Protest The Hero "Palimpsest"

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Progressive/Math/Alternative Metal
Label: Spinefarm  
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: June 19, 2020
Tracklist: 
1. The Migrant Mother
2. The Canary
3. From The Sky
4. All Hands
5. The Fireside
6. Soliloquy
7. Reverie
8. Little Snakes
9. Gardenias
10. Rivet

Line-up: 
Rody Walker - Vocals
Luke Hoskin - Guitars
Tim MacMillar - Guitars
Mike Ieradi - Drums
Special Guest: Todd Kowalski - Bass
Orchestral Arrangement / Production - Milen Petzelt-Sorace

Media/Samples 
The Canary

Links:
Web page
Facebook
Progarchives

Sigh "Heir To Despair"

Country: Japan
Genre(s): Progressive Avant Metal
Label: Candlelight / Spinefarm Records
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: November 16, 2018
Tracklist: 
1. Aletheia (7:23)
2. Homo Homini Lupus (5:33)
3. Hunters Not Horned (6:47)
4. In Memories Delusional (6:17)
5. Heresy I: Oblivium (7:28)
6. Heresy II: Acosmism (1:45)
7. Heresy III: Sub Species Aeternitatis (2:26)
8. Hands of the String Puller (4:48)
9. Heir to Despair (10:15)

Total Time 52:42

Line-up: 
Mirai Kawashima - Vocals, Keyboards, Taishōgoto, Flute, Piccolo
Satoshi Fujinami - Bass
Junichi Harashima - Drums
Dr. Mikannibal - Vocals, Alto Saxophone
You Oshima - Guitars
   With
Phil Anselmo - Additional Vocals (2)
Kevin Kmetz - Shamisen

Description/Reviews: 

The term progressive metal can bring to mind some cringe-worthy images, among them Berklee dropouts making long sprawling songs with obtuse riffs written with one thing in mind — “How will this sound if I solo over it?“ What sets Sigh apart from such bands, aside from their black metal past, is that their sound actually progresses. It is not stagnant wanking. You know only to expect organized chaos when you go into one of their albums. So I should have not been surprised by the opening track of Heir To Despair (“Aletheia”) sounding like a space-age take on Jethro Tull as a metal band; it makes perfect sense.

Read the full review  at nocleansinging.com

Media/Samples 
Homo Homini Lupus

Links:
Facebook
Progarchives
Proggnosis

Diablo Swing Orchestra "Pacifisticuffs"

Country: Sweden
Genre(s): Eclectic Progressive Metal/Rock
Label: Spinefarm/Universal
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: December 8, 2017
Tracklist: 
1. Knucklehugs (Arm Yourself With Love) (2:26)
2. The Age Of Vulture Culture (5:00)
3. Superhero Jagganath (5:41)
4. Vision Of The Purblind (1:01)
5. Lady Clandestine Chainbreaker (4:50)
6. Jigsaw Hustle (4:52)
7. Pulse Of The Incipient (0:34)
8. Ode To The Innocent (3:49)
9. Interruption (5:21)
10. Cul-De-Sac Semantics (1:09)
11. Karma Bonfire (4:14)
12. Climbing The Eyewall (4:40)
13. Porch Of Perception (0:44)

Total Time 44:21

Line-up: 
Kristin Evegård - lead vocals, piano
Daniel Håkansson - lead vocals, guitar
Pontus Mantefors - guitar, synthesizer, FX, vocals
Anders Johansson  - bass
Johannes Bergion - cello, backing vocals
Martin Isaksson - trumpet, backing vocals
Daniel Hedin - trombone, backing vocals
Johan Norbäck - drums

Media/Samples 
Knucklehugs (Arm Yourself With Love)
Jigsaw Hustle (single version)

Links:
Web page
Facebook
Progarchives
Proggnosis

Purson "Desire’s Magic Theatre"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Eclectic Retro Prog, Psychedelic, Pop
Label: Spinefarm Records
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: April 29, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Desire's Magic Theatre (6:12)
2. Electric Landlady (3:53)
3. Dead Dodo Down (3:10)
4. Pedigree Chums (3:58)
5. The Sky parade (5:17)
6. The Window Cleaner (3:28)
7. the Way It Is (2:42)
8. Mr. Howard (4:08)
9. I Know (4:21)
10. The Bitter Suite (7:11)

Total Time 44:20

Line-up: 
Rosalie Cunningham - Vocals, guitars
George Hudson - Guitars
Samuel Robinson - Keyboards
Justin Smith - Bass
Raphael Mura - Drums

Description/Reviews: 

Led by the gorgeous vocals and crunchy guitar riffs of Rosalie Cunningham, Purson weave all sorts of musical pleasures throughout Desire's Magic Theatre. The opening title track and "Dead Dodo Down" both bring forth images of not only the psychedelic San Francisco scene of the late '60s, but also the British pop of The Beatles and the early glam years of David Bowie & T-Rex, complete with swirling instrumentation and catchy, hypnotic vocals. "Electric Landlady" bursts with massive, Sabbath styled brontosaurus riffing, while heady saxophone adds a jazzy element to the intoxicating "Pedigree Chums". Silky Hammond organ & gentle piano permeate the lush, dreamy "The Sky Parade", one of the more prog based numbers here, and again another great vehicle for the majestic vocals of Cunningham. "The Window Cleaner" and "The Way It Is" are both pure '60s styled psych/pop, with quirky arrangements and charming vocal melodies that are instantly addicting, but it's not until "Mr Howard" that we see the beefier guitar riffs return, and it's only fleeting, again popping up briefly alongside some cool flute & keyboards on closer "The Bitter Suite", a very cool bluesy prog number that reminds of early Jethro Tull.

