Last Minute to Jaffna "Volume II"

Country: Italy
Genre(s): Psychedelic, Post Metal, Doom
Label: Argonauta Records (CD)
Format: CD, vinyl, digital
Release date: March 2, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. Chapter XV 06:30
2. Chapter DCCXV 08:08
3. Chapter XII 10:40
4. Chapter DCLXVI 06:29
5. Chapter XIII 10:56
6. Chapter XIV 08:55
7. Chapter XXV 11:37
8. Chapter XXVI 07:16

Line-up: 
Danilo Battocchio - guitar, fx
Valerio Damiano - vocals, guitar
Andrea Skinner Pellegrino - drums
Gianmaria Asteggiano - bass
   With
Gigi Morello - drums (4)
Mike B - backing vocals (2, 6)

Description/Reviews: 

“Volume II” kicks off with the slow burning “Chapter XV”, which unfortunately I find to be a bit of a false start. Building from quiet, delayed guitars to heavy distorted riffing, it fails to engage until Valerio Damiano unleashes his powerful roar about five minutes in and then everything clicks into place. Fortunately this is a minor blip as over the course of the subsequent seven tracks Last Minute to Jaffna draw the listener right in and don’t let go until the bitter end. Lengthy epics “Chapter DCCXV” and “Chapter XII” follow which highlight what the band do best; astral voyages through Isis-style soundscapes riddled with spiky melody reminiscent of Mastodon.
The real highlights of the record though come in the forms of “Chapter XIII” and “Chapter XXV”. Both of these tracks are dark ballads of the kind favoured by Scott Kelly, both beginning in whispered near silence before being stretched into crunching, cathartic dirges. The later of these two behemoths establishes a particularly evocative atmosphere at its inception, smearing faraway crackling static over chiming chords as heavily reverbed drums join the fray to create a real otherworldly feel.

 Read the full review by Charlie Butler at thesludgelord.blogspot.com

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Salander "The Fragility Of Innocence"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Format: digital
Release date: March 2, 2015
Tracklist: 
1. Aldri Sakleysi Er Farinn (5:41)
2. Cold Icelandic Winter (9:08)
3. Tomorrow Is A New Day (2:23)
4. Leroy's Tale (3:57)
5. Internal Doors (8:44)
6. And So To Sleep (6:59)
7. Malansky (8:51)
8. Evil Doctor (3:29)
9. Race Against The Machine (11:38)

Line-up: 
Dave Curnow: Vocals, Synths, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar
Dave Smith: Guitars, Bass, Mellotron, Organ, Piano, Synths, Loops, Vocals
   With
Frank Urbaniak (Fractal Mirror): Drums (2, 6, 9 )
Nihal Eleftheriou: Vocals (1, 6 )

Description/Reviews: 

The Fragility of Innocence is a concept album which deals with how the life of a seven year old Icelandic girl is destroyed by corporate ambition and greed. The download comes with a small novelette which compliments the musical statements made in the album.

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Orgasmo Sonore "Revisiting Obscure Library Music"

Country: Canada
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Label: Cineploit
Format: CD, vinyl
Release date: March 2, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. L´Erba Di Prima 2:54
2. Prairies 4:23
3. White Sand 2:58
4. Viadotti 3:41
5. Tempo Sospeso 3:55
6. Canon 3:24
7. Confronto 2:14
8. Moonlight Drive 3:12
9. A Mind Level 4:02
10. Electric Maneges 4:00
11. Space Team 1:35
12. Gypsy Manou 5:14

Line-up: 
Frank Rideau

Description/Reviews: 

While library music is an extremely broad genre (as necessitated by the wide range of uses it was intended for), Rideau has been selective with what he's taken on board here, creating an album that flows smoothly through progressive rock, funk, crime jazz and spacey synths - all the sorts of things beloved of Active Listener readers.
"Erba di Prima" starts things off in a pastoral prog vein which will make collectors of late sixties / early seventies U.K proto-prog feel right at home. Things then get nicely jazzy without losing their prog edge with Alessandro Alessandroni's "White Sand" having a nice flutey Tonton Macoute vibe, before Piero Umiliani's "Viadotti" channels Zappa at his busiest, and most melodic. Bruno Nicolai's "Tempo Sospesso" utilises synth choirs, harpsichord and guitars on the verge of feedback, making this a good entry point for those more familiar with Rideau's Giallo style work.

