Altar Of Plagues “Teethed Glory And Injury”

Country: Ireland
Sub Genre: Post Metal, Experimental, Ambient
Label: Profound Lore Records/Candlelight Records
Release date: April 30, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Mills
2. God Alone
3. A Body Shrouded
4. Burnt Year
5. A Remedy And A Fever
6. Twelve Was Ruin
7. Scald Scar Of Water
8. Found, Oval And Final
9. Reflection Pulse Remains


Line-up: 

James Kelly - guitars, vocals, keyboards
Dave Condon - bass, vocals
Johnny "S. MacAnri" King - drums

Description/Reviews: 

With “TGAI” a wholly new sonic canvas has been created. While still harnessing the elements in which helped shape their sound in the past (the black metal and post-rock influence, even though now more marginalized), “TGAI” sees Altar Of Plagues create not only their most unconventional and visceral album yet, but their most overwhelming album in their repertoire. With an array of elements that range from industrial, electronica, along with taking the ambient and experimental influence that much further by creating a more extreme and even harsher soundscape, the many sounds generated on “TGAI” become weaved and integrated to create an unforgiving scenario of suffocating majestic glorious noise and sonic mental disarray. The result being “TGAI” defined as a vision unparalleled.

Media/Samples 
God Alone

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The Heliocentrics "13 Degrees Of Reality"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Psychedelic, Funk, Experimental
Label: Now-Again
Release date: April 30, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Feedback (Intro)
2. Ethnicity
3. Public Safety
4. Mysterious Ways
5. Dreams
6. Collateral Damage
7. Outtake (Interlude)
8. Freeness Part 2
9. Wrecking Ball (Prelude)
10. Wrecking Ball
11. Mind Readers
12. Descarga Electronica
13. A Musical Conspiracy (Interlude)
14. Eastern Begena
15. Hall Of Mirrors (Interlude)
16. Mr. Owusu, I Presume?
17. The Abstract & The Absolute (Interlude)
18. Black Sky
19. Prepare For Lift-Off (Interlude)
20. Path Of The Black Sun
21. Calabash
22. Vibrations Of Fallen Angels (Outro)


Line-up: 

Malcolm Catto – Drums, Marimbula, Percussion, Additional Guitar and Piano
Jake Ferguson – Bass, Begena, Additional Guitar, Vibes and Piano
Jack Yglesias – Percussion, Kalimba, Flutes, Homemade Instruments and String Arrangements on “Collateral Damage”
Ade Owusu – Guitar, Thai Guitar, Effected Santur, Feedback and Koto
Ollie Parfitt – Piano, Keys and Electronic Effects
Tom Hodges – Electronica
Mike Burnham – Ring Mod Guitar on “Wrecking Ball”
Shabaka Hutchings – Bass Clarinet
Danny Keane – Cello
Raven – Violin

Description/Reviews: 

The Heliocentrics' debut album, "Out There" (2007) was a confounding piece of work. Drawing equally from the funk universe of James Brown, the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra, the cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone, the sublime fusion of David Axelrod, Pierre Henry's turned-on musique concrète, and Can s beat-heavy Krautrock, "Out There" pointed the way towards a brand new kind of psychedelia, one that could only come from a band of accomplished musicians who were also obsessive music fans. The Heliocentrics search for it in an alternate galaxy where the orbits of funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, avant-garde and "ethnic" music all revolve around "The One." Back at Now-Again with "13 Degrees of Reality", the Heliocentrics have returned to develop this epic vision of psychedelic funk, while exploring the possibilities created by their myriad influences Latin, African, and more. Thus, the electro-Latin fusion of "Descarga Electronica" sits next to weeping strings piled atop "Collateral Damage's" chunky rhythms, which passes undulating swing of "Wrecking Ball", a dirge as irresistibly funky as it is devastating. "Out There" may have been one hell of an opening volley, but having spent some years in the wild running among mavericks like Astatke and Oriental Jazz pioneer Lloyd Miller, the Heliocentrics have realized that their strongest statements are made somewhere between the persistent fuzz of Owusu's distorted guitar, Catt' s impossible syncopation and Ferguson's looping bass lines. (Amazon)

Media/Samples 
Wrecking Ball (mp3)

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ScienceNV "Last Album Before the End of Time"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Instrumental Eclectic
Label: self-released
Release date: April 30, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Mars (9:15)
2. Chinatown (Last Song Before the End of Time) (7:56)
3. Molecular Super-Modeling (5:01)
4. Curved Space (4:00)
5. Cold Sleep (8:45)
6. The Ring Cycle (15:37)
   I. Titan
   II. Iapetus
   III. Enceladus
   IV. Stella Mortis
   V. Titan (Reprise)
7. Atmosphere of the Mind (8:31)

The final four tracks of the album are movements of The Ring Cycle as individual tracks:
8. Tital - 3:25
9. Iapetus - 3:26
10. Enceladus - 3:01
11. Stella Mortis - 3:44

