Unanimously seen as a reunion album for Dream Theater (despite the band never really going away), 2025's 'Parasomnia' marks the surprising and exciting return of original drummer and founding member Mike Portnoy, restoring the lineup that had been responsible for all of the fantastic albums released between 1999 and 2009. This new album by the kings of progressive metal is the sixteenth overall in their studio catalogue, expanding upon the material released in the last fifteen years, with the band loading up on their darker riff-heavy compositions that encapsulate both the melodic and the more technical aspects of their sound. Not a concept album, but a thematically cohesive work centered around the consequences and impacts of sleep disruption, intertwining this thread into their diverse and intriguing stories, as told on 'Parasomnia', this album generally seems to have something stylistically in common with both the self-titled album from 2013 and 'Train of Thought', both darker and heavier albums from the past.

Of course, the return of Mike Portnoy does not necessarily imply a return to the band's state prior to the 2010s, since the inventive and eccentric drummer did not redeem any of his production duties (handled exclusively by Petrucci) and it is not directly discernible how involved he has been with the songwriting process here, the direction of the music, or the conceptual side of it all (credited with writing the lyrics of just one of the six non-instrumental songs), which have more recently been dominated by the ideas and vision of John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess. With this in mind, 'Parasomnia' seems to be a direct continuation of the rather fine thread of albums released by Dream Theater between 2011 and 2021, and the similarities are quite tangible. This new work introduces nothing unheard of before - the cathartic and sophisticated songwriting dominates most of the songs on 'Parasomnia', which are quite effective and exhibit some really excellent riffs, mind-boggling guitar solos as well as well-written and memorable melodies, many of which can in reality be traced back to past works. The intricacy is here, the depth and the texture of the music are here, together with the signature dramatic delivery of James LaBrie. With the sole exceptions of 'Bend the Clock' and the big closing epic, 'Parasomnia' is incredibly consistent, enjoyable and generally uplifting, there is a sense of rejuvenation brought along by Portnoy's return, even if the album closely follows the well-known DT template, making it a fine listen and a more guitar-driven offering that probably lacks some of that characteristic flair, ever so poignant on some of the classic albums from the 2000s era of the band.

'Agony' is the second studio album by Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse, released in 2011 through fames German record label Nuclear Blast, and generally expanding upon the stylistic pursuits of earlier releases by the band originally coming from the city of Perugia. Bookmarked by shorter instrumental opening and closing pieces, there are eight songs in total making up the contents of this rather messy work, blending together the two seemingly opposite worlds of symphonic music and brutal death metal, an amalgamation of genres that is incredibly difficult to pull off, with some bands succeeding at it being Greek act Septicflesh and Finnish band Children of Bodom. Unfortunately, 'Agony', amidst all of the praise received over the years, is an album that is as unlistenable as it is bold and ambitious.

Generally consisting of fast-paced death metal songs with orchestral samples running in the background, the guitar riffs are hardly discernible in the final mix, and the listener might have severe difficulty in unearthing any of them, completely lost among the unnecessary and overblown use of symphonic elements and the scorchingly fast drumming (the overusing of blast beats does not help either), mechanical and all over the place, completely lacking any liveliness or musicality. Just crass and insensitive heaviness prevailing all over the place, hardly working together with the orchestral samples, ultimately hindered even further by the weak vocals, and this goes both for the harsh death metal growls (not particularly noteworthy in the context of the genre), and for the high-pitched semi-operatic clean vocals, entirely below par and uninteresting. Don't get me wrong, all the elements of a fine symphonic death metal album seem to be there, it is just that the execution of it all that is really poor, with most of the songs being virtually buried under the overtones of tremolo-picked guitars strumming that one chord, the indulgent use of orchestration and the extremely fast-paced drums, produced rather artificially. Still, among all the critical aspects, songs like 'The Deceit', 'The Egoism', and the title track, manage to present a better view of the aims of this record, butchered by the overall approach of the band and their production team.

