Gabriels "Fist of the Seven Stars, Vol. 1 - Fist of Steel"

Country: Italy
Genre(s): Progressive Metal/Rock Opera
Label: Diamonds Prod
Format: digital, CD
Release date: February 7, 2016 (digital), April 2016 (CD)
Tracklist: 
1. Fist Of Steel (5:09)
2. She's Mine (4:14)
3. Mistake (5:42)
4. Seven Stars (4:12)
5. A New Beginning (5:28)
6. Break Me (6:10)
7. My Advance (4:24)
8. To Love, Ever Invain (6:10)
9. Sacrifice (6:24)
10. Black Gate (4:03)
11. Revenge Invain (6:32)
12. Decide Your Destiny (9:38)

Total time 68:06

Line-up: 
Gabriels: All the Keyboards, Piano, Synth, Hammond and Vocals
Giacomo Voli: Vocals
Ida Elena De Razza(Bare Infinity): Vocals
Marius Danielsen (Darkest Sins): Vocals
Dave Dell'Orto (Drakkar): Vocals
Dario Grillo (Platens, Violet Sun): Vocals
Iliour Griften: Vocals
Stefano Calvagno (Metatrone): Guitars
Glauber Oliveira (Dark Avenger): Guitars
Giovanni Tomasucci: Guitars
Tommy Vitaly: Guitars
Angelo Mazzeo: Guitars
Francesco Ivan Sante Dall'O': Guitars
Dino Fiorenza: Bass
Christian Cosentino: Bass
Simone Alberti: Drums
    With:
Davide Pezzurra (Metaphysics): Lead Guitar
Andrea "Tower" Torricini (courtesy of Vision Divine): Bass and Guitars

Media/Samples 
Preview

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Monolith "The Mind’s Horizon: Desolation Within"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Progressive Metal/Rock
Format: digital, CD
Release date: February 7, 2016 (digital)
Tracklist: 
1. In Effigy (1:57)
2. From Darkness Unto Dawn (10:27)
3. Perihelion (11:20)
4. Embers On The Wind (11:54)
5. The Monolith (11:01)
6. Deathless Delirium (8:24)
7. Last Light (20:11)

Total time 75:14

Line-up: 
Jake Quintanilla - Vocals
Kyle Ludovice- Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards
Jason Schultz- Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar
Ben Rose - Bass Guitar
Marshawn Fondren- Drums, Percussion

Description/Reviews: 

“The Mind’s Horizon: Desolation Within” is about as epic as it gets too. It’s the first part of a two part double album. The band have a lot of influences and styles that they combine into their own brand of progressive metal. They have the chops of Dream Theater, the grit of early Mastodon and the vision of Between the Buried and Me.

Read the full review by Rob Pociluk at progressivemusicplanet.com

Media/Samples 
Stream

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Amphetamin "A Flood of Strange Sensations"

Country: France
Genre(s): Post Rock, Art Rock
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 7, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Devotion (4:33)
2. The Threshold (4:18)
3. Once Upon A Tree (5:34)
4. Stranger On An Island (4:57)
5. Endless Nights (4:54)
6. The Haunted One (7:39)
7. Neverland (4:49)
8. Favourite Doll (4:56)
9. Info  9. Thoughts In The Water (5:59)
10. Ghostly Place (4:42)
11. Different Colours Of Tears (7:25)

Total time 59:46

Line-up: 
Sebastian - everything

Description/Reviews: 

The album combines everything from art rock to shoegaze to post rock. It reminds me a bit of Tame Impala in that Amphetamin are a one man show just like Tame Impala and like Kevin Parker, Sebastian presents very melodic music twisted just enough to make it feel foreign and strange. 

