Breeze "Echoes From A Distant Past"

Country: Germany
Genre(s): Symphonic, Neo-Prog
Format: digital
Release date: August 27, 2024
Tracklist

1. From The Witchwood (7:30) 

2. Clouds And Ripples (9:18) 

3. Deadliest Creature (5:06) 

4. The Wreck (4:01) 

5. The Last Time (5:03) 

6. When Angels Travel (4:38) 

7. The Inner Light (3:42) 

8. The Body Electric (5:08) 

9. The Harbour (3:00) 

10. Rain (11:51) 

Total Time 59:17

Credits

David Barratt - Vocals, Piano

Hansi Arnold - Vocals, Drums

Ottfried Mietzke - Guitars, Keyboards, Orchestral Arrangements

Hubertus Feldmann - Keyboards, Piano (2,10)

Andreas Feldmann - Bass (2)

Kai Paulmann - Drums(10)

Composed,arranged and produced by BREEZE

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

Links:
Web page
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Riccardo Zappa "Gabri Flies to Italy"

Country: Italy
Genre(s): Instrumental Art Rock
Label: M.P. & Records
Format: CD,digital
Release date: May 6, 2024
Tracklist

1) Gabri Flies to Italy (18:51)

2) Harmonios (4:32)

3) Sanvalentiniana (6:38)

4) Inno (4:34)

5) Suonami una Nota (4:41)

6) Nimaster Ego (3:18)

7) L'Attesa (2:28)

Credits

Riccardo Zappa - Acoustic Guitar, 12-String Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Electric Bass, Drums, Composition, Arrangement, Production

   With

Paolo Facco - Drums, Keyboards

Enrico Melli - Mandola

Anna Morelli - Mandolin 

Stefano Franzoni - Mandolin

Edoardo Farina - Mandolincello

Mastered by Mauro Mulas 

Artwork by OndemediE

Description/Reviews:

Italian artist Riccardo Zappa is out with the album "Gabri Flies to Italy", and I guess that progressive rock is the best category to sort this production under. It is a fairly low key and careful album we get here, with many of the all instrumental compositions exploring various combinations of acoustic guitars and keyboards first and foremost. Gentle, atmospheric laden and romantic creations, where the word dreamladen can be applied with a high degree of sincerity. On some of the compositions, like the massive title track that opens this album, we do get arrangements that are a bit more elaborate too, at least in parts of the song, and when I see references to the material of Mike Oldfield applied to some of Zappa's earlier albums I can hear that in those sequences and in passages in a few other songs too. This is music with an acoustic foundation that makes use of tendencies from acoustic rock, folk music and classical music without strictly adhering to any of these traditions, and sets them up in romantic and borderline cinematic journeys that occasionally touch base with similar types of landscapes as Mike Oldfield. If that sounds like music that will appeal to you, then this is an album that should be worth a listen. (Olav M. Bjornsen at progressor.net's facebook)

Media/Samples
Teaser
Youtube 
Spotify
Deezer

Links:
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The Flying Norsemen "The Flying Norsemen"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Retro Prog, Psychedelic, Hard Rock
Label: Apollon Records
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: September 20, 2024
Tracklist

1. Norseide (10:44) 

2. Lystens Begjær II (8:38) 

3. PoseidJohn (12:03) 

4. Lystens Begjær (9:07) 

Total Time 40:32

Credits

Anders Sprauten - Guitars & vocals

Tommy Ingebrigtsen - Guitar  

John Wærnes - Lead Guitar & vocals

Terje Nyhus - Bass

Øyvind Grønn - Drums

Produced by Jostein Smeby

Description/Reviews:

The music draws inspiration from 1970s rock, with elements of stoner, doom, and psychedelia. Woven throughout are vocal harmonies and melodic gems that sparkle like diamonds in the rough. The album takes the listener on a sonic journey, a hazy exploration of the depths of emotion and consciousness. From the thunderous riffs that shake the earth to the melodies that float on the astral plane, the band has crafted a sound that is their own. With their first release, The flying Norsemen have declared their presence in the dynamic realm of heavy music, emerging as a formidable entity. Prepare for a sound voyage that promises to take you on a heavy journey.