Iron Maiden quickly followed-up their self-titled debut album with 1981's 'Killers', an album compiled of various recordings either left over from the previous sessions of the band or songs already performed live and further honed in the studio. Not only this but this is a record that, above all else, explores more in depth the group's punk rock influences, which definitely help in rendering this LP a catchy, rough and hook-driven one. Famously, this is the final studio recording with vocalist Paul Di'Anno and the first appearance of guitarist Adrian Smith, although this minute lineup change is yet to become effective stylistically for what concerns Maiden's very own brand of heavy metal. 'Killers' is generally in line with the debut album and is quite similar to it in terms of scope, production, and songwriting, and while 'Iron Maiden' had several really melodic (and even softer) spots, this album is a more combatant and upbeat one.

Once again the music is riff- and hook-driven, with occasional glimpses of more technical playing, despite the fact that Maiden seem to have focused exclusively on writing shorter songs here. There is a sense of tension within the music and a broad lack of incredibly exciting ideas, and to put it plainly, 'Killers' does not even dare to overachieve what the debut album had already achieved and introduced as a stylistic trope, as musical vision and as a general progression within the world of heavy rock. Just a pretty good album that is rather similar to its predecessor, giving us interesting songs like the opening instrumental 'The Ides of March', the extremely catchy (and overly punky) 'Wrathchild' and 'Murders in the Rue Morgue', as well as the strong title track with its fine riffs and generous bass sounds. 'Prodigal Son' offers a counterforce to the overall heaviness but then come putrid songs like 'Purgatory' and 'Drifter', completely ruining the ending of an otherwise imperfect studio album. Perhaps 'Killers' was never meant to be as good, despite the occasional glimpses of fine writing and inspired playing, this is the album showing the signs of why this iteration of Maiden could not have lived on.

Definitely one of the best albums of Caravan. Mostly constituted by instrumental pieces, this album lays less stress on vocal parts, which may be the reason why it is sometimes eclipsed by former albums like "the land?". But it's still an indeed masterpiece that may even reach new heights in the essence of being a Canterbury Scene with all the superb performances made mainly by keyboard or drum. In particular, "memory lain"features truly uplifting passages and "surprise, surprise"is a real surprise as well. The combination of viola and strings also add a distinctive texture to this album, which can be highlighted the most in "a hunting?".

Using as cover a section of the triptych painted in oil on boards "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch of the XV century, Deep Purple published in the epilogue of the sixties the last chapter of the trilogy that marked the point and apart of their first stage, simply titled "Deep Purple" (1969).

An album that maintains that explorer and psychedelic spirit sprinkled with traces of classical music of its predecessor "The Book of Taliesyn", in themes that include African percussive elements by the hand of Ian Paice in the tribal "Chasing Shadows", Jon Lord's warm harpsichord notes on the baroque "Blind", Rod Evans' Greg Lake-esque Crimsonian singing on the delicate cover of the Scottish Donovan "Lalena", and schizoid studio tricks using reverse tapes on the brief instrumental "Fault Line"; and also shows Ritchie Blackmore very involved in the composition with a rich display of riffs and distorted guitar solos interspersed with Lord's hammonds, especially in the funky "The Painter", in the bluesy "Why Didn't Rosemary? " (with an alternative thematic approach to Roman Polasky's creepy film "The Rosemary's Baby"), and in the thick, lingering cadence of the narcotized "The Bird Has Flown".

And if there is a song that could summarize the first stage of the band, that would be the mini-suite "April": the interest in experimental atmospheres in the medieval and beautiful introduction of church organs and acoustic guitars, Lord's persistent concern for incorporating classical components with the arrangement of violins in between, and the incipient hard rock still to take off that appeared in the final stretch of the long track.

Given the scarce commercial repercussion of the album and convinced that the band would not have much more future in the cloudy paths of psychedelia and sixties sonorities, Blackmore and Lord then incorporated Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, dispensing with Rod Evans and Nick Simper in the search of hardening their sound, more in accordance with the powerful style piloted by the overwhelming Led Zeppelin. Thus ended the appreciable formative stage of Deep Purple.

