This new album by Strawbs has been being celebrated short on arrival as a revival of their halcyon days, like shown in (let's say) Grave New World. There's a good measure of truth in such assertion, but not in the more obvious sense: the source from which came Benedictus, and The Flower And The Young Man, has delivered great materials this time, but not gems of THAT beauty.

The resurgence of their classic sound is more in the quality of the songwriting and in the band's musicianship to be found. A good taste of this you can have it in the opener, where, on a hard & symphonic setting, you get the unique vocals by Dave Cousins, a fantastic organ solo courtesy of Dave Bainbridge, and Dave Lambert providing spirited electric guitar. The style of the album is however diverse: there's also the calmer times, brought by the folk tunes that every Strawbs fan has the aquired right to expect, there's the more convoluted vocal arrangements, and there's also the occasional touch of classical complexity.

A nice and welcomed surprise. I think we have to seize this kind of offering while it's still coming.

L.W. follows up last years release of K.G. which continued the bands exploration into the middle eastern shaded psychedelic rock they started on Flying Microtonal Banana, which happens to be my favorite album by the band. I really enjoyed K.G. last year, to me it felt like maybe their most collaborative sounding album to date bringing a little bit of all their past styles together under the umbrella of microtonal instrumentation. I rated it 4 stars back then and i'd say I still hold it right around that 3.5-4 star range. To me it was a very solid record with a lot of good groove, but for some reason it just didn't have the same shelf life as some of their other records did for me. Now we have L.W. which seems to be the conclusion to this style, these two albums really go hand in hand with the closing track off K.G. flowing right into the opening track here with "If Not Now, Then When?"

Now it's important to mention K.G. came under fire from some fans and critics of the band for sounding like the band was treading water and repeating themselves. Personally though, I just thought musically start to finish the album was really solid and at the end of the day, I had a lot of fun with it. I don't think such complaints are unfounded, as when I listen to a song like Some of Us or Straws in the Wind, it sounds comfortably King Gizzard to me, but this certainly wasn't something I felt across the whole record. Personally I always judge an album on its own merits, if I like the songs, than we're chillin! Now the reason I bring all of this up is because this record is coming under even more fire from some camps for apparently being a worse offender than the last one and i'm seeing a lot of people completely write it off for this reason. However... I don't know.... I just think this album is pretty... awesome honestly! After several listens I absolutely prefer this one to K.G. and I think this delivers on the same level as many of the high points of K.G. but on a very consistent basis between its 9 songs. The tracks all jive really well together for me and it makes a really groovy, fun and relatively easy listen. This record falls heavily into their psychedelic rock camp, while still carrying some of the odd times and unconventional riffage they've picked up over time. I love the production value here and all the super psychedelic ear candy sounds scattered throughout the songs. Listening through, I just feel like I've delved into a big dusty cloud of psychedelia and I love it.

Getting into the songs now, opening up is the aforementioned "If Not Now, Then When?" It opens with somewhat of an abrasive transition from The Hungry Wolf of Fate, K.G.'s closer. But it all fizzles out as this real crunchy clavinet comes in. When the rhythm section fires off it's a super groovy and satisfying payoff that I just have to move to while listening. Lot's of great melodies throughout, just a super solid opener and a pretty unique one for the band at that. Following that is O.N.E which reminds me of Automation off the last album because I feel they both serve a similar purpose, and that being getting the ball rolling and getting some momentum kicked off for the next suite of songs. This one opens with a bit of a hypnotic and floaty start, before kicking into that very driving rhythm section. Lot's of stuff to grab onto within this song with a cool little guitar breakdown in the middle. "Pleura," follows this up and this has a real headbanging riff to it, you kinda have to headbang in a weird rhythmic pattern though but it works. This ones got a pretty frantic feel to it, towards the middle it settles down a little into a slightly toned down sounding spin on the verse before calming completely down right before we hear a good ol' "woooOOOO" bringing us right back into that main riff coming through at full power. Awesome, high energy song. Supreme Ascendancy is where the album actually steps thing up a little bit for me, and I really feel it keeps the bar at this high level for the remainder of its runtime. It's got this super upbeat psychedelic Anatolian rock instrumentation opening things up, i'm actually having a little trouble describing it but for what that's worth, I think that's the mark of something pretty cool! Just a great vibe to this one, the instrumentals here are some of their most textured if you ask me with some nice organ coming through to accompany the main hook. The following track Static Electricity is easily one of the best songs, arguably the best for my money. It opens with this super menacing guitar riff backed by a real brooding electronic soundscape. The vocals got this ghosty tone to it while in the rhythm department I really feel the now singular drummer has really stepped things up and distinguished himself as a very key member of the band now that the two drummer dynamic is no more. Everything about this song just touches all the bases for me, I love the super earthy sounding passage at the 3:00 mark, the song reaches a sweet crescendo and playout towards the end, great stuff.

