It is pretty much their least interesting album. There is still some good stuff here. But not enough to win my approval.

2.5 points  

McKendree Spring - Too Young To Feel This Old (1976)

 

The seventh and final album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, viola and vocals.

This band's long career came to an end with this album. 

This album is just over half an hour long. The music here is a mix of folk rock and country'n'western. There are also some notable arena rock influences here.

This is because of the melodies and not because of the instruments, btw. The music is mainly acoustic with lots of violins and guitars.

The music is dominated by the good vocals and vocal harmonies. 

The result is a likeable, decent album which should give the folk rock fans a lot of joy. It is a decent album in it's own right.

2 points  

Perilymph - Progressions Imaginaires (2024)

 

The fourth album from this band from France.

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

Their first two albums has showcased a band who first started as a one man band and who later developed into a full band. The band was a full quartet or so at the previous album and this has indeed carried over to their new album.... this album.

The music on this forty minutes long album is a mix of French symphonic prog and psych rock. There are also some jazz bits here in their music and sound.

The music is very colourful here. The psych elements has some Latin-American elements too. 

The French vocals is very good and the band does a great job.

The songs are good and has a good ambience.

This band is one of the new talents in the scene and I hope to hear a lot more from them in the future. All their, so far, four albums is well worth checking out.

3 points 

Ultranova - O Eremita (2025)

 

The second album from this band from Brazil.

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

The band returned again after an eight years long album break. I reviewed their 2017 debut album Orion for # 2 of this blog back in January 2018. It was a decent enough instrumental album.

The follow up album, the one hour long O Eremita, is in the same vein as Orion.

The music is a blend of fusion and symphonic prog. There are also some pretty strong Brazilian folk rock and cinematic rock influences in their music.

The music is dynamic with a lot of piano and electric guitars. The music has a Latin-American flavour throughout.

The music is pretty light and bright too. It is pretty symphonic too and in the Latin-American prog rock tradition.

The music is pretty good throughout without really being a great album.

If you like instrumental prog with a Latin-American flavour, this is an album for you.

2.5 points

 

 

 

Proportions - Reboot (2018)

 

The debut album from this band from Sweden/Canada/USA

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, mandolin, piano, keyboards, synths, loops and flute.

A trio of guests added bass, guitars and cello.

This band, which I guess is internet based, is a true international band which has so far released six albums. All of them has got coverful album art-work and I suspect that they first attracted me to the band. I will review their six albums this summer and I am off course starting with this, their debut album. 

The music on this almost one-hour-long album is also pretty colourful. 

The music is an instrumental blend of cinematic rock, eclectic prog and jazz.

There is a lot of synths and electric guitars here. The sound is good too.

What this album is missing is good music. There is some good ideas here.... but that is what this album is. Ideas and they are a bit disconnected. 

There is a lot of potential here but it has not been unleashed on this album.

2.5 points

 

  

 

Qumma Connection - Unique (2010)

 

The second album from this band from Finland.

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

The band returned two years after the release of their not so impressive debut album Arabesque. I reviewed that album last month and was not impressed by it's substandard eclectic instrumental music.

Unique is a fifty minutes long album. The music is a blend between symphonic prog and cinematic rock. There are also some folk rock influences here.

The vocals, which are good vocals, are wordless and function as an instrument.  

The music is most of all bold and epic with a lot of keyboards and guitars. There are indeed a lot ELP references scattered around on this album.

The result is a good album that should interest symphonic prog fans a lot. Check it out.

3 points 

Plenilunio - Il Gioco Imperfetto (2021)

 

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

The band returned again after the Covid pandemic with this, their third album.

I have reviewed their first two albums in # 2 of this blog and they are good RPI albums. Hence, I jumped on the chance to review both their brand new album and this album. A review of their brand new album will follow later this week.

This album is three quarters of an hour long and the music genre is RPI.

The music is mid-tempo and pretty pastoral. The songs are pretty short and to the point. There is hardly any solos on this album and the vocals are dominating this album as this is a songs based album.

The vocals, male Italian vocals, are good. Ditto for the sound. 

The music is pretty good too. This is good RPI album and one to check out if melodic songs based RPI is your preferred type of music.

3 points 

Obiymy Doschu - Son (2017)

 

The second album from this band from Ukraine.

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

The band got help from some guests who added their guitars, violin, cello, saxophone, flute and vocals.

This album is the follow up album to their 2009 album Elehia. An album I reviewed back in May 2014, eleven years ago, for # 1 of this blog. I also reviewed one of their many EPs in that blog too. I really liked both of them.

Son is a seventy-three minutes long album. The music is, as Elehia was, dark and brooding art-rock.

The vocals are in the local language Ukrainian. Both the male and female vocals are operatic and superb. 

