Orion is the first album by the Swedish duo Ursus X, comprising Bjorn Johansson and Staffan Luckander, and takes us into a rather beguiling instrumental journey with two ‘side long’ slabs of music, full of intricate musicianship and melody. The…
View More Ursus X – Orion
What initially attracted me to this CD was the fabulously evocative sleeve. It caught my attention and intrigued me enough to investigate it further. Nine Skies are a French Progressive Rock band from the Southern city of Nice comprising two…
View More Nine Skies – Return Home
What more can one say about Colosseum? Their place in the history of jazz rock fusion is well known and deserved. Esoteric Recordings continue their re-releases of classic albums with Colosseum’s highly praised second album, Valentine Suite; re-mastering the main…
View More Colosseum – Valentyne Suite
In the hustle and bustle of daily life it is all too easy to become distracted, overwhelmed and in the ceaseless noise which perpetually surrounds us, to lose our way. The continual clamour of social media, the relentless bewitchment of…
View More Victim of Illusion – Invisible Light
I have been a fan of the voice and music of Hamburg’s Miriam “Mimi” Schell since first hearing her on the 2001 Force of Gravity album from German band Sylvan where she sang Midnight Sun an absolutely spectacular duet with…
View More Mimi Schell – Heliodor
Strange as it may seem memories are not permanent and immutable. We define ourselves by memories, which can be triggered by the seemingly most trivial or incidental of thoughts, such as smells or sounds, and yet the mundane can carry…
View More Cosmograf – When Age Has Done Its Duty (2018 Remix)
They live! They live! Goblin are reborn – hence the name – with the original rhythm section on a fabulous live album that pumps 2,000 volts into the band’s classic instrumentals. Recorded live in Rome in 2010, Alive can be…
View More Goblin Rebirth – Alive
Now eleven albums into their genre defying 20 year career, Umphrey’s Mcgee are a difficult band to pin down. Their live shows have always been the focal point, and with well over 2,000 performed to date, they know what their…
View More Umphrey’s McGee – It’s not us
The fourth album from Norwegian sonic explorers Major Parkinson arrived in November last year on Degaton Records, who seem to have connections with the always interesting Karisma Records label, and that is what attracted me to this in the first…
View More Major Parkinson – Blackbox
You have to be brave and somewhat foolhardy as a band to try and penetrate the world of prog-metal, a genre that is oversaturated with Dream Theater soundalikes and where musical skill, above all else, is valued. It doesn’t pay…
View More Noēsis – The Current