7 mini reviews to complete the 200! Releases of the Week say goodbye to 2022!

Putting Kassel on the Prog map: Accompanist, the young five piece from the heart of Germany are presenting their very first EP “On the Shady Side” and make it clear from the get-go that their music is anything but merely an accompaniment. Tackling the moody, atmospheric side of modern prog with the occasional djent outburst, this is a very nice first scent mark and made me very curious to see what they’ll be coming up next. They’re definitely on my radar now. Dario

“Moons and Hideaways” is the third album from post metal outfit Lodz. Only the third album in 9 years, the French quartet (no, they’re not from the polish city of the same name) is treading wonderfully familiar paths of atmospheric, melancholic post metal. It’s a very solid release from front to back and should appeal to every fan of this particular subgenre, allowing the band to climb up the popularity ladder significantly. And well deservedly so. Dario

A little supergroup of sorts, the debut album of the project that goes under the moniker The Arc of Light is an unapologetically fun thing overall, while not forgetting or neglecting the more atmospheric and cinematic songwriting talents of keyboardist David Bertok (ex-SubSignal), guitarist Marco Wriedt (Pink Cream 69, 21 Octayne, ex-Axxis) and vocalist Julian Rolinger (Mad Max) are not neglected completely, as one might think after the first two upbeat songs on the album. Tracks like ‘Sound of Leaves’ and quasi title track ‘Cinematic Reverie’, to name just two, make sure of that. “A Cinematic Reverie” might surely be one of the more ‘mainstream’ sounding albums that we have featured here on The Progspace, but that doesn’t diminish the quality on hand one bit. If you’re looking for a bucket full of colorful, bright melodies, you might find it in this “Cinematic Reverie”. Dario

And now for something completely different. I think you could say that when talking about Magma no matter what band or album you talked about right before. The French godfathers of Zeuhl are still going strong close to 55 years into their career (with a little 11 year break in the middle). “Kãrtëhl” is their newest studio offering, the 15th overall if I counted right. If you never managed to get into their weird style, you probably won’t with “Kãrtëhl” either. But if you’re up for something different, you’re welcome to try. Dario

Out digitally for a couple of weeks already, “The Waves Have Teeth”, the debut offering from Spanish progressive death metal band Floating is also available on CD and Cassette through Spirit Coffin Publishing now. A perfect continuation of the little (Experimental) Progressive (Death) Metal series we accidentally started two weeks ago (this would be #6 then), Floating’s waves do seem to have teeth indeed, as the sound is fittingly brutal and dissonant where it needs to be, atmospheric and eerie elsewhere. Just what the distinguished underground prog death connoisseur was waiting for. Enjoy and don’t let the waves bite you! Dario

An energetic slab of grunge prog comes out of Normandy today: Geminii release their self-titled EP “Geminii”. Now if you have followed my ramblings for a bit, you might have noticed that I’m not too fond of the general sound that is associated with the ‘grunge’ tag, but every now and then there’s a release with an integral part of its sound based in grunge, yet I can still get behind it and enjoy it from front to back. “Geminii” is certainly one of those releases. Alternative, stoner, math rock, noise rock. You name it. It’s all in there and in the end it’s more than the sum of its parts. It’s simply Geminii. Dario

Surprising once, surprising twice: Swedish shred master Johan Reinholdz (Andromeda, Dark Tranquility, Nonexist) returns with another unexpected solo album and, just like 2021s completely ambient “Solipsism”, “Weightless and Numb” startles everyone who was expecting some blistering prog and/or death metal wit – no not with soothing ambient sounds this time. At least the opening title track spreads the full dark gothic pop vibes over its eight and a half minutes playing time. What follows is an eclectic, yet always delicate affair with moments of sublime beauty co-existing with abstract, sometimes slightly disturbing sound collages. Shivers inducing otherworldliness. Dario