60 Releases including 10 Highlights: that’s more than 200 Mini Reviews for 2023 already!

Adventurous, artful, raw and exciting: “Commissioned Works Pt. II – Six Drops of Poison” is the third album of Norwegian prog trio Ring Van Möbius and it’s an exuberant artistic statement in itself, no matter if parts of it were originally commissioned to accompany some kind of performance. The modular syntn/hammond/mellotron/fender rhodes/grand piano/vocals (Thor Erik Helgesen) & Danelectro Doubleneck 6 str. bass / 12 str. baritone guitar (Håvard Rasmussen) & Tubular bells, timpani, chimes, drums, glockenspiel, gong, cymbals (Dag Olav Husås) trio took the freedom to develop a few of the commissioned themes and motives further without any artistic restraints – and ended up with a massive work or art I can’t help but describing it with “Emerson Lake & Palmer dance in a Norwegian cabin with Procol Harum” or something to that effect. And if that instrumentarium is not enough prog for you, just take a look at the tracklist with all of its chapters… In any case: the melodic centerpiece of the album is without a doubt ‘Chapter 5 – When Man Becomes Wolf’, rivaling even the über-organ classic ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ with its timeless melody and chord progression. As far as I’m concerned, it’s gonna be next to impossible to dethrone this masterpiece as song of the year. Dario

Now if the Norwegian trio wasn’t able to prog you enough yet, let’s take a trip to the neighboring country Sweden and dive into the psychedelic summer sounds of Malmö based quintet Agusa, who are offering their fifth full length album full of organ/synth and flute driven, mostly instrumental prog rock. “Prima Materia” clocks in at 42 and a half minutes with just four songs and prog fans know what that means: epics galore! My favorite kind of summer prog: Swedish prog! Just in time for the next heatwave to cool down to the chill sounds. Dario

77 minutes of conceptual progressive metal with Azure’s inimitable wonder voice Chris Sampson on lead vocals? Hell yes count me in! The main man behind “Hourglass of Exile” is Taylor Batory though, as it’s released under his tb Project moniker and it’s his compositions, guitar and bass playing and production that make up the bulk of this massive album. With a few guest musicians, like Chris, The Flower Kings/An Endless Sporadic’s Zach Kamins or the Freak Guitar Wizard himself Mattias IA Eklundh to name but a few, Taylor retells the story of Japanese Anime series Last Exile that first debuted in 2003 on “Hourglass of Exile”. So this album is not only highly recommended for all prog metal nerds, but also all Anime aficionados. Read Sam’s full review right here! Dario

Album number 1 post-Eurovision for Western Australia’s synth pop prog metal phenomenon Voyager, album number eight overall in their discography that started two decades ago: “Fearless In Love” delivers everything long-time fans hoped for in spades, from bubbly synths and grand choruses to stomping breakdowns and expansive atmospheres. The tight unit that is Danny, Simmy, Scott, Alex & Ash, playing together in this constellation for 12 years already, have perfected their songwriting mastery and signature to the point of, well, perfection, making Voyager an unstoppable force and fearless ambassadors of synth pop in metal, of metal in synth pop, of Western Australia in the world – and unwavering optimism in the face of adversity. Well done! Read Alina’s full review right here! Dario

Following on from his 2020 debut “Absent Passages”, Matt Hobart, or Scaphoid as he’s more commonly known, drops his sophomore LP, “Echoes of the Rift”. Whilst I greatly enjoyed his debut, I felt like it overstayed its welcome slightly with the hour runtime and some passages that meandered and dragged. Luckily, “Echoes of the Rift” is here to answer my prayers. Here we have 8 tracks over the span of 45 minutes instead of an hour, which may not sound like much, but on an instrumental album it allows each piece to flourish properly, and last as long as it needs to. Whilst evoking comparisons to other post metal/prog instrumental bands like Intronaut and Russian Circles, there’s also clearly a lot of influence of bands like Porcupine Tree and The Pineapple Thief. Regardless of where your preferences stand on instrumental rock, “Echoes of the Rift” offers up a relaxed ethereal atmosphere built on layers of progressive instrumentation. I had a blast getting lost in this album, and I think any fans of post metal/prog would feel the same. Sam

An instrumental progrock fusion trio, inspired by themes of space and a perpetual battle between the owl and the squid?… Count me in! Said trio is called The Parallax Method, who now offer their first full length album, “Folie à Trois” for our listening pleasure, coming up with lovely song titles like ‘Batman Broods over Gotham’, ‘Cheeky Charlie’s Porky Pokers’ or ‘The Pope’s Personal Saxophonist’ (which doesn’t have any sax on it btw). But leaving the wonderful silliness in the naming aside, their musical skills can be taken absolutely seriously, with all three musicians playing skillfully through their sophisticated compositions, yet performing with a certain lightheartedness. The versatile drumming builds a strong basis for the incredibly smooth bass lines, and the guitar joins sometimes on the same melody, sometimes takes its own paths on top. Stylistically, they wander from heavy prog over jazz to more funky moments, even make a short trip into country music, and while their playing is highly technical, the music is still accessible and groovy – A marvelous mélange that caught me from the first spin. Katha

“American Mystic” is the fifth album by Kentucky prog rock trio Dream The Electric Sleep and ever since I fell in love with the vast and expansive post rock excursions that made their sophomore opus “Heretics” stand out sky high above the masses, their unique blend of indie/alternative prog is always a welcome change in sonic tapestry between all the modern prog metal (or occasionally also classic prog rock) sounds that grace my ears most of the time these days. I’m not always in the mood for it, but when I am, it’s a great and engaging listen from front to finish. “American Mystic” is no “Heretics”, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great album in its own right. Dario

Alternative prog #2: Hailing from Scotland, Gloom Is Okay, the musical outlet from Glasgow based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Martin Walker just dropped their second, eponymous EP featuring five songs of ‘Happy/Sad music for Happy/Sad people’. Musically, it sounds a lot like a less hectic Kyros to me, or an electronic sadboi Steven Wilson. Martin even brings his own Ninet Tayeb in with Jazz Dey (Modern Sonder) guesting on ‘Pine’. Great mixture of analogue and electronic sounds. Seriously, it’s more than okay! Dario

Alternative prog #3, Down Under edition: Brisbane five-piece Kodiak Empire present “The Great Acceleration”, the follow up to their 2016 debut “Silent Bodies”, out now on Bird’s Robe Records. And while I’m usually not too keen on alternative (rock) sounds, Kodiak Empire could be an Australian version of Dream The Electric Sleep (perhaps meeting Agent Fresco on occasion), sporting their very own approach with dreamy falsetto vocals, delicate guitar arrangements and the obligatory coda growls, thus confusing me once again. Am I finally losing my inhibitions against the word ‘alternative’? Be that as it may, “The Great Acceleration” is definitely worth a listen. Maybe it even accelerated the loss of any preconceived negative notions I may have had against that word greatly, which sounds like a great side effect. Dario

Eclectic bonus highlight: a little EP full of harps, vocals and effect pedals. Produced by harpist Emily Hopkins with Bent Knee singer Courtney Swain, “Tournesols” is an otherworldly ambient hypnotic trip. Meditative and slow to a point where it can either slow down your mind from the often hectic everyday life for its duration of 20 minutes – or if you’re too stressed to begin with it might have the opposite effect and make you even more restless. Let’s hope for the former. Dario