The music is also a blend of art-rock and Ukrainian folk-rock. There a lot of melancholy and sadness in the music. This mixed with a few really uplifting songs too. Some of the more dark songs are bordering to both hymns and dirges.

The tempo is slow to mid-tempo throughout. The music is far from being catchy and the songs are not overly great. This is though a captivating album with some flaws (not good enough melodies). Nevertheless, this is an album well worth checking out.

The band has just released a new album, their third album, and a review will follow later this week.

3 points

 

Mollestad. Hedvig Trio - Bees in the Bonnet (2025)

 

The tenth album from this band from Norway.

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

Hedvig Mollestad has in the last decade become one of the best guitarists and artists in the prog and jazz scene in Norway. 

The music on this thirty-six minutes long album, and indeed on most of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio albums is neither prog or jazz. The music here is hard rock with a lot of jazz influences.

Take Motorhead and Budgie. Infuse jazz into their music. Well, the late and very much missed Lemmy in Motorhead was a jazz bass player in any case. Something that was a substantial part of the Motorhead sound. Hedvig Mollestad Trio takes this hard rock a lot further into the jazz territory.

The music is very hard here. It is also a bit dissonant at times. The band does a great job on bass and drums, with Hedvig guitars on the top. 

The trio, or Hedvig, has not gone for a guitar hero album. She is indeed a guitar hero and her guitars are great on this album. This though is a band album where all three members works as one unit.

Some of the guitar themes are very good, though, and Hedvig really demonstrates that she is a great guitarist. 

The result is another very good album from this band and a reminder that this is a band, and indeed an artist, who deserves a greater following. The music here is not for the faint-hearted though.....

3.5 points 

 

 

McKendree Spring - Get Me To The Country (1975)

 

The sixth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, viola, synths and vocals.

The band soldiered on with this forty minutes long album.

The music was again folk rock with some country'n'western and pop influences.

Most of the songs here are straight forward mid-tempo. There are a couple of ballads here too which drags this album over into a more pop and mainstream rock territory.

Guitars and vocals is the main instruments here. Most of the music is electric with lots of drums and bass too.

The music is melodic and not particularly complex. The vocals are good though.

This is a decent enough album and well worth checking out if US folk rock is your thing.

2 points 

 

Perilymph - Tout En Haut (2021)

 

The third album from this band from France.

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

Two guests added keyboards and flute on one track.

This album sees the band double up from being a duo to becoming a quartet. The band was a one-man-band on the debut album and then became a duo on their second album...... Hmm...

Fabien De Menou is still the mainman and is doing most of the tasks here, including the vocals. Good vocals, btw.

The music has developed too during these three albums. Take some chansons, dream pop and add a lot of psych rock too. Then you get this three quarters of an hour long album.

The music is very flowery with some Ange influences too. The French vocals are adding quality to this album.  

This album is marginally better than their second album Deux and a good album in it's own right. This is a band I really like a lot.

3 points 

 

Panzerpappa - Landsbysladder (2025)

 

The eight album from this band from Norway.

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

The band got some help from a handful of guests who has provided percussion, accordion, synths, flute and clarinet.

Panzerpappa is celebrating twenty-five years as recording artists these days. The band are veterans in the scene as the members also ran a progressive rock fanzine in the 1990s (which also included Jacob Holm-Lupo from White Willow). I have reviewed some of the first Panzerpappa albums but I gladly admit I am not really up to date with their albums. Anyway... The band is one of Europe's leading lights in the avant-garde/RIO scene.

Landsbysladder means "village gossips" in English and I can, as I have lived in villages all my fifty-seven years, releate to the excellent album art-work and the album title. You see a lot of park benches with gossiping men and women. Gossips which can be hurtful and damaging. But they also have a positive function and they are what we villagers have to live with. For good and worse.

The band is nominally a chamber rock band and that is the genre best describing this fifty minutes long album. There are also some more cinematic rock here too. 

The music is not as dense avant-garde as I did expect, based on the few previous albums I have reviewed of them. The music is pretty melodic without really being easy listening and commercial.

The music also reflects the album title and the album art-work. It is both dark, melancholic and sinister. There are also some more playful music here too.

The result is a good album and one even those who are not avant-garde/RIO fans should check out. 

3 points 

  

Magnum - Wings Of Heaven (1988)

 

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A male vocalist and a choir added backing vocals on a couple of tracks. Another guest added some programming too.

I believe I bought this album on cassette back in Norway when it was released in 1988. I was not overly impressed by it as I was in a metal phase (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer etc) back then. The music here was too soft for me.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is pomp rock with a lot of AOR influences and some hints of progressive rock.

The music is very melodic with some catchy tunes. That is the first thirty-five minutes of this album. The final ten minutes is a ten minutes long epic which has some symphonic prog influences and is a pretty good album.

There is also a couple of songs which is very much, at best, half-decent and makes me cringe.