Line-up: 
Larry Davis - guitar, bass
David Graves - keyboards
Jim Henriques - guitar, keyboards
Rich Kallet - drums

Description/Reviews: 

Rather than finding a formula and sticking to it, Sceicne NV move across a range of styles within the overall template of what may be called prog rock and thereby provide sufficient diversity to keep the listener interested. Think of all the leading prog rock bands of the past and you will find occasions when Science NV sound like them on one or other tracks of the first half of the album: second half of "Chinatown" (Pink Floyd); "Curved Space" (Porcupine Tree); "Molecular Super Modelling" (Camel); "Mars" (Emerson, Lake and Palmer): "Cold Sleep" (mid-period Yes). 

Read the full review by Charles Martel at musicemissions.com

Media/Samples 
2 tracks online

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Zs "Grain"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Avant Prog, Jazz
Label: Northern Spy
Release date: April 30, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Grain Part One (20:50)
2. Grain Part Two (21:32)

Line-up: 
Sam Hillmer (tenor sax)
Patrick Higgins (guitar, electronics)
Greg Fox (percussion)

Description/Reviews: 

Rather than set expectations and parameters for this phase of the band by initially releasing original compositions, the trio opted instead to create a cannibalistic mixtape that feeds on the carcass of the last Zs iteration. Hillmer and Higgins used the last-gasp recordings of the previous trio to create a 21-minute continual rupture of sound, where any one layer or melody or rhythm generally lasts long enough only to reveal something else pushing through it. Fox took the same material and bent it into a strange span of beats, whirrs and drones, populating his side of this quixotic and intriguing LP with both a warped sense of time and a disobedient attention span. Those qualities, of course, trace a through line from the earliest incarnations of Zs to this rather uproarious one.

Read the full review by  Grayson Currin at pitchfork.com

Media/Samples 
Grain (Excerpt)

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Tolerance “When Time Stops”

Country: Venezuela
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Musea
Release date: April, 2013
Tracklist: 
1 Lutin  (06:58)
2 When Time Stops  (05:13)
3 Different Skies  (09:14)
4 Drifted  (05:57)
5 Blind Spot  (04:35)
6 Meeting The Path  (05:51)
7 Beware Of The Birds  (05:23)
8 The Greatest Plan  (09:22)

Line-up: 
Ricardo Figueroa - vocals
Carlos Cabrices - guitars
Rodrigo Nuñez - drums
Antonio Ramirez - keyboards
    With
Henry Paul: bass on “Blind Spot”, ”Drifted” and “When Time Stops”
Enrique Perez: bass on “Beware Of The Birds”, “Different Skies” and “Lutin”
Pepe Perez Rivero: bass on “Meeting The Path” and “Greatest Plan”
Valter Izzo: violin on “Lutin” and “Greatest Plan”
Mariangela Travieso: cello on “Lutin”
Ricardo Figueroa and Jorge Rojas: strings arrangements on “Lutin”

Description/Reviews: 

Tolerance is a Venezuelan progressive rock band whose sound is a blend of metal, hard rock, funk, classical and electronic sounds. Their lyrics are related to topics such as existence, science, politics and environmental issues.

Media/Samples 
4 songs online

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Purson "The Circle and The Blue Door"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Psychedelic
Label: Rise Above Records/ Metal Blade
Release date: April 29, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Wake Up Sleepy Head 2:06
2. The Contract 4:11
3. Spiderwood Farm 5:09
4. Sailor's Wife's Lament 3:59
5. Leaning on a Bear 3:27
6. Tempest and the Tide 5:06
7. Mavericks and Mystics 3:48
8. Well Spoiled Machine 5:09
9. Sapphire Ward 5:02
10. Rocking Horse 4:25
11. Tragic Catastrophe 5:21

Line-up: 
Rosalie Cunningham - Vocals, lead guitar
George Hudson - Guitars, backing vocals
Samuel Shove - Organ, mellotron, wurlitzer
Barnaby Maddick - Bass, backing vocals
Jack Hobbs - Drums

Description/Reviews: 

There is a magic place where folky warmth meets lurid technicolour horror, where prog complexity and all out skull-crushing doom combines with classic songwriting to flesh out a sinister but romantic vision of twisted dreams and lurking threats hidden just out of view. That place is the debut album by Purson, which finds the missing link between Pentangle and Pentagram, by way of David Bowie’s dream reality and The Beatles’ feel for the perfect melody. And while it owes a debt to front woman Rosie Cunningham’s clear love of the late 60s and the early 70s, it is her poetic, evocative lyricism, tight song craft, sonorous vocal style and dedication to deep musicality that takes this album far beyond the waters of pastiche.