East West Link follows that awesome track up and keeps the album moving carrying a similar drive to Static Electricity. We see more nice subtle rhythmic choices with some bongos? Hell yeah! There's a really cool instrumental section around the halfway mark. On it's own, this is a song I have a little less to say about, but it fits like a glove in the context of a full album listen. The following track "Ataraxia," is another highlight and contender for the best song. The riffage in this song is tied for the best on the album for me, more on that later! When the full band comes in the main riff is just absolutely filthy and once again, I think a lot of credit for this can be placed on the drumming. When it suddenly moves right into the verse like a light switch, it's just so satisfying, pardon me for sounding like a broken record here but once again, the stars of the show here are the drums and bass seamlessly playing around the riffs and vocal melodies. I just cant rave about this track enough, a real mastery of rises and falls, build ups and payoffs. Now in the final stretch, "See Me" comes through next taking you through a dusty maze of music. It has a pretty bouncy feel to it with more of those uhhh... hard to describe psychedelic chiming instrumentals taking the lead. I'll group this one with East West Link as being less of a track you'll just throw on out of context, but in a full album listen, this is a nice bridge between two of the goliath songs. That brings me into the closing track, the familiarly titled "K.G.L.W" which ties these two albums all together. This song, clocking in at over 8 minutes King Gizzard pulls through with in my opinion, one of their best songs ever. Combing elements of Prog Metal, Doom/Stoner Metal and Pysch Rock, it's like a fever dream for me. I'd have to argue it's much more successful and original on all fronts than K.G.'s closer "The Hungry Wolf of Fate." The riffs are so crunchy throughout and these eight minutes and change just melt away as King Gizzard takes you on a hellish tour through evil L.W. land or.... something? One thing I really like about this song is that there's very little downtime and they come at you basically right out the gate with an aggression. At 2:07 it drops into this awesome rhythmic riff and I think the fact that it comes out of a stretch of 7/4 into this 4/4 section makes it a very enjoyable and hard hitting transition. Some of the more doomy elements follow with larger than life walls of muddy distortion followed by some sweet slow and fiery riffage. The band has proved to be more than competent at this style, and I'd love to see them embrace it more on a full album basis, even the fact that you could classify parts of this song as Progressive Metal makes me very excited. The prospect of King Gizzard tackling that style.... oh man.

So yeah, I just really love this record and I really can't really get behind some of the flak getting thrown its way. There's been times in the past where I feel like the band has missed the mark or undelivered a little bit, but that's just not the case for this album. Every song hits the mark, I have a ton of fun listening to this record on repeat and I think it stands sturdy and comfortably against some of their other really good albums! Thanks for reading, giving this one 4.5 stars. Am I going against the grain here? If so, that's okay, this bands got something for everyone in my opinion and I'm just happy that they're one of the premier modern rock bands and I get to be a fan during their reign! Cheers!

(For progarchives sake, I'm going to begrudgingly round down to 4 stars, time will tell where it ultimately falls!)

Lagger Blues Machine are quite hard to categorise - while they are clearly not out and out Zeuhl, it appears they at the very least have similar influences to Christian Vander's early works with Magma, and do exhibit some of the darker drum-driven tropes that at least give them a tenuous link to the sub-genre. Jazz Fusion may be more appropriate?

