10, no wait, 11 highlights out of 68 releases!

Starting off this release week with a new album by a band I had no idea existed prior to yesterday. “Jiminy” seems to be the second album by Bear Ghost, an Adventure Rock band from Phoenix, Arizona. Bear Ghost’s music is exuberant, theatrical swing metal in all its glory, and finally a band that seems to be on par with the inimitable Diablo Swing Orchestra in that regard. For an independent band to gain more than 1, 3 or even 4 million streams on Spotify with some of the advance singles before the album even drops is no easy feat indeed, but with the quality and catchiness of the music at hand, it’s no wonder either. For any Muse fan secretly wishing the music of their musical heroes to be more adventurous, “Jiminy” is exactly what you’ve wished for! Dario

Boston based Instrumental Technical Prog Metal outfit Myth of I have decided to go independent again after having released their self-titled debut album via The Artisan Era, the home of everything Tech Death, in 2020. The core duo of guitarists Tyler Fritzel and Jennings Smith is joined by bassist Nick Thorpe this time around, while the position of the drummer remains vacant and all drums are programmed by Fritzel/Smith on their follow-up EP “Blood”. Three of the tracks on “Blood” feature guest appearances, and if you’re familiar with the names Jake Howsam-Lowe, Poh Hock and Yas Nomura, you will know exactly where the musical journey will lead even if you had no clue about Myth of I before: blistering, highly technical (and in a sense also philosophical) Djent and Prog Metal musings wrapped in a concise package of six songs in 28 minutes. Definitely a must hear for fans of the aforementioned guest musicians and affiliated projects. Dario

What kind of music is a French Progressive Rock band playing? Correct, it’s Frogressive Rock of course! Nine Skies from Nice are definitely prime purveyors of that and their third album “5.20” two years ago was not only able show off with guest spots from both Steve and John Hackett and Damian Wilson, but also carefully crafted Progr…, excuse me, Frogressive Rock compositions. Their new concept epic “The Lightmaker” sports different Prog household names this time on its sleeve (Adam Holzman, Kris Gildenlöw, John Mitchell, Marco Minnemann to name but a few), at the core are six epic compositions though (plus Intro and Interlude), that don’t necessarily have to rely upon name-dropping. On the other hand, all the musicians involved, including all members of the six-piece core band and every guest musician are contributing their A-game to “The Lightmaker” and make the fourth Nine Skies album a thorough success throughout its runtime just shy of the full hour. Dario

For “A Poetry of Rain”, German proggers Subsignal drew inspiration from personal experiences as well as social topics, and now release 10 new songs that work well on their own, but also in the overall context. While rain might be easily connected with sadness in a metaphorical way, it also can have a cleaning, calming or life-giving impact, so the record’s name is open for interpretation. Musically speaking, they share an amazing progrock album with us, wonderfully composed and skillfully performed, on which they manage to hold the listeners’ attention by keeping the right balance between variety and accessibility. The music comes along with a certain melancholy, catching the atmosphere of a rainy day in a beautiful way, carried by the expressive vocals as well as the playing joy of all musicians involved. Last but not least, the production is crystal clear and supports the songs’ great dynamic the best way. While diving into “A Poetry of Rain”, I noticed a welcomed, soothing effect on myself, leaving me in a thoughtful, yet positive mood, and I’m looking forward to see how the songs will unfold in a live setting. Katha 

Ever wondered how a mythical conversation between the wind, a mountain, a birch tree and a butterfly would sound like? Norwegian instrumental post / progrock masters Spurv just unveiled their vision of it with “Brefjære”, even though this shouldn’t be seen as much as a talk in the classical sense, but more as a collection of four monologues spanning an exchange across eight songs. The characters are represented by a choir and soloists, each expressing their own realities and their interrelatedness in Norwegian language, and as diverse and mystical as the “protagonists” are, so is the music. The different, stylistic elements are interwoven in a mesmerizing way, and I’m fascinated by the artistic vision behind “Brefjære” and its flawless, musical transposition with the focus on the overall sound experience. The songs have a certain lightness, but nevertheless an atmospheric depth, not losing any of their tension even during the most silent passages. In my ears, Spurv created a piece of art by painting a wonderful picture with their soundscapes to take the listeners to the Northern fields for a while – Dive in and enjoy 🙂 Katha

If I had a dollar for every solo album by a prominent British Prog Rock vocalist who’s band includes Gavin Harrison on drums released in the month of September 2023, I’d have two dollars, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that its happened twice. It’s no secret that Steven Wilson’s “The Harmony Codex” is a greatly anticipated solo release coming at the end of the month, but first we have “Luminescence”, the third solo album by The Pineapple Thief vocalist Bruce Soord. If you know anything about the two bands then you know they have a lot of crossover, and whilst Wilson may be the bigger name between the two, I’m here to make a case of why Soord’s new solo effort may end up being better than “The Harmony Codex”.

The Pineapple Thief have always been a band to strike a certain chord with me. They’re a band you have to be in the right mood for, but when you’re in that mood, they really do hit, and that emotion translates into his solo work too. Soord stated in an interview on the album that he immediately began the writing process for Luminescence after the birth of his third child, which really changed the way he saw the world and how he viewed life and reflected inner peace. Now I never typically let personal bias and emotions impact my reviews, but as a father of 2 myself, with our 3rd on the way very shortly, it’s hard not to feel an incredibly personal attachment to everything thematically on this album. It was a tough listen for me but one that I really resonated with and has helped me greatly since its release.