Media/Samples 
Leaning On A Bear
Entire album online

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Wolf People "Fain"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Prog Folk, Psychedelic
Label: Jagjaguwar
Release date: April 29, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Empty Vessels
2. All Returns
3. When the Fire Is Dead in the Grate
4. Athol
5. Hesperus
6. Answer
7. Thief
8. NRR

Line-up: 
Jack Sharp (vocals/guitar)
Joe Hollick (guitar)
Dan Davies (bass, vocals)
Tom Watt (drums)

Description/Reviews: 

Recorded in a beautiful and isolated house in the Yorkshire Dales, Fain is the sound of a band at the peak of their creative powers.  It’s an honest and natural album that allows its stories, its melodies, its themes and structures to breathe. The album draws on more traditional English and Scottish folk melodies than anything they’ve done before, but not straying from the drop-out fuzz-rock route they’ve made their own, the influences are vast – British rock bands like Groundhogs, Dark, Mighty Baby and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac are evident in the swirling and distorted guitars throughout Fain, along with the 60s revival folk of Fairport Convention, Nic Jones, and Trees.  Additionally they have looked towards Scandinavian’s rich psychedelic tradition both new and old – you can hear the likes of Mecki Mark Men, Mikael Ramel and contemporaries Dungen.  You can even hear the band’s teenage forays into Hip-Hop in the drums of ‘Thief’ and ‘Athol’. As evidenced by the first single “All Returns,” Fain is more lyrically focused than anything they’ve previously recorded. The song tells the story of a dream Jack Sharp (guitars/vocals) had whilst writing for the album in his native Bedford,during which an acquaintance had looked into his eyes and seen into his soul whilst calmly describing his faults and inner demons, a truly cathartic experience.  However, says Sharp, his life is largely “too banal” for  material and he largely draws upon snapshots of history to furnish him with the ideas for lyrics.  Stand out track “Thief” is taken from various stories of highwaymen that had been made famous by broadsheet ballads and plays – the likes of Charles Peace, William Nevison, Jonathan Wild and Jack Sheppard. He delivers this story in first person, almost as if he is playing the part of a complete degenerate with little or no conscience or morals.  As Sharp says, “It’s like a form of tourism. You can visit but not live in the mind of an appalling human being.”

Media/Samples 
All Returns

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Black Market Serotonin "Something For Nothing"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Alternative, Psychedelic, Post Metal
Label: Superstar Destroyer Records
Release date: April 29, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Singularity (3:38)
2. DeadByFiveOClock (5:24)
3. The End Of History (7:35)
4. Irons In The Fire (4:42)
5. Purity (7:49)
6. Something From Nothing, Part I (1:34)
7. Something From Nothing, Part II (6:57)
8. Something From Nothing, Part III (6:30)
9. Something From Nothing, Part IV (4:03)
10. Something From Nothing, Part V (2:58)
11. Hours (6:58)

Line-up: 
Andrew Pimblott - vocals, guitar, synth
Lee Campbell - bass guitar
Michael Colman - drums and percussion

Description/Reviews: 

Black Market Serotonin’s debut album Something From Nothing sounds like earthtone9, Pitchblend and Muse got sexy and had a proggy, space-rock, riff-baby and they fed him synthesisers. 

Read the full review by Lewis Clark at ukscumscene.wordpress.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp (name your price)

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Films "A Forbidden Garden"

Country: Japan
Sub Genre: Electronica, Ambient, Classical, Post Rock
Label: Ricco Label
Release date: April 26, 2013
Tracklist: 
01. Bubbles
02. Lost Field
03. The Door
04. Golden Wind
05. Once Upon a Time
06. Control
07. They Pass in Front of Me
08. Clone
09. Sleepless Town
10. Nostalgic Hill
11. Prayer
12. Shining

Line-up: 
Films - Vocals
   With
Yuki Murata - Piano,Synthesizer, Organ, Programming
Jyunko Tabira - Violin
Wakana Sawada - Violin
Utaka Fujiwara - Viola
Takahiro Matsue - Bass
Saiko - Flute
Kei Takahashi - Drums
Takahiro Kido - Programming

Description/Reviews: 

Rock, post-rock and modern classical sounds co-exist on a forbidden garden.  While one can imagine many of the tracks presented without vocals – for example, the lush “once upon a time” – the tandem singing raises the album to a higher level.  Still, instrumental fans will not be disappointed.  Films’ music is powerful throughout ~ and late in the album, the band presents a pair of vocal-free tracks: the moody, electronic “sleepless town”, followed by the brief but effective “nostalgic hill”.

Read the full review by Richard Allen at acloserlisten.com

Media/Samples 
Sampler
Clone
Bubbles

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Kshettra "i"

Country: Russia
Sub Genre:  instrumental Jazz-Rock, Post Rock, Alternative
Label: R.A.I.G.
Release date: April 26, 2013
Tracklist: 
1.Blachernae Is Waiting For The Snow 09:43
2.Make Teddy Dancing 03:55
3.Dragonfly 06:31
4.Dreamwalker 09:12
5.Quae Sunt Caesaris Caesari 05:32
6.Eva Is Eating An Orange 12:55

Line-up: 
Boris Gas - bass
Victor Tikhonov - drums
Nikita Gabdullin - guitars

Description/Reviews: 

An instrumental rock-band that combines in their music various subgenres including jazz fusion, progressive rock, avant-garde, experimental and heavy rock. 