Anyway, Symphonie - Part 1 covers an awful lot in 13 minutes, mainly organ driven, but with some Zeuhl-style vocals, and more often than not led by a guitar riff that actually to me seems more reminiscent of Cream or Hendrix.

Darknessly is perhaps the most Zeuhl sounding track, in particular the haunting vocals. The rest of the album continues in a similar vein, but I must admit the whole thing is let down by the production - pretty fuzzy and distorted - so much so that I switched off a bit towards the end

— First review of this album —

This directly comes from the Barbagia region in Sardinia. A wild and beautiful part of that island, which is ruled by mainland Italy. Just like it is with neighbour Corsica (France), there is a long tradition in struggling for independence. Grounded in the constant need of defense against diverse seafaring powers arriving from all around the Mediterranean Sea in the old days. And so Sardinia is wellknown due to the specific Nuraghi for example, small tiny fortifications, which you can still find everywhere around, more or less well preserved. Many towns are high up in the mountains, time consuming to reach in most cases, even a dangerous undertaking in earlier times. According to that the residents are proud of and still intensively maintaining their own cultural identity and dialect. Named after the ancient Nuragic people living way back in the Bronze and Iron ages ILIENSES is a music project deeply connected with the traditional folk music of this region.

Certainly not the first, but what makes it particularly interesting for me is the unique approach to combine ancient folk roots with a modern twist by using progressive rock signatures, preferably due to proper jazz fusion elements. Supported by several guest musicians studied bass player Mauro Medde and Natascia Talloru have initiated this entity, the latter is responsible for the vocals respectively narrations. The album is running with a length of about forty minutes, concipated just like a soundtrack for a movie. You ideally should hear this in one go. A rather cinematic experience so to say. The opening title track immediately gives an impression about the ritualistic being. We can hear the Sardinia typical deep throated singing, accompanied by tumborro percussion. It reminds me of diverse festivities, often taking place with parades similar to carnival while presenting several rituals.

Over the course they continue to reveal more traditional instruments like campanacci, pipes, horns, bells and triangles. A Ferru Frittu is one album highlight for sure, completes the transition into the modern with Medde's funky bass and a strong jazzy behaviour due to the piano and Fabio Perra's drumming. Ex Voto comes very dark mooded, where Lumerras and Arrastu even evolve into a rather heavy, aggressive behaviour. The variety of the closing track Barbagia finally serves the cherry on the cake. Mystic narrations and tools, the swirrling jazz fusion, basso (bassu) tenore styled pastoral singing, the unusual stakkato piano and melancholic ambient synthesizer layers. I'm thrilled due to this eclectic symbiosis of quite diverse influences and ingredients. ILIENSIS are creating an incomparable atmosphere on 'Civitates Barbariae'. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars.

The master of modern progressive rock and the man most responsible for keeping the legacy and spirit of 70's prog alive in the modern era has made a near full pivot towards synth-based pop... And we all should have seen it coming. As Pitchfork writer Sam Sodomsky reminds us in his latest review for Genisis' 1980 release Duke, ".. after the '70's, nearly every major prog band tried their hand at writing simpler tunes for a hipper crowd..." Wilson's pop pivot was basically pre-ordained.

Have no fear, the music on The Future Bites does not abandon rock entirely. There is a fusion here akin to something you might here from Imagine Dragons or 2010's Coldplay. Only the musical content is more interesting and tasteful. The tunes on this record are definitely loaded to this gills with layers of sounds and textures previously only teased on Wilson's other efforts. But the strong and memorable melodies along with colorful and inventive chord progressions that have always been hallmarks of Wilson's sound are still here in full effect. As much as this record is different, it is also a distilled and focused restatement of everything fans have always loved about this music. On a personal level, having the opportunity to appreciate a level of sophistication in an easily digestible format is always welcome.