But if these particular conceptual themes and lyrics don’t do it for you, what does Luminescence actually have to offer? Well lucky for you, Bruce Soord also happens to be a genius producer as well as multi-instrumentalist and lyricist. I genuinely can’t get over how perfect the production is on this album. Here we get Soord’s iconic mellow vocals in the forefront, coupled with gorgeous acoustic guitars, pianos and synths. It’s the way he layers his vocals that really makes this production stand out. It takes the album from a sombre atmospheric listen to a dreamlike melancholic experience. There’s nothing too long on this album either. 12 tracks running just over 40 minutes, with the longest track clocking in at 4:13. Whilst the die hard Prog fans may be calling out for something more substantial, that’s not what this album is. It’s intimate and reflective in all the right ways, and nothing ever overstays its welcome.

Soord certainly doesn’t do anything groundbreaking with this release, but he does allow the listener into his state of mind to create a truly blissful and haunting experience. Sam

Finland’s Hexvessel has been mostly known for its exciting blend of dark folk and psychedelic rock. Always having an experimental edge, the band around guitarist & vocalist Matt McMerney has built its reputation in the underground scene without making any compromises. If anything can be said about the new album “Polar Veil”, it is that compromises are still out of the question. Hexvessel has taken a sharp turn towards metal, inspired by progressive black and doom metal bands from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The result is a tremendously bleak album, where the frivolous aspects of Hexvessel have been replaced by a bleak atmosphere and morose songwriting.

While the shift in music is rather draconian, Hexvessel still has its unique sound due to McNerney’s vocals, which still have that dramatic and melancholic edge. However, the music has shifted towards doom and blackgaze, making “Polar Veil” a particularly dark and brooding experience. The band’s fanbase will surely be divided about this drastic change, where I expect the metalheads to enjoy this and the more folk oriented people will raise their eyebrows. However, “Polar Veil” is an interesting album from a band that always chooses to be true to itself. With the darker days of winter approaching rapidly, this might just be the soundtrack you need to immerse yourself into the gloomier time of the year. Lykle

An album called „In Time“ starting with a 23 minute epic called ‚Out of Time‘? That sounds like an intriguing paradox indeed and since UK based Prog Rock four-piece The Emerald Dawn have the endorsement of Jason ‚The ProgMind‘ Spencer I decided to give them a listen, because hell, why not. And I must say I’m very glad that I did, as the earthy, yet spectral Mike Oldfield vibes The Emerald Dawn put forward are quite rare these days I’d say. All the more charming that they’ve taken that ‚Timeless‘ sound ‚Out of Time‘ despite the ‚March of Time‘ so to speak. Ok, to be fair I have to admit, that „In Time“ does sound indeed a bit nostalgic, almost dated, but that is absolutely part of the charm and the magic. I wonder if it was recorded live in studio, it does sound like that to me at least. A wonderful little gem in any case. Dario

Seemingly moving away further and further from his more proggy side, UK wonder voice and Progressive Pop phenomenon That Joe Payne presents us his sophomore solo record “Bread & Circuses”, three years after the sensational “By Name. By Nature.”. The opening trio already spans different styles from the Asia meets Queen opener ‘Falling In Love Is Easy’ to the Alicia Keys wrote a James Bond song ‘My Heart’, with something decidedly more ‘modern’ pop sitting boldly in between with ‘River Runs Dry’. Swinging tongue-in-cheek cabaret smash hits like ‘Live The Dream’ and the aptly titled and very relatable ‘Fucking Fucked’ take turns with more serious and grandiose cuts. And while the instrumentation with lots of strings can lean towards a saccharine overdose at times, Payne’s breathtaking voice keeps you emotionally engaged every single moment throughout the 40 minutes of highest quality Progressive Pop. With a capital P, this time in front of the latter, so if you’re not afraid of the short ‘P’ word, this might indeed be for you. 😉 Dario

Bonus highlight of the week: just short of 45 minutes full of live madness from Nashville Experimental Doomcore crazies of Flummox! “Live At Hop Springs”, be it in it’s audio only form on the streaming platform of your choice (or a download purchase through Bandcamp) or, even better, complete with the visual madness captured on multiple cameras on the band’s YouTube channel, is most probably the closest we’ll ever get to experience one of Flummox’s (in)famous live shows this side of the pond (i.e. Europe). One can still hope though. In the meantime, I’m gonna spin some more “Live At Hop Springs” if I’m in the mood for some Pat Mastelotto-approved Possumcore craziness! Dario

Oh wait wait wait, sometimes even featuring some singles in our What’s Hot?! Playlist doesn’t seem to guarantee that we won’t overlook the album once it’s released. There’s just too much going on. Looks like that happened with Tulip’s sophomore album “The Perpetual Dream” that was released back in May. Now with the remastered re-released of their self-titled debut EP (originally released in 2018), I’m trying to make up for this grave slip with this shout out. “Symphonic groove metal from the Texas desert” says their Facebook profile, and these musical descriptors are spot on as the grooves are massive and the orchestrations huge. “Apocalyptic musical theater” as their Bandcamp page states? I’ll take it as well. Powerful stuff right there. Dario