5 highly diverse highlights for the start of August!

There are not many artists who could perform a stone as expressively or bring a computer to life vocal-wise as Toehider aka TH1 did for Ayreon. But the man behind , Mike Mills, isn’t only an excellent singer with a fantastic range, but also an amazing multi-instrumentalist and creative composer. For his Patrons, he started the challenge to write one EP every month (since February), and the first of them got a public release now, called “Quit Forever?”. As known from his previous works, he doesn’t let himself be constricted by any genre boundaries, throwing in whatever style feels good, from hard rockin’ metal riffs over groovy 80s disco sounds and synth pop to classical, orchestral elements, melted together by his outstanding voice and well-crafted song-writing. While the music still takes us on a wild, crazy ride, there is a more thoughtful component shining through lyric-wise this time. The detailed cover by Andrew Saltmarsh again rounds up their artistic vision, leaving me curious to see and hear what else they’ll have in store for us over the next months. Katha

And another Ayreon related highlight this week: Old-school Ayreon and Kayak fans rejoice, the man with the silken voice Edward Reekers is back with his very own huge prog rock opera. „The Liberty Project“ knows how to captivate the listeners with stellar (guest) performances by capable players and familiar names in that circle like John Jaycee Cuijpers, Damian Wilson, Joost Van Den Broek, Steve Hackett and the tall minstrel Arjen Lucassen himself, but first and foremost with its captivating storytelling and diverse, masterful songwriting. Sure, it can get quite cheesy here and there, but I promise: only the very best kind of cheese. From a James Bond like ballad (‚Two Lifetimes‘), orchestral and choral goodness, a take on ‚Money‘ that’s more Pain of Salvation (‚Mr. Money‘ on “Be”) than Pink Floyd, the coolest bassoon solo since ‚Day Eighteen: Realization‘ on Ayreon‘s „The Human Equation“, Damian Wilson touching familiar Les Misérables grounds   in ‘Never Again’ all the way to the epic final duet of Reekers with Cindy Oudshoorn (Kayak): „The Liberty Project“ is full to the brim with songs that simply ooze both classiness and scream ‚instant timeless classic‘ with their universal melodies. And the most universal of them returns for an epic epilogue with a spectacularly crisp guitar lead somewhere between Everon’s ‘Brief Encounter’ and Vitam Aeternam’s ‘Promethea’. I simply can’t get enough! Dario

From the sweet melodies of a rock musical to the most crushing brutal intensity of Sweden’s deathcore legends Humanity’s Last Breath: “Ashen” is their sixth album and it’s a breathtaking gargantuan coloss of intense atmosphere. Breathtaking in a sense of an unexpected punch in the guts. Riffs as high as the Himalayas, atmosphere as deep as the Mariana Trench, crushing everything in its wake. Leaving nothing but ashes and dust. Welcome to the apocalypse and its cleansing catharsis. Dario

…and if that wasn’t cathartic enough for you, you might want to try “Spiritus Lacrimarum: Dolorem in Lacrimas Efundere”, the debut full length album from Norwegian pianist, cellist, composer and vocalist Leon Kristoffer, released on Apollon Records under the fitting moniker Spirit Tomb. 8 poems by Edgar Allan Poe set to dark and haunting chamber music. So dark in fact, that it’s quite the challenge to sit through the album in one sitting, yet it’s mesmerizing morbid beauty keeps pulling me back to it. Think Ihsahn’s ‘Celestial Violence’ meets The Shadow Theory’s ‘A Symphony of Shadows’ (minus the band parts), played in an old Victorian house. The emotional abyss of the story that is being told is deep and endless, so don’t forget to pull yourself out again… Dario

Maybe with a healthy dose of Devin Townsend? The third installment of the Devolution series, “Empath: Live in America” documents iconic live performances of a bunch of classic Devy tracks, recorded on the Empath tour that had to be cut short in early 2020 – for obvious and well documented reasons. The core of the Empath/Order of Magnitude live line-up with the two Zappa alumni Mike Keneally and Morgan Ågren on guitars/keyboards and drums respectively are the perfect fit for some of Devin’s newer almost free-form silliness (the extended intro of ‘Why’ being a perfect example), but don’t lack in metal credibility either when the songs call for it. A fun and well-balanced setlist full of classics, rounded off by Devin’s legendary humor completes another worthy live release by Canada’s most prolific Prog musician. Dario