Media/Samples
PoseidJohn
Bandcamp

Links:
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Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks "True"

Country: UK/USA
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Label: Frontiers Records
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: August 23, 2024
Tracklist

1. True Messenger

2. Shine On

3. Counties and Countries

4. Build Me An Ocean

5. Still a Friend

6. Make It Right

7. Realization Part Two

8. Once Upon A Dream

9. Thank God

Credits

Jon Anderson (Yes): Vocals

Richie Castellano - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

Andy Ascolese - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Vocals

Andy Graziano - Guitar, Vocals

Christopher Clark - Keyboards

Robert Kipp - Hammond Organ, Vocals

Ann Marie Nacchio - Additional Vocals

Produced by Jon Anderson & Richie Castellano

Associate Producer - Andy Ascolese

Musical Arrangements - Jon Anderson, Richie Castellano, Andy Ascolese & Christopher Clark

Studio: Band Geeks Studio- Staten Island, NY

Recorded by: Richie Castellano & Andy Ascolese

Mixed by: Richie Castellano

Mastered by: Sam Stauff at Mercy Studios

Description/Reviews:

In 2023, after connecting with a group of New York musicians called The Band Geeks, Jon embarked on a summer of 2023 tour performing 2 hours of YES epics and classics. With The Band Geeks, Jon found a group of musicians that he felt could collaborate with him to create a body of work that rivaled the classic YES sound of the 70’s and 80’s. The result of this collaboration is “True”. The 9-song album harkens back to the sound of classic YES and features compositions of all lengths with the centerpiece being the 16 minute song “Once Upon a Dream”.

Media/Samples
Stream & buy
True Messenger
Shine On

Links

Jon Anderson:
Web page
Facebook
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The Band Geeks:
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Egor Lappo "Reasonable Nonsense"

Country: Russia
Genre(s): Progressive Rock/Metal
Format: digital
Release date: August 16 , 2024
Tracklist

1. Recurring Dreams

2. Long Gone Years

3. Break the Spell

4. Where Nothing Exists

5. Falling

6. Light Pollution

7. Reasonable Nonsense

8. Unenviable Inevitable

9. Shy-Hearted

10. Bloodline

Credits

Egor Lappo - Vocals, Guitars, Synths, Programming, Mixing, Mastering

Description/Reviews:

The album's title is a play on the absurdity of life, reflecting on how major life events (such as death) can be explained easily with logic but are incredibly difficult to overcome in reality.

On this album Lappo returns to his prog metal roots, but folds in inspirations from 90’s industrial, 00’s pop and 2010’s prog. Tracks like the opener "Recurring Dreams" display Lappo’s familiar lush prog-metal leanings, while songs like "Where Nothing Exists" and "Shy-Hearted" are the most aggressive and energetic tracks he has ever done. The album goes full pop on the Britney/Max Martin-esque "Break the Spell" and the power-balladry of "Bloodline", while the song "Light Pollution" presents a modern take on 80s AOR. As a whole, Reasonable Nonsense is an eclectic and engaging listen.

Lyrically, the album highlights the contrasts between existentialism and nihilism. While "Break the Spell" is a triumph over anxiety, "Unenviable Inevitable" questions the meaning of life and doubts the ultimate value of existence. Other tracks take a more personal bend: "Light Pollution" is about excessive jealousy and "Long  one Years" is a song about grief. On a lighter note, the twangy “Falling” celebrates letting old habits die and embracing the path forward. Reasonable Nonsense masterfully weaves its way through some of life’s contradictions over the course of its 10 eclectic tracks.

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Francisco Meza "Textures"

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Instrumental Progressive Rock/Metal
Format: digital
Release date: August 15, 2024

Tracklist

1. The Duel (4:33) 

2. They Are Here (3:59) 

3. For Mom (2:16) 

4. Moonlit Night (3:30) 

5. Beneath The Surface (5:01) 

6. Extreme Echoes (4:55) 

7. Respite (1:27) 

8. The End (6:56) 

Total Time 32:37

Credits

All music and performance by Francisco Meza

Album Cover Art by Felix Tapia (Instagram @elchako)

Media/Samples
Bandcamp
The Duel 

Links:
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Anciients "Beyond the Reach of the Sun"

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Label: Season Of Mist
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date:  August 30, 2024
Tracklist