Read the full review by Pete Pardo at seaoftranquility.org

Media/Samples 
Stream

Links:
Web page
Facebook
Progarchives
Proggnosis

Shining "International Blackjazz Society"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Avant Prog, Jazz-Rock, Progressive Metal
Label: Spinefarm
Format: CD, vinyl
Release date: October 23, 2015
Tracklist: 
1. Admittance (1:06)
2. The Last Stand (4:17)
3. Burn It All (5:15)
4. Last Day (4:09)
5. Thousand Eyes (6:49)
6. House of Warship (4:34)
7. House of Control (6:50)
8. Church of Endurance (0:58)
9. Need (4:07)

Total Time: 38:05

Line-up: 
Jørgen Munkeby - vocals, saxophone, guitar, keyboards, bass
Håkon Sagen - guitar
Tobias Ørnes Andersen - drums
Eirik Tovsrud Knutsen - keyboards
Tor Egil Kreken - bass

Description/Reviews: 

On their 2010 album Blackjazz, the Norwegian jazz/prog collective Shining absorbed metal into their aesthetic, and it seemed to focus them. On earlier records the band, organized around multi-instrumentalist Jørgen Munkeby, were more elusive, but Blackjazz was an album made entirely of jagged shapes, like the irregular, violent architecture of a cliffside. It feels aggressively assembled, as if its ideas of metal and jazz were less harmonized than magnetized together. The follow-up, 2013’s One One One, reduced them into an atomically unstable industrial rock band. While thrilling, the album could have the remoteness of a formal exercise.

 Read the full review by Brad Nelson at pitchfork.com

Media/Samples 
Last Day

Links:
Web page
Facebook
ProgArchives
Proggnosis

Von Hertzen Brothers "New Day Rising"

Country: Finland
Genre(s): Progressive Rock/Pop
Label: Spinefarm Records
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: March 20, 2015 (EU), March 23, 2015 (UK), March 24, 2015 (US)
Tracklist: 

1. New Day Rising - 5:30
2. You Don’t Know My Name - 3:56
3. Trouble - 5:02
4. Black Rain - 4:08
5. Hold Me Up - 3:32
6. Love Burns - 4:48
7. Dreams - 3:23
8. Sunday Child - 6:45
9. The Destitute - 5:44
10. Hibernating Heart - 4:46
11. Long and Winding Road (Bonus Track) - 3:47

Line-up: 
Mikko von Hertzen - vocals, guitar
Kie von Hertzen - guitar, vocals
Jonne von Hertzen - bass, vocals
Mikko Kaakkuriniemi - drums
Juha Kuoppala - keys

Media/Samples 
New Day Rising
Trouble

Links:
Web page
Facebook
ProgArchives
Proggnosis

Soen "Tellurian"

Country: Multinational
Sub Genre: Progressive Metal/Rock
Label: Spinefarm Records
Format: digital, CD, vinyl
Release date: October 31, 2014 (digital), November 3, 2014
Tracklist: 

1. Komenco - 0:37
2. Tabula Rasa - 5:24
3. Kuraman - 5:25
4. The Words - 6:17
5. Pluton - 7:27
6. Koniskas - 4:59
7. Ennui - 5:21
8. Void - 8:30
9. The Other`s Fall - 8:42

Line-up: 
Joel Ekelöf - vocals
Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) - drums
Joakim Platbarzdis - guitar
Stefan Stenberg - bass

Description/Review

Well, Tellurian is a nine songs long record and it’s meant to pick up from where Cognitive left us but also to refine Soen’s sound each step of the way.
We are exposed to a lot of South American musical influences and to the prowess of each band member as they reunite under unbelievable harmonic and cohesive colors, and although we still long to hearing DiGiorgio’s undeniable artistic slap and finger-plucked fretless bass, Stefan Stenberg, his replacer, fills up DiGiorgio’s shoes in a more than decent manner.

Read the full review by Geanina Chiricuță at prog-sphere.com

Media/Samples 
Tabula Rasa

Links:
Facebook
Proggnosis

Von Hertzen Brothers "Nine Lives"

Country: Finland
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Spinefarm Records
Release date: March 15, 2013
Tracklist: 
1. Insomniac
2. Flowers and Rust
3. Coming Home
4. Lost In Time
5. Separate Forevers
6. One May Never Know
7. World Without
8. Black Heart’s Cry
9. Prospect For Escape
10. The Climb (Bonus Track)
11. Do What You Want With Me (Bonus Track)
12. Between The Lines (Bonus Track)

Line-up: 
Mikko von Hertzen - vox, guitar
Kie von Hertzen - guitar, vox
Jonne von Hertzen - bass, vox
Mikko Kaakkuriniemi - drums
Juha Kuoppala - keys

Media/Samples 
Flowers And Rust
Entire album online (available only in Finland)

Links:
Web page
Facebook
ProgArchives
Proggnosis