A year on from the enigmatic and sonically diverse tour de force that was Tales from the Silent Ocean, Steve Hughes’ debut solo release, the imaginative album Once We Were (Part One) has been released by the former drummer with…
View More Steve Hughes – Once We Were (Part One)Category: Album Reviews
Airbag – Disconnected
2016 has seen a veritable outpouring of releases which express and embody a seemingly deep-seated contemporary preoccupation with despair and despondency. Melancholic gloom is finding strong, heart-felt resonances in the work of many song writers, bands, musicians as well as…
View More Airbag – DisconnectedThe Mercury Tree – Permutations
If I told you Mercury Tree have been roped into that driest of sub-genres “math rock” in the past it may put you off reading further. However, this Tree do human things with the dusty academic description that make this…
View More The Mercury Tree – PermutationsSantana – IV
Santana is a name known globally; Carlos and his band were at Woodstock in 1969, that performance and the many decades of music since helping to cement his claim to being one of the world’s greatest guitarists. Selling more than…
View More Santana – IVMacroscream – Macroscream
Another new band to me, Macroscream, hailing from Rome, feature a core sextet who cover a lot of instrumental ground already, to which is added a cast of seemingly dozens contributing vocals, brass and woodwind, padding out the sound and…
View More Macroscream – MacroscreamDrifting Sun – Safe Asylum
2016 is becoming increasingly difficult, at year end my editor will say “what are your top ten for the year?” and I’m up to five already. No, make that six. I loved the last Drifting Sun album, Trip The Life…
View More Drifting Sun – Safe AsylumFrost* – Falling Satellites
Sound. Big, big sound. Glorious walls of sizzling, throbbing, energetic sound which sweep you along and enthusiastically caress you with a fizzing sense of vibrancy and effervescence. Eight years on from the highly regarded Experiments in Mass Appeal (mark that…
View More Frost* – Falling SatellitesCirca – Valley of the Windmill
Circa return after a five year hiatus with a new studio album, Valley of the Windmill. Since And So On (2011) the band has updated their sound and once again changed the line-up with the ever present Billy Sherwood (lead…
View More Circa – Valley of the WindmillEyes Of Blue – Crossroads of Time / In Fields of Ardath
Esoteric certainly know where to look when choosing content to reissue. These two releases from Welsh outfit Eyes of Blue come from 1969 – the dawn of the progressive era – and show the band pioneering the infantile genre. The…
View More Eyes Of Blue – Crossroads of Time / In Fields of ArdathThe Enid – Dust
Many bands claim to be Symphonic Rock, the blending of classical style with modern instruments to create an orchestral experience. Of all these, only The Enid create something that is unique and powerful, although that is not to deny the…
View More The Enid – Dust