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French musician Julien Gaullier, a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, pulls off an impressive achievement with his first album The Field Where She Dies. Having written the material over several years, he recorded the music, singing and playing all the various instruments except for the drums which are played by David Peron and there are addition vocals sung by Marie Guillaumet.

Though I like the music here for the most part there is one major draw back here for me. That is Julien’s voice. I find that his vocals do a disservice to his music. He’s not exactly singing, but not narrating or anything of that sort. But to me they sound flat and somewhat bland and not adequate to the music except in several places (the chorus of Trample On Me for instance and the short growl-like segment on A Picture Of Two Lovers In The Mist). This music requires a more versatile singer, with a wider range, but mainly in a low pitch. I would ... -> show full review

Viima releases in 2009 their second album, Kahden Kuun Sirpit (Two Crescents), with a new lineup in which only two members are left from the previous album. The new people in the band are drummer Mikko Väärälä, vocalist flutist and saxophonist Hannu Hiltula and bassist Aapo Honkanen. Continuing from the first album is keyboard player Kimmo Lähteenmäki. The album contains four songs, one instrumental piece (Sukellus) and an epic title track. This title track is about the history of the city of Turku (where the band rehearses) and also about an individual’s life in the city. As the band sings in Finnish, it is a welcome gesture that the booklet has translation into English of the lyrics alongside the original Finnish version.

We start with Autio Pelto which resonates the sound of the previous album with its charming flute in the foreground and the guitar backing it up while the keyboards administers a soothing background ... -> show full review

The Good is in great Form

Let me start by saying this: There are several bands and musicians that when I listen to their album I think to myself: “I wish I could compose music like this. I wish I would have composed this”. This is the case with Deluge Grander’s music.

This is the second Deluge Grander album, another musical delicatessen from Dan Britton’s creative mind (keyboards), along with his highly talented band mates, Dave Berggren (guitars), Brett d’Anon (bass) and Patrick Gaffney (drums). This time around Dan hired the services of a large lineup of classical musicians to enhance the sound and add more dimensions to the music. The musicians, mostly from College Park, in Maryland, bring in the lineup such instruments as cello, clarinet, flute, saxophone, violin, trumpet, trombone and oboe. This orchestral addition comes out very well and is best heard on the track Aggrandizement.

As this ... -> show full review

This is a very good album, but The Reverse May Be True…

The Screw-Loose Entertainment released by RAIG in 2004, was indeed entertaining with its instrumental guitar-oriented, heavy and quirky rock (sometimes even psychedelic in nature and mood, though not sound), manifesting a variety of influences from King Crimson (Red-era) to more avant-rock leanings. It is therefore, with excitement that I found in my mail a promo copy of their new album released in 2008 (through RAIG as well) with a title that suggests a good portion of healthy skepticism and open-mindedness. Coming in another successfully well made digipack by RAIG, the art work, a collage of drawings and pictures is very fitting the music and atmosphere resounding from the album.

Indeed open-minded is a quality one needs when listening to their music. Not that it is too “out there” or overly alienating, but for those with softer “ear drums”, this ... -> show full review

In 2007 this Belarusian ensemble released their s/t album through Altr0ck and it was one of my favourites of that year and a great album overall. Their quirky style, inspired by classical composers such as Stravinsky and Ives to experimental and progressive rock groups such as Univers Zero has won me over and I was highly anticipating their next effort. Little did I know that it would turn out to be such a brilliant album, which shows a progression from their previous output, going into new direction, trying and experimenting with new routes and possibilities.

The lineup consists of a basic rock unit of guitar, bass, keyboards and drums along with a classical lineup of saxophone, bassoon, cello, violin and piano, giving them a range of opportunities to create a wide musical “palate” of sounds. There are also female vocals on some ... -> show full review

This album can truly charm snakes

This four piece instrumental band from CT, USA has released so far two albums, of the heavy brand with several underlying elements such as a spacey and psychedelic atmosphere, stoner-rock elements (listen to the last track on Snakecharmer), fusion segments emphasized by the bewitching cello and an overall encompassing and enveloping sound that takes me away while listening to far away places, surrounded by mountains of crushing riffs and deep evoking rhythms and the alternating uplifting or mesmerizing string instrument playing.

The music presents spacey segments and psychedelic elements (“Bastard Son”, “Snakecharmer”), upbeat and energetic melodies (“Divine Machine”), heavy rock with long brooding riffs (“Bastard Son”) and gripping themes (“Snakecharmer”). Their music involved starting with a fixed theme and then veering out from it into new directions, ... -> show full review

This album has very quickly leaped into my favourite albums list… Not the typical progressive metal, so don’t be deterred. Read on to know more.

It is thanks to Ruben (Chamberry) that I got to know this band. Listening to their Mysapce samples, I ordered it through The End Records mail order service (The Omega Mail Order) along with their friends and tour mates (and a band that Jackie played with) Giant Squid (look for their band here in PA).

I wish there was something different I could listen to, something to have my brain listen to and get away from all the ruckus of everyday life, the stress and anxieties and drift upwards to some other place… Thankfully, there are bands like Grayceon to help us achieve just that. Obviously there are other great bands that do just that (and I have several favourite bands which so just that), but with Grayceon I get a different experience, a combination of elements from various ... -> show full review

Their music is dynamic and constantly on the move. And as you can infer from the lineup, guitar driven in which one guitar gives the back up and the other paves the way of the track. There are sharp and fast guitar riffs, energetic and raw drums and creative bass lines. The production on their first album is very clear and allows focusing on each instrument's part, aside from the bass which sometimes gets lost in the mix. Listeners might hear a King Crimson influence in their sound. Moreover, there is a post-rockish element to their sound, and at times they sound like a post-rock band on steroids, as they play pretty fast, and in any case, much faster than most post-rock bands. This is not that surprising, given their label. In general, this is engaging and dynamic music, fast and at times angular and shifting rapidly time signatures, reminiscing math-rock bands.