Media/Samples 
Progstreaming
Bandcamp

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The Ocean "Pelagial"

Country: Germany
Sub Genre: Post Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Release date: April 26/ 29, 2013 (Europe) and April 30, 2013 (North America / world)
Tracklist: 
1. Epipelagic (1:12)
2. Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny (5:56)
3. Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses (4:24)
4. Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams (3:18)
5. Bathyalpelagic III: Disequillibrated (4:27)
6. Abyssopelagic I: Boundless Vasts (3:27)
7. Abyssopelagic II: Signals of Anxiety (5:05)
8. Hadopelagic I: Omen of the Deep (1:07)
9. Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe (9:17)
10. Demersal: Cognitive Dissonance (9:05)
11. Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes (5:55)

Line-up: 
Loïc Rossetti - vocals
Robin Staps - guitars, vocals
Jonathan "Jona" Nido - guitars
Luc Hess - drums, percussion
Louis Jucker - bass

Description/Reviews: 

Immeasurably heavy both sonically and thematically, Pelagial was written, recorded, mixed and to-be-performed-live as one single 53-minute piece of music. Easily their most profoundly sophisticated work to date, Pelagial is an aquatic-themed audio adventure that quite literally submerses listeners as they journey with the band, beginning at the surface of the ocean and plunging through all five pelagic depth zones.
Said Spin Magazine: “The sixth album from German post-metal doombringers The Ocean is huge… In the course of the record, tender piano interludes get stomped on by Mastodon-shaped footprints, lush strings work next to bulldozing double-kick work, and, at the end, the submarine crashes at Melvins tempos.” Craveonline notes that, “Pelagial is brilliantly written, expertly executed and filled with the kind of songwriting most bands can only dream of,” while MetalSucks opines in a perfect 5/5 rating, “Pelagial resonates so deeply because its sonic continuity is matched with shifting, unified composition. The album viscerally depicts the spectrum of submersion while highlighting the musicians’ versatility and cohesion. The band has never written more intriguing music, and The Ocean Collective has never been a more apt name.”

Media/Samples 
Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams
Bathyalpelagic III: Disequillibrated

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Septum “Quiet...Listen!”

Country: Cuba
Sub Genre: Symphonic Progressive Metal
Label: Azafran Media
Release date: April 26, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. The Call Of The Ancients 01:28
2. Can You Hear Me Scream 04:25
3. Destiny I 04:25
4. Destiny II 04:58
5. Kingdom Of Lies 04:21
6. Just Step Aside 04:53
7. Alter Ego 01:24
8. The One You Loved 04:09
9. Are You Out There I 01:12
10. Are You Out There II 03:24
11. To Tame A Savage Soul (Instrumental) 03:21
12. Dark Angel 04:20
13. Quiet Listen 04:53
14. Aún Estoy Aqui 04:08
15. The Elves Song 01:01

Line-up: 
Katia Fernnandez - lead vocals
Bryan R. Villafurela - keyboards, choirs
David P. Quenedit - bass, choirs
Alejandro Yero - violin, choirs
Damian Campos - rhythm guitar, choirs
Fabiel Perez - lead guitar
Javier de la Torre - flute, bagpipes
Andry Alvarez - drums

Description/Reviews: 

Symphonic Progressive Metal at its best! Septum is a septet of professionally trained musicians and the instrumentation includes violin, bag pipes and an amazing female voice.
“Quiet... Listen!” is a real masterpiece within the realms of progressive and symphonic metal with great musicianship and lyricism.

Media/Samples 
Can you hear me scream
Samples

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Starving Daughters "We Were Eggs"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: instrumental, Psychedelic, Krautrock, Post Rock
Release date: April 26, 2013 (digital), July 1, 2013 (vinyl)
Tracklist: 
1. Vanishing Lessons (5:48)
2. Migration Cosmics (6:05)
3. Earthly Delights (1:16)
4. We Were Eggs (3:52)
5. Mysteries Of The Deep Awake (0:47)
6. Full Moon Mutants (7:07)
7. Felix Darnell (4:27)
8. Skaba Skaba (3:16)
9. Four Bullets For One Man (7:44)
10. Pig Boy And The Horned King (10:25)

Line-up: 
Chris Tillotson - guitar
Chris Holder - bass
Mason Owen - drums
Jack Hutchings - guitar

Description/Reviews: 

The new songs increased emphasis on technique for each instrument, and abandoned vocals, except for the voice samples placed on the album. It took over two years to complete and represents the most expansive and ambitious Starving Daughters sound yet, weaving Krautrock, Psychedelic Space Rock, and Post Rock seamlessly together (progarchives).