Read the full review by Rob Pociluk at  progressivemusicplanet.com

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Art Against Agony "The Difference Between a Duck and a Lobster"

Country: Germany
Genre(s): Progressive Jazz Rock/Metal
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 6, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. The_duck (2:27)
2. Fitches Pulled At Random (6:19)
3. L.A. Suite: Sunset Blvd / Peatloaf Ave (8:00)
4. Abysmal Gale (5:13)
5. Batteries Are For Flashlights, Not For Pickups (6:05)
6. Nacre Fugue (2:37)
7. Tiobe (6:08)
8. BBQ (3:23)
9. Hulullululu (3:49)
10. Gunseng! (4:32)
11. The_lobster (5:37)

Total time 54:10

Line-up: 
the_sorcerer - lead_guitar
the_machinist - rhythm_guitar
the_surgeon - piano
the_heretic - bass
the_malkavian - drums
   With
Jeff Kollman (Cosmosquad, Glenn Hughes)
Jan Zehrfeld (Panzerballett)

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Bandcamp

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Odyssey "Voids"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Instrumental Progressive Metal
Format: CD, digital
Release date:February 5, 2016
Tracklist: 

1. Emerge. Evolve. Adapt
2. Negate The Infinite
3. Like Moths to the Flame
4. Motives 
5. Echoes
6. Before There Were Eyes To See
7. The Plot Thickens
8. Delineation
9. Left Unspoken
10. Voids

Line-up: 
Jerrick Crites - Guitar
Jordan Hilker - Bass
Lukas Hilker - Drums

Description/Reviews: 

This album is awesome, the amount of sound they pack in with only three members is impressive. The styles that can be heard throughout this album range from jazz and funk, to thrash and progressive metal. I couldnt pick just one song to be a favorite, but I will tell you that “Echoes” has been played a few dozen times, it is now my alarm clock sound,  and a  ringtone, as it is such a killer track. The album really is a an example of variety, not every song sounds the same,  yet every song has its own style.

Read the full track-by-track review at badgersmetalbreakdown.com

Media/Samples 
Motives

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Electric Eye "Different Sun"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Psychedelic
Label: Jansen Plateproduksjon
Format: digital, CD, vinyl, cassette
Release date: February 05, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Silent by the River (5:06)
2. All of This Has Happened Before and Will Happen Again (6:13)
3. Mercury Rise (5:23)
4. Bless (4:15)
5. Heavy Steps on Desert Floor (7:44)
6. Never Fade Away (3:59)
7. Part One (6:09)

Total time 38:49

Line-up: 
Øystein Braut - guitars, vocals
Njål Clementsen - bass. vocals
Anders Bjelland - keyboards
Øyvind Hegg-Lunde - drums

Description/Reviews: 

My main impressions are that this is a band very much in love with the psychedelic music of the late 1960’s and early to mid 1970’s. And then spanning the whole canvas of music described in a psychedelic context from this era, albeit perhaps with a stronger orientation towards the rock based rather than pop based artists in general, and with something of an affection also for music of a more challenging nature in those landscapes. Not that this is an album I’d describe as challenging as such mind you, but there are numerous small details here that indicates that at least some of the guys in this band know their way around music that focus much more on chaotic and freaked out arrangements than those revolving more closely around distinct melodies and harmonic constructions.

Read the full review by Olav Martin Bjørnsen at houseofprog.com

Media/Samples 
Bless
Mercury Rise 

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Rhine “An Outsider”

Country: USA
Genre(s): Eclectic Progressive Metal/Rock, Death Metal
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 5, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Dreaming Of Death (11:45)
2. The Spell Of Dark Water (6:20)
3. An Outsider (9:44)
4. Somewhere (3:38)
5. Paralyzed (10:29)
6. Dissolved In Fire (7:32)
7. P.R.E.Y. (5:10)
8. Into The Unknown (6:13)
9. Shipwrecked In Stasis (2:42)
10. Fragments (8:00)

Total time 71:33

Line-up: 
Gabe Tachell - Guitars, bass, vocals and programming
Sean Lang - Drums

Description/Reviews: 

One of Rhine’s greatest achievements is that, despite their transitions between heavy, soft, jazzy, or even post-rock and noise, it all somehow comes together. On first listen it can seem like quite a scattergun approach, but as you go back for more you find yourself acclimatising, increasingly adept at piecing it all together. This particularly applies to the record’s second half where, despite what has come before it, Rhine manages to throw another curveball and genuinely surprise the listener. It is on this second half that Devin Townsend’s influence becomes obvious, and the band show that you shouldn’t take them too seriously. Listeners can expect noise, folky, gang-vocal choruses, progressive power metal guitar work, and even classical elements; with harpsichord, wind and brass instrumentation briefly transporting the listener to the royal courts of 17th century Europe. Yet, arguably nothing is as surprising as the final track.

