Aton Five "Aton Five"

Country: Russia
Genre(s): Instrumental Progressive Rock

Label: MARS Records
Format: CD, digital
Release date: April 28, 2023 (digital), May 2023 (CD)
Tracklist

1. Alienation

2. Naked Void

3. Clepsydra

4. Danse Macabre

5. Lethe

Credits

Anton Ablov – organ, synth, piano

Roman Makushev – drums

Alexander Seleznev – guitars, additional keyboards, production, voice (5)

Mikhail Zenkov – bass, production

   With

Matthew Borun – organ and piano solos & strings arrangement (4)

Michael Kalra – tracking, sound production, tambourine

Kos Koremill – mixing, mastering

Victor Sukhochev – album arwork

Recorded at Mars Records during 2019-2022

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Asymmetric Universe "The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined All The Stars"

Country: Italy
Genre(s): Instrumental Fusion, Jazz-Rock
Format: CD,digital
Release date: April 28, 2023
Tracklist

1. Extrospection (5:55) 

2. As Within, So Without (7:05) 

3. Kaleidoscope (5:52) 

4. (re):emerge (11:42) 

Total Time 30:34

Credits

Federico Vese - Guitars, Vocals

Nicolò Vese - Bass, Double Bass

Gabriele Bullita - Drums

   With

Federico Braga - Violin I

Matteo Marzaro - Violin II

Andrea Maini - Viola

Vittorio Piombo - Cello

Cesare Mecca - Trumpet

Simone Garino - Saxophone

Claudio Vignali - Piano solo (3)

Mixed by Forrester Savell

Mastered by Ermin Hamidovic

Artwork and Design by Isabella Giannone @ RKH Studio

Cover picture by Jeannette Bonezzi

Description/Reviews:

Instrumental Prog fusion #2: turning up both the jazz and the metal factor by a good measure is this next EP from Turin based trio Asymmetric Universe. “The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined The Stars” is 30 minutes of pure musical ecstasy for anyone susceptible to the wonders of jazz and fusion. If you were still grinning from ear to ear courtesy of Loam, your jaw is bound to drop below floor level within the first few bars of the opening track ‘Extrospection’, right after the soothing piano intro. Brothers Federico and Nicolò Vese on guitars and bass respectively together with drummer Gabriele Bullita are joined by a real string quartet plus trumpet and saxophone on occasion and the EP just keeps on giving musical perfection throughout its entire runtime of 30 and a half minutes.  (Dario at theprogspace.com)

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Karmic Juggernaut "Phantasmagloria"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Format: CD,digital,vinyl
Release date: April 28, 2023 (CD,digital), August 2023 (vinyl)
Tracklist: 
1 WKRM Announcement

2 Flat Earthlings

3 Sun Puzzle

4 Psaiko

5 Dream Machine

6 Atomus Camera Obscura

7 Succumb to the Static

8 Phantasmagloria.

9 WKRM Credits

Line-up: 

Kevin Grossman: Drums, percussion

Jake Hughes: Keyboards

James McCaffrey: Guitar, vocals

Cody McCorry: Bass, theremin

Randy Preston: Guitar

Daimon Santa Maria: Lead vocals, flute

    With

Joe Gullace: Trumpet

Ian Gray: Trombone

Recorded at the Hangar in Wall, NJ.

Mixed by James McCaffrey

Mastered by Angel Marcloid at Angel Hair Audio

Description/Reviews: 

Karmic Juggernaut’s upcoming Phantasmagloria LP is a full-length concept album born out of the pandemic, dealing with themes of idol-worship, runaway conspiracies, anti-intellectualism, the occult, and lucid dreaming. The record takes place within a “lost” radio broadcast from the fictional WKRM The Kream, a concept explored on their previous albums.