While the musical foundation of this record is strong, the ethics of the project's underlying lyrical concept are murky. The Future Bites is the name of a fictional brand that employs the viral hype-marketing and artificial supply scarcity tactics of brands like Supreme and, to a certain extent, tech giants like Apple. Anyone with a brain can appreciate the extent to which these companies invest in creating an artificial demand for their products to foster gross amount of conspicuous consumption. But at the same time, artists should be a bit more humble and careful before attacking these trends outright. In today's penny- pinched music market, artists rely heavily on convincing consumers of the uniqueness of their brand and the experiences associated with purchasing their products, products like limited addition vinyl. Attacking this business model outright lacks self awareness and sympathy for what it is consumers are looking for in the first place.

I first heard from Jérémie Grima around the time of their debut album in 2004, 'And Life Goes On, and over the years I have watched TBNP change from a one-man project with session musicians to a full band. Sébastien Bourdeix was the next person to actually join, and together they recorded 'Stereoscope' in 2005, with the band becoming a full unit sometime later. As is usual, I played the album before reading the press release and was somewhat surprised when I listened to it, as it contains little of the elements which I associate with them. Their last album, 2017's 'Divided We Fall', was one I gave top marks to and described it as wonderful, amazing, and indispensable, but this one not so much.

Previously they have been heavily influenced by the likes of Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree, with lyrics in English, and a compelling sound but here there is an album that is virtually instrumental and what lyrics there are, are in French. This led me to the press release, and the realisation that this is a TBNP album where Jérémie has played no part (apparently, he is working on his latest novel), which is a bit like having Pendragon without Nick Barrett, Jadis without Gary Chandler, or Galahad without Stu Nicholson. True, his wife has provided the artwork so one has to imagine this is amicable, and possibly temporary, but in many ways what we have here is an offshoot and not the real deal. Sébastien Bourdeix provides most of the instrumentation, and he has been joined by bassist Anthony Létévé and drummer Fabrice Berger, both ex-members of the band, neither of whom played on the last release.

The result is an album which is pleasant while it is playing, but rarely more than that. Ideas seem to meander as opposed to having real focus and is something which is absolutely perfect as background music but little more than that. It contains a great deal of space, and at times is quite minimalist, and is far removed from what I really expect from The Black Noodle Project who have long been a favourite of mine. Sébastien has been part of the band for more than 15 years and I can see why he would want to keep using the name, as he has been an integral part of their success, but I would much prefer it if this has been put out as a solo project as then I would have approached it quite differently, but as it is, I cannot help but compare it with what has gone before. Minimalist in a post rock, post prog kind of way, with elements of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, often with fairly basic piano, this is a nice release but do not expect it to be something which ties in with the rest of the canon.

"Ellesmere II - From Sea And Beyond" is the second album by Roman project Ellesmere and was released in 2018 on the independent label AMS Records. This time along with the talent of composer and multi instrumentalist Roberto Vitelli (bass, guitar, synthesizers, Moog, Mellotron) we can appreciate the contribute of prestigious guests such as Paolo Carnelli (piano, electric piano, keyboards, Hammond), Robert Berry (vocals), Trey Gunn (Warr Guitar), David Jackson (sax, keyboards), Alan Benjamin (guitar), Brett William Kull (guitar), Danilo Mintrone (Korg Microkorg), Davy O'List (guitar), Keith More (guitar), Marco Bernard (bass) and Daniele Pomo (drums, percussion). The overall sound is richer and more variegated if compared with the debut album and the influence of bands such as ELP, Yes, Kansas or King Crimson is apparent. According to their label website, this is a conceptual work "where every song deals with a different aspect of the complex relationship between man and sea, from man's curiosity and fear towards what is hidden deep inside the sea to the call for adventure and for travelling to the end of the known world and beyond". The album artwork by English painter and designer Colin Elgie tries to depict the musical content...

The first four tracks are linked together and form a long suite. The short opener "Tidal Breath" sets the atmosphere and starts by the sound of the ocean and the gentle breaking of the waves with a calm sea, then an ethereal melody soars like a mermaid chant and leads to "Marine Extravaganza", an excellent, powerful instrumental track that could recall Emerson, Lake & Palmer and contains a quote from King Crimson's "Red". Then "Runaway" tells in music and words of a disquieting dream, a desperate effort to escape from the chase of mysterious men in black, dark shadows of your past haunting you and alrming your senses. The short, nightmarish "Marine Coda" closes the suite with David Jackson's sax in the forefront.