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Eclipse Sol-Air "Schizophilia"

Country: Germany
Sub Genre: Eclectic
Label: Artists Station Records
Release date: April 26, 2013
Tracklist: 
1 Once Upon a Time
2 Destiny of Freedom
3 My Heart Belongs to You
4 Asylum
5 Watch Over You
6 Lydian Dream
7 Schizophilia
8 Final Time

Line-up: 
Mireille Vicogne (Flute, Vocal)
Philippe Matic-Arnauld des Lions (Vocal, Piano, Keys)
Agatha Sörgel (Violin)
Fritz Hoffmeister (Lead-Guitar, Rythm-Guitar)
Benno Schultheiss (Bass)
David Bücherl (Drums, Percussion)

Description/Reviews: 

Schizophilia is a concept album about the way of life. It  starts with beeing a child, growing up, the troubles, bad ways, loosing, victory and finaly ends with beeing a child again.

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Eyevory "Euphobia"

Country: Germany
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock/Pop
Label: Artists Station Records
Release date: April 26, 2013
Tracklist: 
1.Sacrifice - 04:18
2.I Trust In You - 05:13
3.Monster - 05:11
4.On My Way To Bliss - 03:31
5.Black Bird - 05:24
6.In My Dream - 05:02
7.Torn - 04:04
8.1001 Nights - 05:00
9.Good Times Are Now - 04:26
10.Requiem Aeternam - 09:09
11.Euphoria - 03:23

Line-up: 
Jana Frank - Vocals, Bass
Kaja Fischer - Vocals, Flute, Keyboards
David Merz - Guitars, Triggerpedals, Keyboards
Sascha Barasa Suso - Drums, Electronic Percussion

Description/Reviews: 

Eyevory fuses difference to an energetic unity. The music - supported by two excellent female lead singers - combines joyful flute melodies and catchy hooks with hard guitar riffs and complex instrumental arrangements.
Lyrically, you will find themes like love, grief and hurt, ornamented with hints of an ironic wink.
Progressive rock - mixed with elements of folk, classical, pop and hard rock music. In short: a cross generic total artwork.

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Demian Clav "Adrift: Ten Years Before Scardanelli"

Country: France
Sub Genre: Avant Prog
Label: Yajna Editions
Release date: April 25, 2013
Tracklist: 

01. Fall
02. Eventyr
03. Holy Road
04. Edelweiss Flight
05. The Art-Scattered Surface Of The Earth
06. Living Sculpture
07. All Night Party
08. Slow Boat To Nowhere
09. Annonciation

Line-up: 
D. Clavreul - vocals, electric guitar, keyboards
J.C. Wintrebert  - drums, keyboards, cello
J.Y. Brard - bass
   With
Raphaelle Guillet, Jessica Farley and Armelle Darbon - vocals
Baptiste Brenton - keyboards
Madeleine Goosens and Patrick Meriau - violin
Pierre-Entienne Malefond - guitar
Cedric Lerouley - sounds

Description/Reviews: 

The French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) avant-garde music of “Adrift” is at times a confluence of spoken word narrative and a cacophony of eerie noises which could be as biting as the King Crimson improvisations between David Cross' staccato violin and Fripp's distorted feedback slowly building to a crescendo. Other times it takes a darkly romantic path augmented by beautiful symphonic moments as cello, violin and lush keyboard strings blend into a Harmonic Convergence and I'm reminded of (x-Crimson) Pete Sinfield's album “Still”, the Stephen Wilson/Tim Bowness project No-Man, or the cinematic neo-classical/martial electronica band In The Nursery. A grandiose coupling of orchestra and the spoken word.

Read the full review by Joseph Shingler at prognaut.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Preacher "Signals"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock
Release date: April 25, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Time 03:44
2. Jupiter To Mars 05:04
3. The Sea 05:19
4. Fat Cats 04:28
5. Cry 4 Help 03:38
6. Signals 05:53
7. Arrival 06:05
8. First Contact 04:13
9. The Factor 04:57
10. Friends Of My Dreams 04:00
11. Destiny 04:03
12. I'll Be There 04:33

Line-up: 
Martin Murphy - Vocals, Guitar
Arnold (Arnie) Burgoyne - Keyboards
Greg Murphy - Lead Guitar
Gordon Munro - Bass
Iain Duncan - Drums
Ron Rodger - Acoustic Guitar
Angela Bell - Backing Vocals
Kerry McWhinnie - Backing Vocals

Description/Reviews: 

Preacher’s distinctive yet familiar sound is a subtle blend of epic prog rock and classic rock.  Their stunning debut album Signals in many ways pays homage to the classic conceptual approach of crafting an album based around a single theme or ‘concept’ championed by bands such as Pink Floyd, Yes and King Crimson in their heyday and more recently with the likes of Radiohead opting for a similar aesthetic. 

