The Fleece, Bristol Thursday, 15th June 2023 Live music is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest experiences a human can have. Where else can you switch off the rest of the world and take yourself to somewhere truly…
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Author: Pete Rogers
The Fierce And The Dead – News From The Invisible World
‘Metathesiophobia’ is the persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of change. It’s a common syndrome in music fandom, with a higher than usual propensity in the prog community. Is that down to purism? The age of the average listener? In many…
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AVKRVST – The Approbation
“At the young age of 7 years old, Martin Utby and Simon Bergseth made a pact that they would form a band when they got older. Now, 22 years later they’ve done just that. An album is ready – 55 minutes of music inspired by everything they grew up listening to – everything from Mew, Anekdoten and…
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Empyre – Relentless
In this streaming self-promotional world, many doubt the role of record labels in the modern music industry, but when it comes to curation and band selection they do still play a part especially the smaller niche labels. Like InsideOut or…
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Focus
The Earl Haig Club, Cardiff Wednesday, 19th April 2023 This is the fourth time I’ve seen Focus play live, and each time it has been at the same venue. The fact that the Earl Haig is within walking distance of…
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Haken – Fauna
Since Haken’s last album, 2020’s Virus, the band have parted company with long-standing keyboardist Diego Tejeida. The reason given was the standard ‘musical differences’ cliché, albeit worded as “very different musical visions”. As a result, Fauna, Haken’s seventh album, is…
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Transatlantic – The Final Flight: Live at L’Olympia
Based on the members of this supergroup, I should be a big fan of Transatlantic. Two of the best gigs I’ve ever been to were Flying Colors at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, which was immortalised on record as Third Stage: Live…
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The Abbey – Word of Sin
The Abbey is a Finnish band assembled by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jesse Heikkinen. Heikkinen has been in multiple bands previously, as well as recording solo material under the name Iterum Nata. He was inspired to create The Abbey after being…
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behind closed doors – caged in helices
“behind closed doors is an instrumental trio from the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. Their amalgam of guitars, bass and drums, at times enriched with synths and a classical string quartet, creates a unique sonic image that embraces ferocious heaviness as…
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O.R.k. – Screamnasium
O.R.k.’s last album, Ramagehead, was one of my favourite records of 2019, so I have been eagerly awaiting their latest offering since it was first announced. Their previous effort included a track with guest vocals from System Of A Down’s…
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