"The Schooner" opens the second side of the album and starts by a sumptuous passage of church-like organ, then the rhythm rises for an adventurous voyage through Poseidon's territory. The sea air is deceptive and you must not rely on your eyes to assess the distances... The title refers to a type of sailing vessel popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The following "Ridge Fanfare" is another piece in debt with EL&P that seems to invite you to a joyful ride through the waves while the final track, "Time, Life Again", recalls Yes and evokes in music and words the imaginary course of a flying ship flowing forever in time upon the sea, towards the sun, through the fire, in search for an island of peace...

On the whole, a very good album for symphonic prog lovers!

The guitar and vocals of one James Litherland made this album a love at first listen for yours truly. James started this band after being thrown out of COLOSSEUM. MOGUL THRASH were a six piece band with three horn players and that's really what tempers my enthusiasm about this one is the Horn Rock style here but man the rest is gravy, so good! On bass is none other than John Wetton who would go on to play with FAMILY after this one album endeavour by MOGUL THRASH. No keyboards! Okay there's some piano to open "St. Peter" by none other then Brian Auger who was producing this album. What! Two of the horn players who happened to be Scottish would join the AVERAGE WHITE BAND after this.

Favourite two tracks are the two that get the album started beginning with "Something Sad" and the COLOSSEUM track "Elegy". Having said that the last four tracks are almost as good making this in my opinion very close to being a 4.5 star release if not for the blasting horns. How about that closer? Lone soprano sax comes out of the silence before it all kicks into a heavy sound a minute in. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes as the sax stops. Horns come and go in this raw sounding piece with not so great lyrics. The most ambitious track might be the over 12 minute "Going North, Going West". Lots of tempo and mood changes this one has it all.

Highly recommended especially if you like COLOSSEUM.

POOR GENETIC MATERIAL is like the carpenter with 12 toolboxes, each highly specialized, who cannot remember which toolbox does what, so has to open all of them. Luckily, this seems to delight the listener while apparently not aggravating the carpenter nearly as much as one might expect. Embarras du choix. Put another way, they have about 5 lead instruments give or take, because, after all, Phillip Griffiths' voice could swallow up about 5 average prog vocalists, if he didn't have flawlessly good taste that is. Lyrically erudite as well, he either insists on or is aggressively encouraged to bring in his dad Martin of BEGGARS OPERA fame at least once an album who manages to simultaneously raise the bar and make Phillip sound better! Oh dear I suppose that makes 6 instruments doesn't it? No matter. Open up the boxes!

Thematically, "Here Now" seems like the antonym and antidote for predecessor "Absence". The here and now is all we have, and, particularly in the centerpiece "The Garden" (sung by papa who name checks my favourite Beggars Opera track), the present has the capacity to be anything but a gift to the more sensitive among us. But who says we can't create our own, better reality, even if just for a vacation, or an evening for that matter? Musically, "Here Now" kicks off simply, with a string of shorter and progressively better tracks that converge while remaining well demarcated. As before, the group plies its trades comfortably at the intersection of simple and complex melodies, verse chorus structures and variegated suites, spacey ambience and funk, chill and edgy, solos and ensemble. My personal favourite is the touching "Note from my Younger Self", the complete package encapsulating all of the above.

In typical PGM fashion, all will be revealed in time, in my case almost 6 months, not that I think I have it, or anything figured out for that matter. But I can tell you that the arrangements, in particularly how Pia Darmstaedter's flute comingles with each other lead as called for, continue to mature, which might not be a requirement for this fan, but, inasmuch as it makes the band more likely to stick around for another decade or so, I'm all for it. Oh yeah sorry, I am just happy they are here now.