3.5/4 stars

Well this is unexpected. I had a feeling that they would make a new album, but I didn't expect them to just?drop something out of the blue. I expected at least a few singles, but honestly the only shred of advertisement that the band had done for Lucro sucio; los ojos del vacio was that tour they held with Deftones and Fleshwater, which I actually went to a show during said tour. That was when I got a taste of what the album would be like, and in turn, got quite hyped since the live version of these songs were really good!

Though, what about the actual studio output? Well with the band going pop in their last album, I figured they'd continue that streak, but instead Lucro sucio; los ojos del vacio changed things up dramatically, and honestly it took a bit to grow on me. In a way this is probably their most psychedelic venture yet since Noctourniquet, hell probably more.

If I had to describe the sound on this album, it'd probably be if Spiritualized made an album that was a lot more pop focused and had Latino elements.

It's very much a mix of ambient pop, art rock, and neo-psychedelia, rolled in a blanket that is not too dissimilar to some of Omar Rodriguez Lopez's solo works. It's honestly such a weird, but cool sound for the band to do. Cedric's voice is more of a focus here too, giving out very beautiful performances that are a stark contrast to the hard edged stuff he had made in the past. Not only that, but the fact the band is changing things up, even under a pop context, shows their progginess thoroughly even when they moved away from prog. Would I consider Lucro sucio; los ojos del vacio prog rock? No. Maybe prog pop at most, but this is definitely not under the same threshold as The Bedlam Of Goliath. But even still, this is such a different direction to go compared to what one would expect coming off of their last album.

However, I can definitely see why a lot of people are kind of coming into it very confused and lost, because?this album is just weird? It has the beats of a modern day Mars Volta album, but it never really presents itself as one? I don't know how to describe it, but at least initially it doesn't feel like a Mars Volta album. Sure you could say that about their self-titled too, but that one I'd say would still be recognizable as a Mars Volta album, even to the most casual of fans. This album, though, feels so out of left field even for a band such as this, that it ends up being kind of hard to get into, at least for me.

This album's biggest weakness is that while every song is good, even some really great ones like The Iron Rose or Morgana, the aforementioned confusion still persists, and I end up having more questions than answers. I have gotten more accustomed to it with each relisten, and now see it as another album by The Mars Volta, but even if I may have the pieces to the puzzle, organizing the picture is still quite hard.

I also think a weakness this album has is, while this may be more personal, I feel like the live versions I had heard in that Deftones concert sounded better, and thus I am just a tiny bit disappointed in the studio output. Now, no duh, of course songs sound better live, but like?if you listen to old live recordings from the band, it's clear that their studio and live sessions had a similar quality to both. Like, there are some differences, like the live material being far more jammier and wild, but at the end of the day the studio version of say, Tetragrammaton, sounds just as good as the live version of it. Lucro sucio; los ojos del vacio, though, sounds kind of empty on occasion in the studio compared to what I had heard live. It's not an awful emptiness, but it's very apparent these songs are more meant to be played live.

But, perhaps this direction ends up making this one of the most interesting Mars Volta albums ever. I mean, sure it may not be conceptually as interesting as Frances The Mute, but musically it's very?anti-Mars Volta. It's as if the very band itself went into an opposite world, and recorded an album with their mirrored counterparts. It's a bizarro Mars Volta, having beats and melodies that feel like something the band would make, but just off enough for it to be quite the head turner. And honestly, in this context, the album just becomes 10x cooler! It's so Mars Volta to make a Mars Volta album that doesn't vibe like a Mars Volta album.

Initially this album was a 3.5/5, but with each new listen I end up raising the bar a tad higher. Now, at a 4.5/5, I think I now know what to say. The Mars Volta NEVER misses. Sure, some of their releases are better than others, but if you ever ask me if they have any bad albums, I'd tell you no. They have unique, strange, and off putting material, but they do not make bad music EVER. Anyways, listen to Lucro sucio; los ojos del vacio, it's great.