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Willowglass "The Dream Harbour"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Symphonic
Label: self-released
Release date: April 25, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. A House Of Cards Pt.1 (20:43)
2. A Short Intermission (1:35)
3. A House Of Cards Pt. 2 (9:08)
4. Interlude No. 2 (2:05)
5. The Dream Harbour(7:17)
6. Helleborine (2:15)
7. The Face Of Eurydice (7:36)

Line-up: 
Andrew Marshall - Electric & acoustic guitars, 12-string guitar, classical guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, bass pedals
Hans Jörg Schmitz - Drums, percussion
Steve Unruh - Violin, flute, guitar

Media/Samples 
Samples

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Masquerade of Shadows "Wolfman"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Shadow Veil Records
Release date: Apr 24, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Attack 05:48
2. Love and Hate 04:21
3. Transformation 07:31
4. The Sign 03:31
5. Gypsy 03:10
6. Empathy 03:47
7. Wolfsbane 03:49
8. Silver Bullet 05:17
9. Release Me 04:21
10. The Chase 04:01
11. The Final Moment 01:36
12. Death of the Werewolf 09:43

Line-up: 
TBA

Description/Reviews: 

Masquerade of Shadows second full length release Wolfman is another exploration into the classic horror music genre with great music as the foundation. This record showcases the bands growth in their songwriting. If you enjoyed the first release The Haunted Manor or are a fan of progressive metal or just plain metal this band and album wont disappoint.

Media/Samples 
Entire album online

Unreal City "La Crudeltà Di Aprile"

Country: Italy
Sub Genre: Symphonic
Label: Mirrors Records
Release date: April 24, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Dell'Innocenza Perduta
2. Atlatis (conferendis pecuniis)
3. Catabasi (descensio ad inferos)
4. Dove La Luce E' Più Intensa
5. Ecate (walpurgisnacht)
6. Horror Vacui

      a. Le radici del male
      b. L'assassino
      c. Nel sonno della ragione
      d. Il baratro della follia

Line-up: 
Emanuele Tarasconi: keyboards, synths and lead vocals
Francesca Zanetta: guitars
Francesco Orefice: bass and additional vocals
Federico Bedostri: drums and percussion

Description/Reviews: 

Unreal City are a young band from Parma, who present a symphonic prog-rock with strong dark and gothic influences. In June 2012 Unreal City released a self-produced EP and were therefore contacted by Fabio Zuffanti (Hostsonaten, La Maschera Di Cera, Finisterre…), who
decided to produce the band's first album for the label Mirror Records.“La Crudeltà Di Aprile” contains surprisingly mature music, mixed with modern lyrics, that were written in English first, and then translated back to Italian, to clearly transmit the album’s message. The thread that binds tightly the stories tells about corruption of things and people, changes, and self evolution.

Media/Samples 
Trailer
Bandcamp

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Steve Roach "Future Flows"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Electronica, Ambient
Label: Projekt
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1-An Omnipresent Sense Prevails - 10:58
2-Spectrum Of Change - 9:35
3-Air Meditation - 5:55
4-The Texture Of Remembering -11:14
5-Rapt In Night - 4:04
6-Heart Of Light - 3:52
7-The Future Flows From Here -16:59
8-Regeneration Revelation - 8:21

Line-up: 
Steve Roach - all instruments

Description/Reviews: 

Future Flows is the second piece of a triptych of discs that began with the excellent Soul Tones, and will conclude in a few months with the final, name-as-yet-unknown disc. As he moves into this next stage of the series, Steve Roach shifts from soft, cocoon-like soundscapes into big flows with more texture and a forceful presence, along with moments of encroaching shadow. In his press materials, Roach likens the music here to other “symphonic ambient” works like Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces.

Read the full review at hypnagogue.net

Media/Samples 
3 tracks online

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Djam Karet "The Trip"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Fusion
Label:  Firepool Records
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. The Trip (47.08)

Line-up: 
Gayle Ellett: analog & digital synths, organ, Mellotron, Greek bouzouki, flute, field recordings and effects
Mike Henderson: electric guitars, Ebow and effects
Aaron Kenyon: electric bass and effects
Mike Murray: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, Ebow and effects
Chuck Oken, jr.: drums, analog & digital synths and effects

Description/Reviews: 

"The Trip" is the first studio release of all new music from Djam Karet in 8 years! It features one single 47 minute-long track, a psychedelic journey through your mind's eye, the soundtrack of a trip to places both familiar and otherworldly.