Media/Samples 
Sun Puzzle

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Ifsounds "MMXX"

Country: Italy
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Label: Melodic Revolution Records
Format: CD, digital
Release date: April 28, 2023
Tracklist

1. MMXX (24:13) 

2. The Collector (6:11) 

3. Stendhal Syndrome (4:21) 

4. Kandinsky’s Sky (4:26) 

5. MMXXII (9:11) 

Total Time 48:22

Credits

Lino Giugliano – piano, organ, synth and keyboards

Dario Lastella – guitars, bass guitar, synth and vocals

Lino Mesina – drums

Italo Miscione – bass guitar

Runal – lead vocals

Ilaria Carlucci – lead and backing vocals

   With

Claudio Lapenna – vocals (1), piano (4)

Nadezhda Chalykh – vocals (1)

Mariano Gramegna – vocals (1)

Giovanni Liberatore – vocals (1)

Written and produced by Dario Lastella, except MMXXII  (music by Lastella – Mesina – Giugliano)

Arranged and performed by ifsounds

Mastered by Steve Kitch

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

Trailer

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Phaeton "Between Two Worlds"

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Instrumental Progressive Metal
Format: digital
Release date: April 21, 2023
Tracklist

1. Predestination - 4:57

2. Oceans of Time - 6:44

3. Terra Australis - 4:42

4. Monsoon - 6:06

5. Refraction - 4:48

6. Geomorphic - 4:51

7. Magma Chamber - 6:09

8. Between Two Worlds - 9:21

Album Length: 47:40

Credits

Kevin Thiessen - Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Keyboards

Daniel Airth - Lead & Rhythm Guitars

Ferdy Belland - Electric & Fretless Bass

Colin Righton - Drums & Percussion

Music, Arrangements & Production by Phaeton

Engineered & Mixed by Kevin Thiessen

Mastered by Jamie Sitar

Artwork by Dark Days Design

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Jon Brændsgaard Toft "Brick By Brick"

Country: Denmark
Genre(s): Prog Folk
Label: Solvind Records
Format: CD,digital
Release date: April 17, 2023 (digital), May 1, 2023 (CD)
Tracklist

1. Mr. Johnson (3:58) 

2. Brick By Brick (4:12) 

3. The World Is My Playground (4:42) 

4. Among Vikings (3:53) 

5. Part Of Something New (4:04) 

6. My Mind Playing Tricks (3:20) 

7. The New Blip (4:44) 

8. Worth A Try (3:28) 

9. The Explorers (3:45) 

10. Somebody Else's Bed (4:00) 

11. Insomnia (4:10) 

12. The Ballad of Tír na nÓg (3:33) 

Total Time 47:49

Credits
Jon Brændsgaard Toft - everything

   Except

Gunnar Snær Gunnarsson - guitar theme (2), solo (3)

Ellie Mackey - backing vocals (12)

Description/Reviews:

The album is sprawling with odd time signatures, funky rhytms and strong melodies. Instruments used include layers of acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, percussion, clarinet and a few keyboard parts to add flavor. Most of the songs feature two or three part harmonies.

Lyrically the album plays around with science fiction themes like space flight and time travel while also exploring more down-to-earth material such as cats up to no good in the garden, relationships and inner strength. As similarities and inspiration goes, the proggier sides on this album could lead your thoughts towards the softer sides of acts like Pain of Salvation, Ayreon and Pink Floyd, while the folkier sides could resemble Jethro Tull, Cat Stevens and Crosby, Stills & Nash with a sprinkle of Scandinavian and Irish folk music on top.

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Zolar Czack "Tears from the moon" EP

Country: Ukraine
Genre(s): Instrumental Jazz-Rock, Fusion
Format: digital
Release date: April 15, 2023
Tracklist

1. Room №9 (2:17) 

2. Moontear (4:18) 

3. The Paradox Of Automation (4:26) 

4. Full Moon (1:33) 

5. Hope (5:21) 

6. Silk Road (3:04) 

7. 1994 (3:31) 

Total Time 24:30

Credits
composed and recorded by Dennis Fursov (Quiet Observer) at Quiet studio

Guest solo on track 2 Denis Shvarts

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Space Kitchen "Space Kitchen" EP

