DEAFENING OPERA – LET SILENCE FALL – INDEPENDENT
It is some five years since Deafening Opera released their second album, but finally, they are back with their third. Even before putting it in the player I was impressed with the effort that had been put into the presentation, with all lyrics contained in the...
GODSTICKS – FACED WITH RAGE – KSCOPE
The latest album from Welsh proggers Godsticks showed some changes in the band, as for the first time it sees them as a four-piece with drummer Tom Price, who replaces Steve Roberts (who had been in the band since 2010) and additional guitarist Gavin Bushell, which...
THE GARDENING CLUB – THE RIDDLE – INDEPENDENT
One of the highlight reissues for me last year was ‘The Gardening Club’ by Martin Springett. It had been released in 1983, but last year was picked up and reissued by Gonzo Media, and I was fortunate enough to get a copy. I reviewed it at the beginning of 2018 and...
AURI – AURI – NUCLEAR BLAST
As I started listening to this album I was instantly reminded of Iona, and their classic Celtic stylings, but for some reason, I also kept thinking of elements of Nightwish, which didn’t make any sense to me at all. It was only when I finally read the press release...
AXEL RUDI PELL – KNIGHT’S CALL – STEAMHAMMER/SPV
Pell released his first album back in 1989, and here he is back with his seventeenth studio album, showing no sign at all of slowing down yet. Centre stage is Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Crush 40), as he has been for the last twenty years, while at the back is Bobby...
ARENA – DOUBLE VISION – VERGLAS
Arena, a band that in many ways was brought together by a running joke in an underground fanzine, which led directly to Mick Pointer realizing that there was quite a vibrant prog scene. In turn, he was introduced to Clive Nolan, and the rest, as they say, is history....
BLACK FOXXES – REIÐI – SPINEFARM
After touring to support their debut album ‘I’m Not Well’, frontman Mark Holley didn’t really want to settle down at home in Exeter, so instead set off for Iceland, where he would go on to write the foundations of 'Reiði' (which apparently is the Icelandic word for...
BOB ARTHURS & STEVE LAMATTINA – JAZZ IT UP – BLUE GRIFFIN RECORDING
Bob Arthurs is a jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and recording artist who has been appearing in clubs and at festivals in the New York area and abroad for almost five decades. In 2013 he released ‘Jazz For Svetlana’ with guitarist Steve Lammattina, following it up in...
ROBERT REED, TOM NEWMAN, LES PENNING – THEME FROM DOCTOR WHO – INDIE
What we have here is an EP featuring two different mixes of a very interesting take on the famous Doctor Who theme, which is both instantly recognisable but also very different indeed. My normal rule of thumb on cover versions is that musically they should stay true...
THE ARTWORK PROJECT – STAY – INDEPENDENT
A while ago Marek Arnold was approached by the organizer of the Artrock Festival, Uwe Treitinger, asking if he could provide a song to promote the festival. Marek had performed there last year with Seven Steps To The Green Door and was there again this year with Toxic...