Media/Samples 
Sampler
Excerpt at bandcamp

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Deterior "Torchbearer"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Post Metal, Sludge
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Diaspora (06:31)
2. Artifacts of a Burning World (11:36)
3. Rotten Dominion (04:46)
4. This Sacred Garden (08:52)
5. Torchbearer (15:09)

Line-up: 
Andrew Arnold - all instruments

Description/Reviews: 

If your into Isis, Neurosis. The Ocean and other bands of that ilk then your going to dig Deterior big time like I do. Anyway back to the album. First track - Diaspora - is a 6:31 minute epic highlighting what Deterior is all about. Sublime Sludge/Post-Metal riffs and superb harsh based vocals to match. 

Read the full review at thesludgelord.blogspot.com

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp (name your price)

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The Rendlesham Forest Incident "Last Flight Of The Hope Dempsey"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Space Rock
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Side One: Intro - Time Between Times - The Bell - Solar Barge (22:55)
2. Side Two: Space Jester - Last Flight - The Traveller - Opiumhöhlen der Mars (24:57)

Line-up: 
Brendan McCusker - drum kit, voices, tam tam, bodhran, singing bowl, synthesizer
Andy Samford -guitars, bass, synthesizers, voices

Description/Reviews: 

A suitably hard rock chugger modeled after the primordial space rock band, Hawkwind. ... That said, despite the ’70′s era spacerock references one often hears in the album; after a complete listen, the guys can be forgiven, because they transcend all that with their obvious enthusiasm for the genre AND good, tight musicianship.

Read the full review by Marc Paskvan at aural-innovations.com/

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Caudal "Forever In Another World"

Country: Germany
Sub Genre: Post Rock, Ambient, Krautrock, Math Rock
Label: Oaken Palace Records
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. River's Edge (13:12)
2. Threever (8:44)
3. Walrus Tusk Scrimshaw (7:45)
4. Forever In Another World (13:16)

Line-up: 
Aidan Baker - guitars
Gareth Sweeney - bass
Felipe Salazar - drums

Description/Reviews: 

... opener “River’s Edge” is a loose instrumental flow, unwinding on the languorously present bass and swelling drums as Baker’s guitar accretes in multiple layers, some so processed as to sound like synth accompaniment. Hypnosis on the rising and falling tides the trio generate is the order of the day for “Threever,” though here the tempo shifts up a gear into post-motorik mode, the bass throbbing with the sound of New York No Wave traffic pulsations as much as it does to the autobahn’s sharply-defined, no-limits groove.

Read the full review by Richard Fontenoy at freq.org.uk

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Queensryche "Frequency Unknown"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Cleopatra
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. When Lightning Strikes
2. Running Backwards
3. Fallen
4. Life Without You
5. In The Hands Of God
6. Cold
7. The Weight Of The World
8. Slave
9. Dare
10. Everything
    BONUS TRACKS: (2013 Versions)
11. Silent Lucidity
12. Empire
13. Jet City Woman
14. I Don t Believe In Love

Line-up: 
Geoff Tate - vocals
Kelly Gray - guitars
Randy Gane - keyboards
Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot) -  bass
Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO) - drums
   Guests:
K.K. Downing (Judas Priest)
Chris Poland (Megadeth)
Ty Tabor (King s X)
Paul Bostaph (Slayer)
Lita Ford
Brad Gillis (Night Ranger)
Dave Meniketti (Y&T)
Craig Locicero (Forbidden, Spiralarms)
Bobby Blotzer (Ratt)

Description/Reviews: 

Queensryche has split up in 2012 and there are two band releasing albums in 2013 under the same name. This one is Geoff Tate-fronted Queensryche. They say it's the heaviest version of Queensrÿche ever assembled.

Media/Samples:
Cold

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Bolus "Triangulate"

Country: Canada
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock, Alternative
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
01. Forward Facing
02. Calibrate
03. The Study of Madness
04. Backwards Man
05. Smoke at the Mirror
06. Wake Cycle
07. Revise
08. Spurs
09. Severed Ties
10. Corridor
11. Pacific Time
12. Downtown Core
13. Silence and Sound

Line-up: 
Nick Karch: Vocals, Guitars, Banjo, Keyboards
Mat Keselman: Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Keyboards
Daniel Avner: Bass Guitar, Vocals

Media/samples:
Severed Ties
Calibrate

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Soul Of Steel "Journey To Infinity"

Country: Italy
Sub Genre: Power Metal, Progressive Metal
Label: Bakerteam Records
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 

1. Aeternum Tormentum
2. Through The Gates Of Heaven
3. Shadows Of The Past
4. Neverland
5. Waiting For
6. The Fallen Angel
7. Journey To Infinity
8. Like A Memory
9. Secret Words
10. Portrait Of My Last Dream
11. Last Desire
12. Eternal Life
13. Last Desire (Acoustic Version feat. Roberto Tiranti)

Line-up: 
Gianni Valente - Vocals
Lorenzo Chiafele - Drums
Daniele Simeone - Keyboards
Nicola Caroli - Guitars
Valerio De Rosa - Guitars
   With
Roberto Tiranti ( Labyrinth) vocals on acoustic Version of ‘Last Desire’
Alessio Lucatti (Vision Divine) keyboards on ‘Eternal Life’

Description/Reviews: 

Following the path created by fellow Italian bands such as Labyrinth and Vision Divine, Soul Of Steel bring to the table a compelling mix of Melodic Power Metal, Progressive Rock and majestic Symphonic passages. The album evolves around a dreamlike journey of a man trying to escape his demons.

