— First review of this album —

This is the most progressive of the three releases, and a sign that they found a signature sound. With a healthy does of sax, this release has so much variety that it should interest the most demanding prog ears. The first two albums are classified as Technical Death Metal, but Where Owls Know my Name adds new layers of complexity heading them into Cynic's wheelhouse. While Rivers of Nihil are not a cookie cutter copy of Cynic, they have moved forward with a technical and surprising release. After an intro, The Silent Life gets things moving with the Technical yet melodic Death Metal of their past releases. Then it breaks down into a tempo change with a sax melody to keep the listener guessing. Then it moves back to pure aggression. The rest of the album has a similar rotation from avant-garde jazz movements mixed in with the Death Metal. There are no bad tracks, and Where Owls Know my Name proves it is a masterpiece with a high level of creativity, and of course, the stellar album art. This is easily the best album released in 2018 through April for me, and I look forward to their future releases.

This is a fine Porcupine Tree album. It's not one of the handful of their best, but it's still an entertaining release. There's an enjoyable performance/interview on YouTube called "Mhz" from 2003. In it Wilson discusses how much he loves the traditional idea of an album, as an entity. He believes CDs have taken away the enjoyment of listening to a whole album as an immersive experience.

Unlike most people it seems, I actually prefer the second disc of THE INCIDENT. The variety in these four songs makes for an excellent 21 minutes of listening. The songs on the first disc aren't as enjoyable as individual pieces. They seems like parts of a whole, rather than finished songs, which requires more time and attention. However, I'm sure that's exactly how Steve Wilson intended it. If you can devote some time to extended listening, THE INCIDENT is definitely worthwhile. I'm bumping this up the half star to 4.

This album is insanely good. This is a very coherent and musically diverse album, although it's somewhat of a Manfred Mann-solo album.

This is intelligent progressive pop with influences from r&b/soul, hardrock, worldfusion, jazzfusion. This could have been an album by Peter Gabriel or David Bowie (I am not kidding, the standard is that high), except with different vocalists. I love the different approach of vocals (spoken word, opera, rock, rap). Noel McAlla must be one of favorite vocalists.

The production is crystal clear and very balanced. There's room for every different instrument. You can't even tell most songs feature different musicians. That well balanced the production is.

There's not a boring moment on the album. I like the dynamics, a lot of songs build and build and build into a crescendo (like the gorgeous History of Sexual Jealousy). Other stand-out songs are the exciting and fun The Frog or the hardrocking Two Friends with it's funky breakdowns. Very nicely crafted. The opener is very heavy and great aswell, it takes guts for a prog-artist to be really progressive and add rapvocals. I think it's funny to read how many reviewers don't like it. Get over it, is what I think.

Manfred Mann was always praised for not showboating musicianship and focus on good songs instead. Sometimes it didn't work out so well, because the songwriting is very important in that approach. But on this album every song is a direct hit.

Praise to Manfred Mann for releasing this album. Only let-down (as another reviewer pointed out) are the (many) fade-outs at the end of the songs. The songs don't have to be 10 minutes long , it can be a drag when songs are that long most of the time. But after a while fade-outs tend to be annoying, but that's the only negative point to this album.

Highly recommended to fans of intelligent progressive pop like Sting, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel and maybe Tears for Fears.

— First review of this album —

FOTOSPUTNIK are a trio out of Chicago who offer up some excellent Psychedelic/Space Rock but I did think of KRAFTWERK and NEU! at times bringing that side of Krautrock to mind. This is their second full length album where we get some hypnotic and driving tunes but also plenty of spacey and atmospheric sections. Nothing new here or earth shattering that's for sure but this was a really enjoyable trip every time I spun it.

"Noctambulants" is the short 1 1/2 minute intro track which features outbursts of powerful distortion throughout. "Palos Lions Are Feeding" has this distorted pulsating sound with spacey atmosphere. Picked guitar after a minute comes in over top. It kicks in hard just before 3 minutes with drums and more before turning spacey. Contrasts continue. I love how spacey this becomes after 4 1/2 minutes with a slow beat pretty much the rest of the way.

"Only Answer Is Arson" is a top four track for me. Powerful distortion to start before a slow electronic-like beat with drums and more takes over a minute in. Guitar over top 2 minutes in. Great sound! It ends with a hilarious sample from a disco station out of San Antonio. "Spanish Inquisition Garage Sale" has beats, atmosphere and picked guitars over top. Sounds really good.