Best tracks: The Iron Rose, Cue the Sun, Celaje, Morgana, Cue the Sun (Reprise)

Worst tracks: Mito de los trece cielos, Detrás de la puerta dorada

"Algorythm" is the third full-length studio album by Canadian, Quebec based technical/progressive death metal act Beyond Creation. The album was released through Season of Mist in October 2018. It´s the successor to "Earthborn Evolution" from 2014. There´s been one lineup change since the release of "Earthborn Evolution" as bassist Dominic Lapointe has left and has been replaced by Hugo Doyon-Karout. Lapointe is a pretty prolific musician on the Quebec music scene having been a member of/or is still a member of acts like Atheretic, Augury, and First Fragment, making an audible impact with his fretless bass playing, so it´s big shoes Doyon-Karout has to fill.

Stylistically Beyond Creation continues the high energy technical death metal style with progressive songwriting ideas of the last couple of albums. The fretless bass provides the music with an audible bass presence and a fluid organic flow. "Algorythm" is in most other ways not organic at all. It´s actually a pretty sterile sounding release and the mellow excursions into jazz/fusion and progressive rock/metal territories do nothing to change that perception of the music. Beyond Creation are incredibly well playing and perform many virtuosic guitar riffs- and leads, the above mentioned technical fretless bass playing, a technical drumming attack, and vocals which shift between deep growling and higher pitched screaming/snarling. To my ears the most valid reference is Obscura, but the aforementioned Augury is another.

The sound production is massive, layered, and detailed, but I´m not blown away by the sound, which for all its well sounding qualities ends up presenting the music in a slightly powerless fashion. So upon conclusion "Algorythm" is a bit more shallow in the songwriting- and in the performance deparments than the band´s earlier releases and paired with a sound production which doesn´t provide the music with the needed boost of power, "Algorythm" ultimately comes off a less accomplished release than the preceding albums from Beyond Creation. It´s still a good quality technical/progressive death metal release, but it´s not exactly among the elite albums of the genre. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

After Methexis, Verbal Delirium, Naxatras, Residuos Mentales and Forbidden Myth, here's another interesting current prog band from Greece named Jupiter Fungus, a studio project featuring Papatriantafillou (keyboards, guitar and vocals) and Fotis Xenikoudakis (flute and tin whistle), it was set up to pay homage to the legendary bands associated with the progressive and classic rock scene of the 1970s, from Jethro Tull and Focus to Pink Floyd and Deep Purple, and other. Band info. "Although essentially just a duo, selected studio musicians were also recruited to enable them to create their debut album Garden Electric: George Papageorgiou (bass, acoustic guitar and glockenspiel), George Emmanuel (electric guitar) and Nick Vell (drums). With the liberal use of a variety of keyboards and flute, augmented by some powerful guitars and a solid drum and bass foundation, the four-track album of just under 50 minutes is brimming with vibrant arrangements and unexpected shifts."

Underdog: The powerful and dynamic foundation in this long composition is a swinging mid-tempo beat, the bass even sounds pretty funky. The music is embellished with swirling work on the distinctive Hammond organ (reminding me of Booker T.), heavy guitar runs, frequent eruptions with flute and rock guitar, some spoken words in English, a dual- guitar sound with Hammond, a sparkling flute - and fiery guitar solo and a spectacular Minimoog solo with pitchbend, wow, what an exciting start by this new band on this debut album!

Circles: In the first part a catchy beat with a powerful bass and sparkling flute and Hammond layers, soon joined by the cheerful tin whistle. Then a swirling Hammond solo, sparkling flute work, fueled by awesome rhythm-section, (like 70s Camel with Peter Bardens). Halfway a nice break with spacey synthesizers, a hypnotizing rhythm-section, soaring flute work (the bass work reminds me of In A Gadda Da Vida from Iron Butterfly), subtle electric piano runs and a spacey slightly distorted guitar solo. The final part contains a more lush sound with flute traverse and a moving guitar solo.

