2020 COULD have been the title to a Sci-Fi book written, say, in 1968 the year that a certain English beat combo released Shades of Deep Purple, their first album. The plot revolved around a global pandemic virus caught from…
View More Deep Purple – Whoosh!
Utgard brings us to album #15 in Enslaved’s nearly 30 year career, a discography nearly unmatched in terms of consistency, both of purpose and execution. The duration of their career is an achievement unto itself, but the fact they’ve methodically…
View More Enslaved – Utgard
My mental image of The Progressive Aspect’s demographic dictates that I should warn you: What I am about to say must not put you off. Please read all of this review!!! Questions. I have loads of questions about Ulver. What…
View More Ulver – Flowers of Evil
The border between jazz and prog is a bit like the one separating Northern Ireland from the Republic. Some people act as if it doesn’t exist, others want it marked with barbed wire and patrolled by helicopter gunships. I’m of…
View More Rymden – Space Sailors
Wow! Talk about growth! I enjoyed Pencarrow’s debut four years ago, but I wouldn’t say I raved about it. It was a solid album, with a lot going for it, and I don’t think I ever read a negative review…
View More Pencarrow – Growth In The Absence Of Light
Formed in Madrid in 2007, Toundra’s latest, an alternative soundtrack to the legendary silent movie The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, is their sixth release and it came out in February this year, a 100 years after Robert Wiene’s seminal German…
View More Toundra – Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari
Paul Kossoff is mostly known for his guitar work with Free, but his solo output is often missed out, unfortunately cut short due to his untimely death. For me, his guitar work was most distinctive, he felt it was not…
View More Back Street Crawler – Atlantic Years 1975-1976
Con Calma, Mohammed Asraf’s second release of the year in his guise as Pie Are Squared, is well named. A calm sense of detachment and escapism pervades the serene and contemplative sounds of this album. It’s an album to lose…
View More Pie Are Squared – Con Calma
Finally, it’s been a long time coming: the new live Blu-Ray/DVD/double audio CD from Camel saw the light of day earlier this year. Being present on the night, I noticed the presence of an extensive crew of cameramen to record…
View More Camel – Live At The Royal Albert Hall
A squeak, a muffled belch, some scrapings and scrabblings on strings, more guttural grunts, and gradually, very slowly, we ease into something that sounds like ensemble coherence, a tune even! The instruments begin to play a wonky march, at first…
View More Stirrup+6 – The Avondale Addition