 Read the full review by Nathan Ford  at active-listener.blogspot.co.nz

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Progstreaming

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Taylor's Universe "From Scratch"

Country: Denmark
Genre(s):  Instrumental Progressive Rock
Label: Marvel of Beauty Records
Format: CD, digital
Release date: April 9, 2015
Tracklist: 
1. Other Meetings (5:17)
2. Beta X (7:32)
3. Balcony People (7:25)
4. Interrail (9:17)
5. Laura's Lullaby (2:56)
6. Für Louise (5:09)
7. Autumn River (6:57)

Line-up: 
Claus Bøhling (Secret Oyster): guitar
Karsten Vogel (Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Secret Oyster): saxes, bass clarinet
Thomas Ulstrup: Minimoog
Robin Taylor: vintage keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion
Klaus Thrane: drums
   With
Finn Olafsson: electric guitar
Jakob Mygind: sax
Carsten Sindvald: sax
Jytte Lindberg: voice
Louise Nipper: voice
Jan Fischer: voice

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Bandcamp
Laura's Lullaby

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Vespero "Fitful Slumber until 5 A.M."

Country: Russia
Genre(s): Instrumental Eclectic Progressive Rock
Label: R.A.I.G.
Format: CD, digital
Release date: March 1, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. Vision 1. Ogni Fuoco (3:50:18 - 4:02:15)
2. Vision 2. Outer Planting (4:02:16 - 4:10:30)
3. Vision 3. Kamzas Red Sands (4:10:31 - 4:17:36)
4. Vision 4. 1507 (4:17:37 - 4:29:59)
5. Vision 5. Ezel (4:30:00 - 4:36:55)
6. Vision 6. Atil (4:36:56 - 4:51:14)
7. Vision 7. Kidish Hail (4:51:15 - 5:00:00)

Line-up: 
Ivan Fedotov - drums, percussions
Arkady Fedotov - bass, synths, flutes, voice
Alexander Kuzovlev - guitars, electronics
Alexey Klabukov - synths, keyboards, accordion

Description/Reviews: 

It’s a fascinating, all instrumental, conceptual piece touching upon the theme of intricate functions of the human subconscious, dream-visions and music. Arguably, this is the band’s most ambitious and complicated work that brings together traditions of progressive, psychedelic, jazz, academic, and folklore music.

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Forces United "II"

Country: Multinational
Genre(s): Progressive Power Metal
Label: Metalism Records
Format: CD, digital
Release date: March 1, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. We Cry (feat. Nookie, Samosvat & Bazhin) 06:00
2. Speaking to Yourself (feat. Ahola) 04:04
3. If We Want It (feat. Samosvat & Vortex) 03:41
4. Immortality (feat. Vortex) 05:13
5. Digital World 3 (feat. Ahola, Nemolyaev & Yasinsky) 04:24
6. We Cry 2 (feat. West) 04:58
7. If You Are Happy 3 (feat. Elfimov) 04:18

Line-up: 
Kirill Nemolyaev (Boney’ NEM) — music, vocals
Konstantin Seleznev (Factor Strakha, Trizna) — guitars, bass, keyboards
Sergey "ID" Bogolubskiy (The SLot, ex-DAI) — guitars, bass, keyboards
Jarkko Ahola (Teräsbetoni, Ahola, ex-Dreamtale) — vocals
Max Samosvat (ex-Mechanical Poet, ex-Epidemia) — vocals
John West (ex-Royal Hunt, Artension) — vocals
Daria "Nookie" Stavrovich (The SLot) — vocals
Andrew Lobashev (Arida Vortex) — vocals
Petr Elfimov — vocals
Jukka Koskimäki — drums
Alexander Karpukhin (ex-Master) — drums
Mark Zonder (Warlord, ex-Fates Warning) — drums
Oleg Izotov — guitars
Vladimir Bazhin (ex-Hard Day, GAiN) — vocals
Vlad Yasinsky (Simantika, Viper Inc.) — lyrics, vocals
Sergey Erokhin (Boney’ NEM) — arrangements, keyboards