"Turnpike(Death Valley Driver)" is a KRAFTWERK/ NEU! type of driving tune that is meant to have a desert vibe to it. Check out the guitar after 1 1/2 minutes! "Pax Americana" is a top four along with the last two tracks that follow this one. Sounds like straight up guitar, bass and drums creating a catchy groove here. Keys after a minute along with some spacey atmosphere. It calms right down before 3 minutes then builds again. So good! It ends in an experimental manner.

"Mars Is Peopled And They Want Soap" opens with a bass line as we get some atmosphere then guitar as it builds. Distant sounding thunder can be heard at times. Well it is Mars. Love how trippy this is. It starts becoming more spacey then a calm with thunder, guitar and percussion takes over after 4 minutes. It kicks into a groove before 4 1/2 minutes. Nice. The groove stops as it turns powerful and atmospheric.

"Lunar Module" ends it with some beautiful guitar melodies as relaxed drums join in along with spacey sounds. So uplifting! It's bass only 2 minutes in to the end.

I tend to listen to a lot of music while driving so this was an enjoyable recording to have as my soundtrack this past week, especially cranked up high. Check them out on their Bandcamp page.

Originally released digitally and on vinyl in 2017, this has now also been released on CD with some additional songs. This is the eighth full-length studio album by Russian band Vespero, and is the second in the 'Abyssinian Tales' series, following on from 2016's 'Lique Mekwas'. Apparently, 'shum-shir" is an ancient Ethiopian ceremony where every ten years the tribal elders and shamans would choose a new Nəgus' (King) for the entire tribe. This took the form of imbibing various drugs and dancing all night, and in the morning they would make the pronouncement. I continue to be impressed with the music coming out of Russia, and these guys are somewhat of a surprise to me as I felt I was fairly well informed, yet they have been around since 2003 and it is the first time I have come across them.

They are an instrumental outfit, with more than a hint of Ozric Tentacles about them, but the violin is more important than woodwind, and percussion more important than either. This is space rock, but they have also taken on many influences from world music and fusion, with the result being an album that is incredibly impressive and inviting, while also not conforming necessarily to what people may expect from the Russian music scene. I just continue to be impressed with the quality and variety of the music coming out from that particular part of the world, and this is yet another unknown (at least to me) outfit that demands further close inspection. Psychedelic, progressive, meandering yet with direction, this is an album that fans of bands such as Ozrics or Gong should be seeking out.

The Colossus Projects began their ambitious projects in 2001 to promote the outstanding accomplishments of Finnish progressive rock (which there have been many) and then the whole thing kinda took on a life of its own as the collaboration with Musea Records created a synergistic effect that guaranteed an exposure to a worldwide network of tuned in prog aficionados salivating for something both creative, traditional and, of course, entertaining! After a diverse eclectic palette paving the way for even more sophisticated projects, in 2011 Musea Records released "Decameron - Ten Days in 100 Novellas - Part I" which isn't remotely Finnish but rather a collection of Italian tales excavated from the 14th century. The word DECAMERON is a neologism of the Greek words deca (ten) and mera (days) and THE DECAMERON which is subtitled Prince Galehaut is a collection of novellas written by the author Giovanni Baccaccio (1313-1375) and is structured as a frame story that contains 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men who were sheltered in a secluded villa outside of Firenze (Florence), Italy in order to escape the black death plague that was rampant at the time. Well, three years after the first installment of this series came DECAMERON - TEN DAYS IN 100 NOVELLAS - PART II which continued the themes in musical form with some artists making a reprise and yet others entering the Musea equation for the very first time. Two years later, the label once again released a third installment in the series and in 2016 the various artist release DECAMERON - TEN DAYS IN 100 NOVELLAS - PART III was born.

Once again PART III is a monster of a release with 4 CDs stuffed full of lengthy symphonic leaning progressive rock tracks in thematic unison. Once again as well the packaging is exquisitely beautiful with period artwork gracing the cover and discs alike accompanied by a generous booklet with liner notes continuing the artistic flair as well as band photos and lyrics to those tracks that have them. While the Musea Colossus Projects tend to have the same artists on every most of their releases, PART III contains many new cast members but a few such as Nexus, Jinetes Negros and Rebel Wheel are back for another round. While these compilations are fairly global in nature, this one seems to have an extraordinarily heavy emphasis on Italian bands (12), USAmerican (7) with Argentina coming in at a distant third with only (3). While the music on these behemoths are always thematically connected, on PART III there is also a lot of continuity musically speaking which is one of the reasons i'm finding it less compelling than the other two installments of the DECAMERON series and unfortunately one of my least favorites of the entire Colossus Project that i've encountered.