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Progressive Rock/Pop
Format: digital
Release date: April 14, 2023
Tracklist

1. The Arrival (3:47) 

2. I Love You Baby (3:35) 

3. Zoo Keeper (2:22) 

4. Moving Picture (6:17) 

5. The Squig (1:39) 

6. Sun Tower (4:05) 

7. Pain Goblin (4:49) 

Total Time 26:34

Credits

All music and lyrics by Robbie Carvalho and Rob Howell

Art by Maggie White

Description/Reviews:

Those first three songs are great Pop, a little Bubblegum, a little Soft Rock, an edge towards Pop Punk, but then everything changes. Moving Pictures is 6 minutes of space age Prog, keyboard led with big runs yet including a driving bassline and a splendid Guitar break. Again part of the song reminds you of Modern Prog, but than enough takes you back to the keyboard wizzards of the 70s and part of the vocal even sounds like Russell Mael.

Read the full review at hearasingle.blogspot.com

Media/Samples
Bandcamp
Streams

Links:
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Neil Howell "The Wasteland"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Eclectic Progressive Metal/Rock
Format: digital
Release date: April 14, 2023
Tracklist

1 Welcome to the Desert

2 The Cruellest Month

3 Handful of Dust

4 Clairvoyant

5 Winter Dawn

6 Nothing

7 Hurry Up

8 Unreal City

9 Entering the Whirlpool

10 With Like Patience

11 Falling Towers

12 Upon the Shore

13 The Fisher King

Credits
Neil Howell

Description/Reviews:

Set to release his eighth studio album since 2020, his works have covered styles ranging from full- on stadium rock, 1970s prog, eviscerating death metal, and acoustic folk, often in the same song.  Nothing has changed his approach on The Wasteland. If anything, he has doubled down on his eclecticism. The range can be jolting. One moment he’s lost in the melancholic doom of The Cruellest Month, only to be followed moments later by the quiet solitude of A Handful of Dust. Falling Towers is a song made of molten lava and pummeling guitar riffs, but is bookended by two much softer songs, the plaintive With Like Patience and the ethereal Upon the Shore. It is an album for the artistically minded, but accessible enough for any rock or metal fan.

Media/Samples
The Cruellest Month

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Neolia "Neolia"

Country: Israel
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Format: digital
Release date: May 5, 2023
Tracklist

1. The Shed – 3:44

2. The Shed outro – 0:52

3. Your prophecy – 7:44

4. Dance of violence – 7:10

5. Carried away - 5:49

6. Carried away outro – 1:24

7. Karma – 4:09

8. Karma outro – 0:44

9. Day in day out – 11:06

10. Anchors – 7:14

11. Rise and fall – 5:06

12. Blow the leaves – 7:02

13. A better version of you – 4:53

14. Refahim – 8:00

Album Length: 74:57

Credits

Tomer Mash: Wrote and Produced, Bass, Guitars, Vocals Programming, Lyrics.

Ben Reiss: Vocals, lyrics (14)

Ron Minis: Guitars, Wrote main riff in "Blow the Leaves"

Dror Goldstein: Drums, Guitars (10, 14)

Ran Yerushalmi: Vocals (7)

Yael Clair Spiritwo: Vocals (9)

Shahaf Ostfeld: Mongolian throat singing

Shalev Neeman: Percussions

Roy Weisglass: Flamenco Guitar (3)

Carmel De Pichotto: Backing  Vocals (3, 14)

Amit Plashkes: Guitar mid section (5,7)

Or Coco Maoz: Backing Vocals (11)

Mixed by Yevgeny Levin and Idan Katz at Bardo Studios

Mastered by Howie Weinberg

Description/Reviews:

Neolia's Self titled debut album is a reflection of years of soaking up music of different genres from rock to pop to world music and whatnot. It’s a fusion of bits upon bits of pieces absorbed and processed and then spat out from a personal perspective. In its musical aspect, its rock and metal based, but with a twist of African, Latin, Jazz, and ambient that reaches the spectrum of high and low, tender, extreme, and crazy.