There is much injustice in this world. In the world of music and particularly in the realm of progressive music one such injustice is the anonymity and lack of appreciation towards this brilliant Quebecois band and its beautiful and excellent albums. Les Porches is an album that should be owned by any progressive music lover, as it is such an amazing album that will surely be adored by everyone who listens to it. Melodies are beautiful and incorporate within them several styles (classical music, jazz, rock). Comprised of two lengthy tracks one of which is a short tune and the other is an ending "regular" length track.

What talent. To create such a beautiful chamber music resembling a small symphonic piece filled with instruments such as flute, clarinet, piano, xylophone, trombone and at the end of the track the guitars, saxophone, drums and vocals join in. Including 5 chapters, this magnificent masterpiece ... -> show full review

There is something magnificent happening in Argentina
What a great album!
This album has risen to be one of my all-time favourites. What beautiful melodies,
excellent musicianship, clever compositions, good production. They have two guitar
sounds, one crunchy and one slightly "yelling", they have excellent keyboards and they
all intertwine together to create stunning music.
The first song kicks in with a joyful tune and you can immediately tell who these guys
love - Crucis and ELP and the likes. But this is no clone, not at all. They take their
influences and mold their own sound. Moving from joyful parts to more melancholic
soundscapes, they create a voyage in this track, while maintaining the basic melody all
the time and playing around it and developing it all the time. There is not a single boring
moment in here.
... -> show full review

Folk prog from Finland. Songs sway between mellow acoustic songs with acoustic guitar and bass guitar setting the tone and rythm of the songs to more groovy mood songs that borders jazz. Nice inclusion of wind instruments such as flute, clarinet, Freanch horn and trombone and strings like violin and cello. A very relaxing album, with a warm feel to it and a nice touch of happy feel to it, without being too cheerful. Nice debut effort.

There are certain bands which I simply can't describe their albums as I do with others. I can't go song by song and describe what goes on there etc. There are certain bands of which I can only vaguely explain what is their music like and mostly what it makes me feel. Tangerine Dream is one of those bands. Ricochet, performed live in autumn 1975 in France and Britain, is one of my favourite TD releases. For me, this release combines perfectly the compositional skills of TD, their ability to hypnotize me with their instruments, and their undeniable talent of performing live and making it sound as if it were a studio album. You could say that some parts of it are boring, but for me the whole album is a journey, a voyage to another place far away from the everyday life. This is why I prefer listening to TD alone at dusk without any interruptions. Their mesmerizing electronic sound compels me to drift away and start daydreaming. But it would not be enough if it were only this part of their music that existed. They take their music very seriously and don't just rely on simply giving you a standard electronic sound repeated over and over. They build on the foundations of the tune, more and more layers, adding new ideas into it, and creating mysterious and weird scenes and soundscapes. It may appear to be very simple tunes, but it is not the case at all. Listen to it and you will realize what they do in order to create this music. Other reviews here describe the music very well, and there is no need to repeat it. I will just say that both tracks are very good and stand apart from each other. Even though I am not fond of live shows, this is an album in which I made an exception, due to its remarkable qualities.

As with many IE albums, this is a concept album. THe theme is recurring through out Jon's albums - A man striving to redeem himself from past sins and mistakes he has made (In the Dark Saga this will be featured again). The production is "dirty" and fits the music. It has this 80's metal sound, very fast guitar riffs and  high pitched vocals. THe opening and closing tracks are the best and most emotional tracks. IMHO, this is still their best album to date and it still has the old IE sound that began to change on Burnt Offerings and Dark Saga and completely changed on Something Wicked...

This album grew on me in just one day after repeated listening to it during a work day in which I was hooked to phones. At first this sounded as disconnected blurbs of music that were connected to each other by mere coincidence. And then after 4 or 5 listens I started to realize. This is not just aimless jamming. There is a theme for the different track. There is a main idea that drives it and sets it into motion. Then after the idea is presented, the music starts swirling and moving into several directions, presenting more ideas that might be seen as jamming. The music is made up of guitars keyboard and then some more instruments to add to the flavour but the result is so very rich in sound. Those musicians are talented and know their stuff. Besides playing very well, they show their jamming and improvisational capabilities and also their compositional skills, which are not to be disregarded. This might be to you just another psych/space album, but I hear here so much more. The way ... -> show full review

This French band has released 3 previous albums and their preceding album was a remarkable achievement. A concept album made up of two acts over 40 minutes and without interruptions. Here Nil changes to an album made up of 6 tracks, two of which are instrumentals.

Le Gardien begins softly with a guitar playing two chords, accompanied by synth and the voice of Roselyne, the female vocalist. This goes on for 2:10 minutes and then the music becomes more dynamic and faster due to the synth speeding things up ad in come the drums and the rest of the band joins in. Roselyne does a very good job with her beautiful voice, creating some haunting melodies. Though her voice is more appropriate for plain singing in a low key, she manages to deliver the right emotions in all the ways she sings here. Le Gardien?s sound and appealing sound owes it to her voice and the keyboards as well. The guitar part is good but a bit repetitive sounding, and it will change in the coming other songs. ... -> show full review