Read the full review by Karlo Doroc at heavyblogisheavy.com 

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Bandcamp

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Aluk Todolo "Voix"

Country: France
Genre(s): Instrumental Krautrock  
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: February 5, 2016 (CD, digital), March 2016 (vinyl)
Tracklist: 
1. 8:18 (8:18)
2. 7:54 (7:54)
3. 5:01 (5:01)
4. 7:01 (7:01)
5. 5:34 (5:34)
6. 9:29 (9:29)

Total Time 43:17

Line-up: 
Shantidas Riedacker - guitar
Matthieu Canaguier - bass
Antoine Hadjioannou - drums

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Moon Tooth "Chromaparagon"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Format: CD, digital
Release date: February 5, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Queen Wolf (4:53)
2. Offered Blood (3:39)
3. Igneous (4:58)
4. Little Witch (4:26)
5. Bats In The Attic (1:52)
6. Forgive Me Snake Ryder (2:40)
7. Chroma (4:15)
8. Vesuvius I (2:46)
9. Vesuvius II (4:32)
10. Belt Squeezer (5:18)
11. Death And The Vibrant Architecture Of Rebirth (4:51)
12. White Stag (10:50)

Total time 55:00

Line-up: 
John Carbone – Vocals
Nick Lee – Guitar & Vocals
Ray Marte – Drums & Vocals
Vincent Romanelli – Bass
   With
Roz Raskin – Additional vocals (8, 9)
Derek Smith – Violin (6)
Anthony Lopardo – Additional vocals (6)
Michael McManus – Additional samples (6)
Steve Gomez – Additional gang vocals (10)
Garrett Kuppelmeyer – Didgeridoo (10)
Jess DeBellis – Organ (3, 4)

Description/Reviews: 

The diversity across this album is definitely its strongest selling point and it makes quick work of giving up the goods from the get go. The first track ‘Queen Wolf’ rips the hinges off the door and sets a very nice pace that the album keeps up with rather well, starting off furiously fast only to have a melodious and triumphant finish. The second track ‘Offered Blood’ has a crushing, twangy groove that screams Crack the Skye era Mastodon and the third track ‘Igneous’ is a chug-heavy blues song (Don’t worry, there’s organ in there) that’ll make you wish a train killed your baby so you could hunt down that goddamn, good for nothing train and rip its wheels off. It also gets bonus points for featuring a sound bite from the excellent 1986 film Crossroads. We are only three songs into the record and have experienced quite a bit of musical diversity. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Chromapargon is a record that consists of so many left hooks that you should begin to expect them, but you never do. It goes plenty of places stylistically and none of them are disappointing. Each unexpected punch to your eardrums feels not only satisfying, but also authentic. This music isn’t vibrant or different because of the band are trying overly hard to make it that way, it just simply is.

Read the full review by Ryan Castrati at heavyblogisheavy.com

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Bandcamp

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Textures "Phenotype"

Country: Netherlands
Genre(s): Tech/Extreme Progressive Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Format: CD
Release date: February 5, 2015
Tracklist: 
1. Oceans Collide (6:03)
2. New Horizons (4:51)
3. Shaping A Single Grain Of Sand (4:20)
4. Illuminate The Trail (7:15)
5. Meander (1:38)
6. Erosion (4:34)
7. The Fourth Prime (7:06)
8. Zman (3:20)
9. Timeless (4:42)

Total time 43:49

Line-up: 
Daniël de Jongh - Vocals
Bart Hennephof - Guitar
Joe Tal - Guitar
Stef Broks - Drums
Remko Tielemans - Bass
Uri Dijk - Synths

Description/Reviews: 

“Oceans Collide” is a powerful opener to the album, with a subtle initial intake of breath just as the explosion of sound bursts forth. Immediately, the patterns and rhythms of heavy prog metal meet those of a slightly metalcore feel, with the rather recognizable tones of frontman Daniel de Jongh bringing the whole thing to life. The usage of aggressive harsh vocals in combination with his deep-sounding upper register of cleans are in full force, and as usual, provide a distinct quality to the band as a whole. However, Textures is not simply a vocal-driven band; the guitars provided by Joe Tal and Bart Hennephof are equally as impressive throughout.

Read the full review by Sandra Yeomans at metalwani.com

Media/Samples 
New Horizons

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