Media/Samples
Bandcamp
Carried Away

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Medevil "Mirror in the Darkness"

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Progressive Thrash Metal
Format: digital
Release date: April 7, 2023
Tracklist

1. Dead Before Birth (6:18)

2. Among Thieves (5:00)

3. Pray for Me (6:35)

4. The Signal (7:22)

5. Smoke and Mirrors (1:48)

6. Weight of the Crown (4:18)

7. Mirror in the Darkness (8:31)

8. Gateways (2:41)

9. Veiled (3:56)

10. No Peace in Rest (9:23)

Album Length: 55:58

Credits

Liam Collingwood - Vocals

Gary Cordsen - Lead Guitar

Brett Gibbs - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar & Backup Vocals

Eric Wesa - Bass & Backup Vocals

Chris Malcolmson – Drums

   With

Orchestra on Tracks 4, 5, 7 & 10 Arranged and Recorded by Ken Schellenberg

Produced & Mixed by Brett Gibbs & Eric Wesa

Mastered by Jeff Black (Blacknote Music)

Guitars Engineered by Brett Gibbs & Jeff Black (Blacknote Music)

Drums Recorded and Engineered by Larry Anschell (Turtle Recording Studios)

Vocals for Track 2 - 8 Recorded and Engineered by Brett Gibbs

Vocals for Track 1 & 10 Recorded and Engineered by Tim Neuhaus (Ear Art Music Studios)

Album Cover Art by Ivona Vasileva

Description/Reviews:

Energetic, fast paced, and prog-infused metal; Medevil captures the essence of what makes the classic 80s heavy metal acts great, and throws it on its head injecting interesting twists into their riffing

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Matt Dorsey "Let Go"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Progressive Pop Rock
Format: CD,digital
Release date: April 7, 2023
Tracklist

1. Castles Made of Sand

2. Compromise

3. Waiting for the Fall

4. Man

5. Impossible Friends

6. Echo

7. Let Go

8. Dangerous

Credits

Matt Dorsey (Sound Of Contact, Dave Kerzner, In Continuum): Vocals, guitars, bass, keys, drums, percussion

    With

Dave Kerzner (Sound Of Contact, In Continuum): Keyboard solo (3)

Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson, Mike Keneally): Drums (3,4,7)

Jonathan Mover (GTR, Stuart Hamm): Drums (1,5,6)

All music and lyrics written by Matt Dorsey, except keyboard solo in "Waiting For The Fall" written by Dave Kerzner

Mixed by Matt Dorsey

Mastered by Andy VanDette

Artwork by Ed Unitsky

Description/Reviews:

“Let Go” is a new collection of songs written and recorded by multi-instrumentalist Matt Dorsey. Stylistically it stands as a blend of all the artists and bands that influenced him including, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, XTC, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Steely Dan and more. It can be described as progressive-pop-rock. 

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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M-opus "At The Mercy Of Manannán"

Country: Ireland
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Format: CD, digital
Release date: April 3, 2023
Tracklist

1. Setting Off

2. Riverflow

3. Whirlpool

4. To The Other Side

5. Na Bruídaí 

6. Valley Of Elah

7. Scaling Novas

8. Carnivale

Credits
Mark Grist - drums

PJ O'Connell - guitars

Colin Sullivan - guitars

Jonathan Casey (David Cross Band) - vocals, keys, bass

Produced and mixed by Jonathan Casey

Recorded at the W5, Drum Shed and Chop Shop, Cooliska.

Cover illustration by Indira May.

Description/Reviews:

As with all their albums, this hypothetically 'comes from' a year in rock history, 1972, with the sound and production that implies. From lush, symphonic rock, to blazing, virtuosic instrumentals and lavish melodic tracks, the album aims to be nothing less than a 'new classic'. 

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

Na Bruídaí (Radio Edit) 

Valley Of Elah

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