In 2018 my good friend Olav furnished me with a copy of Doug Rausch’s second album which had recently been released. Some months later Doug tracked me down and we started having regular contact. During that p […]

Originally released in 2008, October last year saw Aural Music celebrating the 10thanniversary of the album by reissuing with new artwork by Umberto Stagni, new remastered tracks plus a second bonus CD […]

Spiral’ is the second album from this Norwegian quintet, following on from 2015’s ‘Sagittarius A’. Probably the most well-known member of the band is guitarist Mattis Sørum, previously in Pictorial Wand. Wi […]

It has been a while since I have reviewed a book and must confess that in more than 30 years of writing this is the first time I have ever been asked to review a comic book: but I am so glad this has been […]

Having enjoyed Marco’s 2018 album, ‘The Wandering Caravan’, I have now gone back to the previous release, 2016’s ‘Land of Blue Echoes’. He again provides multiple instruments himself, and has brought tog […]

I probably first came across Mick Magic some 25 years or so ago when he was not only running an underground cassette label Music & Elsewhere, which released nearly 600 albums between 1987 and 2003, but also […]

Apparently this metalcore quartet started off life as Coldsight in 2014, only changing the name when founding guitarist Florent Salfati switched to lead vocals. They self-released their debut, ‘Hollow’, in […]

Three years on from the debut, and Luxembourg-based Light Damage are back with an album that builds on the first album and expands on that platform. Another change of drummer with Christophe Szczryk now on […]

This 2015 album was the debut release from Luxembourg-based neo progressive band Light Damage. That isn’t a country I have ever thought of as a hotbed of the scene, but these guys all know what they are d […]

No. 1
Yagull – Yuna
Self-released
December 2, 2018

No. 2
Galahad – Seas of Change
Self-released
January 22, 2018

No. 3
Michael – Alan Taylor Avalonia (The Sonnets of Guinevere)
Melodic Revolution Reco […]

Here I am writing about a compilation album which you cannot buy, but is easy to obtain. Perhaps I had better let Nick Katona explain: “Each Year we host a holiday release to showcase many bands and artists t […]

It is hard to imagine in this world of 24/7 connectivity, but there was once a time where there was no such thing as the internet. Consequently, the only way to discover information was by buying b […]

When I started writing some thirty years ago, one of the reasons for doing so was that I was aware of some wonderful music which the mainstream press ignored. Being able to sing and/or play instruments no […]

I first really started paying attention to Atreyu with the release of 2004’s ‘The Curse’, but although I grabbed all their albums up to 2009’s ‘Congregation of the Damned’ I hadn’t realized they had got back […]

This is the debut album from Dutch neo-prog band The Dame, which as the name might suggest is built heavily around the female lead singer, Marian van Charante. They have been gaining a lot of attention for […]

Tom’s last releases was as part of Murder and Parliament and their rather superb instrumental album. Here we find him back to his more usual state of affairs, blackmailing Gareth Cole (electric guitars) and J […]

Is it really five years since Simon Godfrey (Tinyfish, Valdez) presented us with the debut Shineback album? Unlike the debut this isn’t a concept, but is very much a progression in terms of ideas and a […]

Formed in 1991, many progheads became fully aware of Ten Jinn with their second album, 1999’s ‘On A Darkling Plain’. Lead singer/keyboard player John Strauss moved to Sweden in 2001, and although Ten Jinn […]

I only recently discovered Fruits de Mer Records, but they are rapidly becoming one of my very favorite records labels as they seem incapable of putting out a bad release. This triple vinyl album came out in […]

Pre-orders for the next four FRUITS DE MER singles take place as of 19th November, and lovers of late-Sixties style music need to get in there asap so as not to miss out! The Chemistry Set are celebrating […]