Past Ground: First a dreamy intro with Andean flute-like sound, beautiful. Then a swinging rhythm with powerful flute work in the vein of Ian Anderson. Back to dreamy with soaring flute and Hammond, distorted vocals in a catchy beat. Next a short, more experimental part. Then a sumptuous eruption with Hammond, in a catchy beat with heavy guitar sound and sparkling flute, powerful vocals, and a fiery guitar solo, topped with an exciting Hammond solo. The band succeeds to blend obvious 70s prog echoes with a fresh and modern sound and strong musical ideas.

Thoughts of Revenge: This epic final composition is the most eclectic and dynamic one featuring lots of surprising changing atmospheres, the band in its full splendor. From a spacey intro synthesizer and soaring flute to a more polished sound with soulful vocals. From a rock guitar explosion with heavy Hammond and powerful vocals (evoking Pink Floyd) to a flashy synthesizer solo with pitchbend. And from a mellow climate with flute to halfway a slow swinging rhythm with omnipresent flute play. The final part delivers a compelling atmosphere with a strongly built up David Gilmour kind of guitar solo, this is Symphonic Rock Heaven!

What an excellent debut by this new Greek formation, loaded with dynamics, tension, strong musical ideas and exciting soli, and performed by skilled musicians, highly recommended!

'Still the Orchestra Plays' is a 2010 compilation album by legendary cult metal band Savatage. After years of inactivity, this CD package just randomly popped up from nowhere and probably left most fans wondering if it was a sign that anything new was coming. Sadly, that was not the case, as it would be another three years until the band would once more pop up out of the blue with a re-released narrated version of their rock opera, 'Streets'.

But back to this one, and yeah, as you'd expect, this is a fantastic compilation! Two discs full of absolutely top quality music. Sure, there's a few omissions that I feel should have been included, but overall, it's a nice career retrospective, perfect for newcomers to the band, or long-time fans who need a reminder of how brilliant these guys are.

From 'Power of the Night', 'Hall of the Mountain King', 'Gutter Ballet' and 'Edge of Thorns', to the likes of 'Morphine Child', 'The Wake of Magellan', 'Chance' and 'One Child', there's no shortage of Savatage classics here. And three newly-recorded acoustic versions of previous hits are a welcome sign that the band were still trying to somewhat maintain active.

This CD package comes with a bonus DVD, which has the classic 'Japan Live '94' concert on it. Originally released on VHS, it was nice to finally be able to own a copy of this. Granted, the sound and picture are quite dated, but the performances are excellent, and it's just great to be able to see a full concert video of the band.

Overall, this is, quite simply, a fantastic compilation. It's definitely a great starting point for newcomers, but also has plenty of value for fans too. A worthy addition to any rock or metal collection!

While I do understand that this Genesis is not a past Genesis, that's not why I think that Abacab lacked a lot of quality compositions, or consistency for that matter. After the outstanding Duke, there is a drop-off, but it's not the worst album ever. One big difference is the solo works, which this time are limited to one by each; that turns out to be a good thing. Tony Banks' "Me and Sarah Jane" is a rather uneven piece, with some great moments but some rather overdone ones. Meanwhile Phil Collins' "Man on the Corner" (a minor hit), and Mike Rutherford's "Like it or Not" seem routine and somewhat boring, let alone generic; the former two pieces also further Collins' obsession with drum machines.

The rest of the album? The title track is a great composition, but Banks tends to overdo the synths and drown out everything else, a sign of what you'll hear for the entire album. "No Reply at All" is one of the couple gems here, a pop radio staple augmented by the same horn section from Earth, Wind & Fire and great bass work by Rutherford. "Keep it Dark" is not a bad song, but again I fault Banks for being too heavy with the keys. "Dodo/Lurker," the other long track here, is the other truly good piece; it likely has the best lyrics on the entire album, and Rutherford gets a chance to shine some on the six-string. I don't need to comment on one of the worst Genesis pieces ever, "Who Dunnit?" for every other review echoes my comments on that song. "Another Record" closes, which is somewhat bland, but at least Banks' piano is near its best for this album.

The eponymous follow-up would be a nice rebound for me (if that proves that my problems aren't because of Genesis' identity), but I found Abacab to seem rather run-of-the-mill and not easy to get into.

3.0