Media/Samples 
Entire album online

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The Night Watch "The Night Watch"

Country: Canada
Sub Genre: Instrumental Prog Folk, Post Metal, Classical
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. In the Beginning - 03:05
2. The Great Escape - 04:23
3. Don't Creep - 07:37
4. The Minstrel and the King - 06:15
5. Courts of the East - 06:39
6. War Whales - 16:55
7. Apocalypse Beach - 12:08

Line-up: 
Evan Runge - Violin
Matt Cowan - Fretless Bass
Daniel Mollema - Drums, Percussion
Nathanaël Larochette - Guitars, Wurlitzer
   With
Simon Larochette - Pedal Steel, Ebow, Percussion

Description/Reviews: 

Grafting together elements of soaring classical, acoustic black metal, vibrant neo-folk and even doom, their self-titled debut creates a lush, cinematic soundscape. The songs are often driven forward by Evan Runge's dancing, daring violin, with a great deal of the muscle and momentum supplied by Nathanaël Larochette's (Musk Ox) guitars and Wurlitzer. When all of the instruments collide, however, it often results in an elemental clash that hits the listener like a progressive cloud burst. What the Night Watch are able to do with textures is this record's greatest achievements, as a traditional violin line is laid atop a bleak, buzzing riff progression or some jazzy drumming is superimposed against a tender acoustic passage. Even at its gentlest and most tentative, The Night Watch has a metallic heaviness that makes this musical experiment a success. (Natalie Zina Walschots at exclaim.ca)

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Empyrios "Zion"

Country: Italy
Sub Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: April 23, 2013
Tracklist: 
01. Nescience
02. Domino
03. Masters
04. Reverie
05. Unplugged
06. Renovation
07. Wormhole
08. Square One
09. Zion
10. Blackmail
11. Madman

Line-up: 
Simone Mularoni (DGM) - guitars
Simone Bertozzi (Mnemic) - bass, vocals
Dario Ciccioni (Hartmann) - drums
Silvio Mancini - vocals

Description/Reviews: 

Being somewhat familiar with 'The Glorious Sickness' [band's previous album], the genre of progressive metal doesn’t fully describe Empyrios’ style. While there are definitely progressive elements, the band also draws influences from the extreme side of metal and industrial metal of bands such as Meshuggah, Strapping Young Lad, and Fear Factory to name a few. Lead vocalist Mancini’s melodic or clean vocal style is reminiscent of Rody Walker from Protest the Hero and blends well with Bertozzi’s guttural growling vocals, which are used sparingly throughout the album.

Read the full review by Honey Badger at ladyobscure.com

Media/Samples 
Entire album online

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Vienna Circle "Silhouette Moon"

Country: UK
Sub Genre: Neo-Prog
Release date: April 22, 2013
Tracklist: 
01. Strangers
02. Envy
03. Dreams Presage
04. Scarlet Dance
05. Woven Wings
06. Ballad of Night
07. Sea
08. Eternity
09. Together
10. Departure

Line-up: 
Paul Davis - guitars, vocals, piano, keyboards, orchestral arrangements
Jack Davis - bass guitar, piano
   With
Alex Micklewright - drums
Dave Waller - saxophone (6), clarinet
Jess Shute - flute
Patch Morrison - saxophone (3)
Gemma Davis - vocals (3, 10)

Description/Reviews: 

A concept album which explores mortality and existentialism; reality and dream.

Media/Samples
Progstreaming

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Jeff Welsh / Ninth Choir "Ninth Choir"

Country: USA
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal
Release date: April 22, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Molon Labe 7:50
2. Sunrise 8:08
3. What I Didn't Tell You  5:44
4. Plains Song 15:06
5. El Camino Real 9:52
6. Powerful Source 3:47
7. Life Suite 9:00
8. Letis Prae 6:44

Line-up: 
Jeff Welsh - guitar, bass, keys, vocals and programming
   With
David Cheshire - percussion, vocals
Ray Daniels - percussion
Meytal Cohen - percussion
Tony Garrett - bass on El Camino Real

Description/Reviews: 

The Ninth Choir project was created by Jeff Welsh as a creative chronicle of the magic of everyday life, from miraculous to mundane, with the lofty goal of serving as part of the soundtrack of someone's life, somewhere.
The music is intended to take the listener on a journey through soundscapes lush and orchestral, tribal and primitive and at times, brutal. Here there be dragons: There is no three-minute pop drivel to be found on this debut album.

Media/Samples 
Entire album online

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