Right from the first track, PART III sounds very different than its counterparts. It begins with an almost showtune sort of track titled "HeeBeeGeeBee" by UK artist Robert Webb. For the first listen, i had to actually check my CD to make sure that someone didn't slip a Broadway musical release into the jewel case by mistake. Nope, this was the right one alright. It just so happens that the entire 4.5 hours of playing time consists of such gleeful merry musical meanderings that could easily fit in the world of theatric drama and such. What's also noticeably different about PART III is that there seems to be a deliberate attempt to simplify the progressive elements with a lot more crossover potential than previously heard. There are more direct and bombastic ear wormy hooks reminiscent of classic Supertramp keyboard runs as well as more simplified guitar parts that often result in simply staccato chords. Garage prog anyone? Yeah, the material is considerably weaker on this one and i have to admit that not one single track jumps out and blows me away as these compilations usually do. I've been wondering if perhaps the different lineup of artists may be to blame but even the artist i'm familiar with don't crank out their usual quality material bursting with passionate delivery.

This one was fairly disappointing i have to say with the first two discs leaving me fairly cold. It does pick up a bit on Disc 3. The Rebel Wheel kick off with a strong track followed by some creativity of Taproban, S.A.L.U.E.N.A and Blank Manuscript which offer some of my favorite tracks of the comp but there are also silly tracks by Castle Canyon and Ozone Player that trade off spoken narrative with operatic vocals. There also seems to be a general lack of vivaciousness most of the tracks are fairly prog-by-the-numbers with lots of nods to 70s Pink Floyd not to mention that the vocals are mostly flat and unsuitable for the music. Not all is a waste of time. There are plenty of moments on this one that are indeed satisfying but nothing that exceeds the satisfaction of the first two DECAMERON editions. The whole affair seems rather sleepy and lazy and only fueling on half octane potential. Several listens later and not only has this not grown on me but actually has become quite irritating for the most part. It's not that the good parts are bad, it's just that most of the album cruises along on automatic pilot and nothing really jumps out and surprises. This may be an omen that the DECAMERON idea has been milked of all its possibilities and time to move on to other ideas. Three editions with bloated quadruple discs is quite the momental task. They succeeded quite well on the first two but the staleness has set in, at least for me. Worth the listen but probably not one i will revisit until several years pass by and i forgot what it sounds like.

In case you're wondering here is the whole list of Colossus Projects released so far:

Tuonen Tytar: A Tribute To Finnish Progressive (2000)

Kalevala - Finnish Progressive Rock Epic (2003)

The Spaghetti Epic - Six Modern Prog Bands For Six Seventies Prog Suites (2004)

Odyssey - The Greatest Tale (2005)

The Colossus of Rhodes (2006)

The 7 Samurai - The Ultimate Epic (2006)

The Spaghetti Epic 2 - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (2007)

Treasure Island (2007)

Giallo! One Suite for the Murderer (2008)

The Empire and The Rebellion (2008)

Dante's Divine Comedy Part I - Dante's Inferno (2009)

Dante's Divine Comedy Part II ? Purgatorio (2009)

Rökstenen - a Tribute to Swedish Progressive Rock of the 70's (2009)

The Spaghetti Epic 3 - The Great Silence (2009)

Tuonen Tytar-A Tribute To Finnish Progressive Rock Of The Seventies - Volume Two (2009)

Iliad: A Grand Piano Extravaganza (2010)

The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe: A SyNphonic Collection (2010)

Decameron - Ten days in 100 novellas - Part I (2011)

The Stories Of H.P. Lovecraft: A SyNphonic Collection (2012)

Decameron - Ten Days In 100 Novellas - Part II (2014)

DECAMERON - TEN DAYS IN 100 NOVELLAS - PART III (2016)

In 1979 Le Orme released an album of classically inspired music, tinted with progressive elements.They managed to do something completely different from what they had done before. Violin, cello, piano, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, bouzouki, harpsichord, harmonium, vibraphone and mandola, which is mainly used in Italian folk music are the instruments used here. Aldo Tagliapietra voice is good. Florian very short album, just over 30 minutes, but is a very underrated album and I think it deserves more attention. Florian is not only an album: it is an experience. Sure it is not perfect, but not many albums are perfect. 4 stars.

"Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" is a compilation album by UK doom/death metal act My Dying Bride. The album was released through Peaceville Records in May 2005. The compilation was released as a 3-disc digipack featuring a poster and a booklet with an in depth interview with lead vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe. Each disc features more than 70 minutes long music, making "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" quite the comprehensive release. Although it features remix versions of some tracks (some of which also features newly recorded parts), and a couple of live tracks too, it is more than anything just a representation of the band´s music from their early days until 2004-2005, featuring a tracklist which covers most of My Dying Bride´s releases up until then. In that respect it´s quite different from the band´s earlier compilation albums, which focused more on rare and hard to get material. "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" is more of a "best of" compilation, although that expression may be a bit vulgar when speaking of My Dying Bride´s music.

The compilation is build in reverse chronological order, which means that the tracks on disc 1 are the most recently released material (in 2005), while the tracks on disc 3 are material from the earliest part of the band´s discography. You can always argue about the choice of tracks for the compilation, but overall I think the chosen tracks serve their purpose well and provide a fine representation of what My Dying Bride is about. Although it´s always preferable purchasing the regular studio albums, and the few remix tracks, changes to tracks, and live versions on this compilation don´t change that, "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" is still what I would label a successful compilation album with great quality material by a unique sounding artist and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Meisterwerk II" is a compilation album by UK doom/death metal act My Dying Bride. The compilation was released through Peaceville Records in June 2001. It´s the second part of a two series compilation. "Meisterwerk I" was released in November 2000.

"Meisterwerk II" features a combination of album tracks, rare demo/single/limited edition bonus track recordings, and the video for "For You" from "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)". Like the case was on "Meisterwerk I", the regular studio version tracks are a bit redundant, and it´s the rare recordings that are of most interest. The versions of "Vast Choirs" and "Catching Feathers" from the "Towards the Sinister (1990)" demo, "Follower" which is a bonus track from the Japanese version of "34.788%...Complete (1998)", "Some Velvet Morning" from the Peaceville Records "X" compilation, and the Portishead cover "Roads" from the Peaceville Records "X" compilation. Those five tracks and maybe the video for "For You", are the attractions here.

I´m sure most listeners can do without the regular studio versions of "Sear Me MCMXCIII", "She Is the Dark", "Two Winters Only", and "Your River", which on their own are quality material, but here work more like redundant filler. Therefore "Meisterwerk II" isn´t the most necessary compilation release, and upon conclusion the end product would have been much more interesting if Peaceville Records had compiled the rare recordings from "Meisterwerk I" and "Meisterwerk II" on one release and left out the regular studio recordings. As "Meisterwerk II" is now a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Meisterwerk I" is a compilation album by UK doom/death metal act My Dying Bride. The compilation was released through Peaceville Records in November 2000. It´s the first part of a two series compilation. "Meisterwerk II" followed in June 2001.

"Meisterwerk I" features a combination of album tracks, rare demo/single/limited edition bonus track recordings, and the video for "The Cry of Mankind" from "The Angel and the Dark River (1995)". If you already own the studio albums, tracks like "The Crown of Sympathy", "A Kiss to Remember", "For You", and "Sear Me III", may seem a bit redundant and it´s probably the rare recordings that´ll be of most interest. The versions of "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" and "The Grief of Age" from the "Towards the Sinister (1990)" demo, "Grace Unhearing (Portishell Mix)" which was a bonus track on the limited edition of "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)", and "Unreleased Bitterness", which is a rehearsal version of the track "The Bitterness and the Bereavement", originally released on a single, which was limited to 1.150 copies. Those four tracks and maybe the video for "The Cry of Mankind", are the attractions here.

So while there is nothing wrong with the quality of the material, you still have to ask yourself, if you´re willing to purchase this compilation if you already own the studio albums. You´ll be paying for four tracks and a video, and quality wise those four tracks are the weakest of the tracks on "Meisterwerk I". Overall I find "Meisterwerk I" to be a bit of a confusing release and the idea to combine regular studio tracks with rare recordings doesn´t work too well. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)