This makes this a decent album but nothing more than that. If pomp rock/AOR floats your boat...

2 points

  

Robe - Lo Que Aletea En Nuestras Cabezas (2015)

 

The debut album from this band from Spain.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

This band has so far released four albums and they are all up for reviews this summer on this blog.

Robe is the brainchild of the vocalist and guitarist Roberto Iniesta. He was previously a member of the Spanish band Extremoduro. 

Robe has got a large following in Spain and has done some shows they have released as a double CD live album too. I do not review live albums but that album should be checked out.

Back to their debut album...

The music on this forty-five minutes long album are a blend of symphonic prog and folk rock. It reminds me about the first Spanish symphonic prog albums from the 1970s. It is a mostly symphonic prog album. 

There is a lot of violins here and some saxophones. This in addition to the other instruments. 

The music is a mix of mid-tempo and some more pastoral music. The vocals, Roberto's vocals, are in Spanish. These are good vocals too and is adding a lot of good flavours to this album.

The result is an album bordering between good and very good. 

This debut is probably the start of something really good, something really big, a new big band in the scene. 

3 points 

 

 

 

M.O.T.U.S - Machine Of The Universal Space (1972)

 

The one and only album from this band from France.

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

This band released this thirty-five minutes long album and then disappeared again. Not that anyone noticed that this band were around and releaesed this album. This album is a very obscure album, indeed. It has yet to see a re-release on CD too.

The music here is basically americana with a mix of folk rock, blues, jazz and some rock'n'roll.

The sound is good, the vocals is good and the band does a good job on what back then were some really commercial songs. 

The songs sounds very much like run-of-a-mill songs and the origiality factor is very low.

This is a fairly decent album that deserves its status as an obscure, forgotten album.

1.5 points 

 

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister - Tarot, Part II (2024)

 

The third album from this band from Spain.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, sitars, mandolin, organ, piano, keyboards, mellotron and vocals.

A handful of guests added percussion, guitars, sitar, narration and vocals.

This was the second album in the Tarot series the band released last year. I reviewed Tarot, Part I last August in # 3 of this blog and gave it a very good rating.

This band with it's long winded name is one of the best bands who has come out of Europe in the last ten years. Both their first two albums are highly recommended.

This fifty minutes long third album is a psych rock album with a lot of acid-folk and Asian folk music influences.

The music is melodic and has some good vocals too.

The music here is not as good as on Tarot Part I. It is still a good album and one to check out. 

3 points

 

 

 

Petrini. Diego - La Materia Del Suono (2025)

 

The debut solo album from this artist from Italy.

Diego Petrini did the drums, piano and keyboards here.

He got help from a handful of guests who added their bass, accordion, guitars, saxophone, flute and vocals.

Diego Petrini is better known as a member of the Italian RPI band Il Bacio Della Medusa. This band has released five albums between 2004 and 2023. All of them have been reviewed in this blog, #1 - #3. Five good albums in the classic RPI style. 

The one hour and five minutes long La Materia Del Suono is an instrumental album, with the exception from the final track, which is a classic RPI song with vocals from the vocalist in Jumbo. The music is a mix of RPI, jazz and cinematic rock.

The music is pastoral and softly spoken with a lot of piano. That instrument is dominating this album. There are some other instruments here but they are mostly playing a supporting role.

The music is decent enough without really being impressive... or good. I hope this album is not the end of Il Bacio Della Medusa. I am not impressed.

2 points

 

 

 

Lux Terminus - Cinder (2025)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

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

A handful of guests added guitars, keyboards, saxophones, flutes and vocals.

The band returned again, seven years after the release of their debut album The Courage To Be. That was a good album somewhere between cinematic rock, fusion and neo-prog.

The fifty minutes long Cinder is the follow up album and we get more of the same.

Take cinematic rock and blend it with some fusion, progressive metal and bold US symphonic prog.  

The music is hard and heavy. But it is never ever a metal production or album. The cinematic rock aspect is always on the forefront of their music.

The music is bold and epic. This band does not do modesty. 

Most of the music is instrumental. There are some vocals here. They work more as instruments than anything else.

The overall quality is good and this album is well worth checking out.

3 points 

  

Leprous - Melodies of Atonement (2024)

 

The ninth album from this band from Norway.

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

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

Theatrical extreme progressive rock is what we get again on this album. Just as on their previous albums.

The vocals is as per always superb and the music is big, bold and epic.

There is a difference between this album and the previous albums though. A subtle difference but still one to be noted.

The music on this album is darker, more gloomy than on any of their first eight albums. The music is bombastic dark with some doomy melodies.

The music is still pretty melodic. They are most of all very complex and not easy listening.

The result is a good album. A good album but not among their best albums. Every albums from this band should be checked out as the band is one of the great, and one of the most unique bands in the prog metal genre.  

3 points