1. Forbidden Sanctuary (8:16)

2. Despoiled (5:19)

3. Is It Your God (7:07)

4. Melt the Crown (7:08)

5. Cloak of the Vast and Black (6:20)

6. Celestial Tyrant (5:52)

7. Beyond Our Minds (4:12)

8. The Torch (4:13)

9. Candescence (4:10)

10. In the Absence of Wisom (6:35)

Credits

Kenny Cook - Guitar, Vocals

Brock MacInnes - Guitar

Rory O'Brien - Bass

Mike Hannay - Drums

   With

Justin Hagberg - Keyboards (1, 3, 4, 9, 10)

Jesse Gander - Synth (5, 9)

Recorded at Rain City Recorders

Produced, engineered and mixed by Jesse Gander, assisted by Szymon Wojciech

Mastered by Stu McKillop @ Rain City Mastering

Cover artwork by Adam Burke @ Nightjar Illustrations

Description/Reviews:

Beyond the Reach of the Sun ... was more streamlined and slithery, more chest-thumpingly direct, more epic and triumphant sounding. Riffs come in explosive layered packets. Leads, harmonies and melodies are more on par with wind-tussled mountain tops instead of sweaty bar shows and the band moves with finely honed, martial accuracy as conducted by Hannay’s rocket-in-the-pocket staccato swing and accents.  

Songs like “The Torch” blaze with the shirtless glisten of ‘70s stadium rock power. “Cloak of the Vast and Black” swirls and whirls with a combination of hardcore intensity, grunge groove and expansive six-string parries. “In the Absence of Wisdom” is a hurricane-sized maelstrom of classic and prog rock elevated to grandiosity by a return to their growling sludge/death early years as the song/album concludes. The album’s first single, “Melt the Crown” mixes cues from legendary fellow hosers Rush and Harlequin, turn-of-the-millennium post-metal and the most psychedelic corners of the Rise Above Records roster. 

Album opener “Forbidden Sanctuary” is the soundtrack to exploration, of new worlds and sonic arrangement as sine-wave guitars pull from vintage Mercyful Fate covens and Krautrock communes with synths opening up novel textural avenues, as they do on the ethereal wispiness and space rock/sci-fi soundscapes of the instrumental “Candescence.”

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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Arild Brøter "A Spectre Of Sounds - James Bond Music Reimagined"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Instrumental Progressive Rock
Label: Apollon Records
Format: vinyl, CD, digital
Release date: September 6, 2024
Tracklist

1. Gun Barrel / James Bond Theme Intro (0:56) - not on CD

2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Suite - Part 1 (5:12) 

3. Bond Meets Solitaire (4:05) 

4. Vesper (1:42)  - not on CD

5. John Barry Suite (4:54) 

6. Journey To Blofeld’s Hideaway (4:38) 

7. Space Laser Battle (5:42) 

8. Secret Room / New Digs (5:31) 

9. Corinne Put Down / Countdown For Blofeld (1:55)  - not on CD

10. Snow Job / Flight Into Space (4:46) 

11. Capsule In Space (3:56) 

12. 007 Theme (4:18) 

13. Diamonds Are Forever Suite (5:47) 

14. Camille’s Story (1:37)  - not on CD

15. Bond And Paris / City Of Lovers (5:05) 

16. We Share The Same Passions (4:31) 

17. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Suite - Part 2 (3:21) 

18. Elektra’s Theme (1:51)  - not on CD

19. The Living Daylights Suite (10:45) 

20. Final Ascent (6:11) 

Total Time 86:43

Credits
Arild Brøter (Pymlico) - drums, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar and additional electric guitars
   With
Bjørn Riis (Airbag) - guitar (2,6,7,11)
Ole Michal Bjørndal (Caligonaut) (5)
Øyvind Brøter - keyboards
Oda Rydning - percussion
Petter Lien - trumpet, horn
Håkon Rasmussen - bass 
Mattias Krohn Nielsen - guitars
Filip Brekke Steigedal - horn
and more

Mastered by Morten Lund 

Description/Reviews:

Arild Brøter's A Spectre Of Sounds is a thrilling instrumental album that reimagines music from the James Bond films in bold and electrifying ways. 

Injecting new life into familiar pieces, Brøter's arrangements seamlessly weave together the sophistication of the original compositions with the dynamic and exhilarating spirit of Progressive and Classic Rock.

Media/Samples
On Her Majesty's Secret Service Suite - Part 1
Bond Meets Solitaire

Links:
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