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Cortence "A Dream in Azure"

Country: Brazil
Genre(s): Progressive Metal/Rock
Format: digital
Release date: March 1, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. Intro (A Dream in Azure) 02:24
2. A Dream in Azure 04:53
3. A Waltz for Leaving 05:59
4. Ossuary & Oblivion 07:41
5. Reminiscence 04:41

Line-up: 
Eddy Lance - Vocals and keys
Matheus Maito - Electric and acoustic guitars
Ramon Oliveira - Bass and electric guitar
Rômulo Cavalcanti - Drums
   With
Bárbara Alves - Backing vocals (3)
Felipe Amorim - Saxophone (3)

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Abandoned Stars "Fragments"

Country: UK
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Label: Ouergh Records
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 28, 2015
Tracklist: 
1 Abrasion of the mind (01:21)
2 The sleepless man’ s conscious dream (07:22)
3 Neverwhere (08:06)
4 Betrayed by blood (06:07)
5 Fracture (02:49)
6 Fallen apart (07:03)
7 Too close to you (04:18)
8 Lost (09:54)
9 Perception of t he I (10:59)
10 Worst of mankind (06:50)

Line-up: 
Tony Hodge - Drums
Olivier Hadder - Vocals
Giueseppe Schiavone - Guitar
Leen - Bass
   With
Juan Pablo Dussan - Additional keyboards

Description/Reviews: 

Scotland’s new blend and offering on the progressive metal scene: Abandoned Stars. “Fragments”, a concept album based on the fate of a man’s desolation, a family tragedy and the dilemna we refer to as human condition, all set to the bands most ambitious, musically rich and vocally accomplished release to date. “Fragments” is much more diverse than the band’s first EP, while staying true to the progressive metal sound of intricate musical segments and compositions loaded with melodies; there are new twists and turns, an even stronger band tightness from playing countless gigs since the release of their 2011 EP “Opening Act” all of which is brought together by a super powerful production. (musearecords.com)

Media/Samples 
Trailer
Too close to you

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Without Walls "Prodigy"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Format: digital
Release date: February 10, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. Rebirth (Samsara) 03:19
2. Failure (Dukka) 03:39
3. Illusions (Maya) 04:20
4. Solitude (Kaivalya) 01:41
5. Desire (Kama) 04:46
6. New Life (Brahmacharya) ft. Jaleel Faulk 04:23
7. Homeostasis (Manmukh) 04:27
8. Reality (Avidya) 06:18
9. Liberation (Moksha) ft. Al Joseph 04:30

Line-up: 
Adam Bentley - Guitar
Johnuel Hasney - Guitar
PJ Corallo - Drums
Matthew Kniffin - Bass
  With
Jaleel Faulk
Al Joseph

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Not a Good Sign "From a Distance"

Country: Italy
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Label: Fading records
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 28, 2015
Tracklist: 

1. Wait for me - 5:05
2. Going down - 4:19
3. Flying over cities - 4:59
4. Not now - 5:07
5. Aru hi no yoru deshita - 3:41
6. Pleasure of drowning - 5:52
7. I feel like snowing - 7:20
8. Open window - 7:22
9. The diary i never wrote - 5:32
10. Farewell - 1:50

Line-up: 
Paolo 'Ske' Botta (Yugen, Ske): Keyboards
Alessio Calandriello (La Coscienza di Zeno): Voice
Alessandro Cassani: Bass
Francesco Zago (Yugen, Ske): Guitars
Martino Malacrida: Drums
   With
Jacopo Costa (Yugen): Vibraphone, Glockenspiel (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 8)
Eleonara Grampa: Oboe, English Horn (tracks 4, 5, 10)
Maurizio Fasoli (Yugen): Grand Piano (tracks 4, 5, 8, 10)
Gian Marco Trevisan: Electric guitar (track 5)
Margherita Botta: Heart (track 5)

Media/Samples 
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