Review Nº 413

Triumvirat was a German progressive rock band that was formed in 1969 in Cologne, Germany. Triumvirat was initially a classical based trio were the founding members were Hans-Jürgen (later simply Jürgen) Fritz, Hans Bathelt and Werner "Dick" Frangenberg. Bathelt was the drummer/lyricist, Frangenberg the bassist, and Fritz the keyboardist. Triumvirat was strongly influenced by The Nice. In fact, they played some of their songs, like "Rondo". Being fans of The Nice, they loved when Emerson, Lake & Palmer got together. Frangenberg left the group and was replaced by Hans Pape in 1970. With Pape injecting some more life on vocals and bass, Triumvirat soon began to experiment with studio recordings. The result of that was a smart classically adapted debut album, "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)".

So, "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)" is the debut studio album of the German symphonic progressive rock band Triumvirat and was released in 1972. The line up on the album is Jürgen Fritz (vocals, organ, electric and acoustic piano, synthesizer and percussion), Hans Pape (lead vocals and bass) and Hans Bathelt (drums and percussion).

The album has four tracks. The first track "Across The Waters" is divided into six parts. The first part "Overture" was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and was arranged by Jürgen Fritz, the second part "Taxident" was composed by Jürgen Fritz and Hans Bathelt, the third part "Mind Tripper" was composed by Jürgen Fritz, the fourth part "5 O'Clock Tea" was composed by Jürgen Fritz and Hans Bathelt, the fifth part "Satan's Breakfast" was composed by Jürgen Fritz and the sixth part "Underture" was also composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and once more was arranged by Jürgen Fritz. This is an incredible start for the album, with sixteen minutes of a multi part epic musical piece clearly influenced by several classical musical influences that go from the Baroque style to the Romantic style, inclusive with two small pieces of music signed by one of the masters of classical music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. With this strong debut suite, Jürgen Fritz convinces as a keyboard virtuoso and brings in his energetic game in addition to rocking-driving ideas also classical elements to advantage, with complex rhythms, sweeping keyboard runs and constantly changing chord progressions. This is an impressive and amazing starting point for the career of this band. The second track "Eleven Kids" is also a very good song with the instrumental part with plenty of diversity, harmony and beauty with classical good keyboard work supported by powerful bass and drums. The main problem is the vocals because we have to get used to the voice with the German accent of Hans Pape, which isn't a great singer. The third track "E Minor 5/9 Minor/5" is also a very good, incredible and seductive instrumental track with some exploratory keyboard work, which curiously some keyboard parts remind me Peter Bardens of Camel. This is probably the track that also reminds me more The Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The fourth track "Broken Mirror" is another great song that is separated in several distinct parts. The first part shows clearly what their classical sound is and showing a very complex musical structure and the second part is a jazz fusion section, indicating the possible way that Triumvirat could follow in the near future. It also showcases the style of Fritz's touch on the piano, highlighting some great work.

My CD version is the remastered edition of 2002 and has four bonus tracks. The fifth track "Be Home For Tea" is an edition of the fourth part "5 O'Clock Tea" of the opening track, the sixth track "Broken Mirror" is also an edited version of the fourth track with the same name, and the seventh track "Ride In The Night" and the eighth track "Sing Me A Song" are two new songs that didn't appear on the original vinyl version. As usually, I will not review bonus tracks but I must say they're much weaker than the songs of the original release and didn't bring anything interesting to the album.

Conclusion: Triumvirat is a great band and despite the clear influences they suffer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer, including into their line up, a keyboardist, a bassist/vocalist and a drummer, I refuse the idea that they're an Emerson, Lake & Palmer's clone. It's true that there are some strong influences and similarities between both bands, but there are also a big number of differences too. So, Triumvirat is far from being a clone and "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)" is certainly a perfect example of that. Despite the band have declared that they were huge fans of The Nice, I sincerely think that their musical arrangements, the lyrics and the way they sing with a strong German accent, are absolutely unique and, in my humble opinion, I really think that they deserve much more recognition than they've got until now. "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)" is a great debut album from this fantastic and very interesting German symphonic progressive rock band. It's true this album isn't a masterpiece but certainly is a great album and we may ask how many bands were able to release their debut album as a masterpiece. Anyway, "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)" represents only the beginning of their music proposal and soon, other better things would come.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)