MARA – Sword of Vengeance

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://lnk.to/swordofvengeance The Swedish horde known as Mara impressed this scribe greatly with their Loka Mær offering from 2022 (also released by the ever-reliable Immortal Frost Productions), and Sword of Vengeance, which is their fifth full-length assault overall, sounds like the natural successor to what came before, which is a good thing as you…

ALICE COOPER – The Revenge of Alice Cooper

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://alicecooper.lnk.to/RevengePR The phrase “highly anticipated” does not quite do this one justice in that we are talking about a marvelous new opus by the original Alice Cooper group – the first one in fifty years no less. Excited? You should be as this one is a real belter in more ways than…

WHISPERS OF GRANITE – Liquid Stone

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://whispersofgranite.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-stone What a marvelous musical treat Liquid Stone is. Whispers of Granite consists of two immensely skilled individuals, namely Norwegian vocalist and vocal composer Trude Eidtang and German keyboardist and composer Andreas Hack, and this debut offering of theirs is a superb example of how to weave art rock, prog, brooding folk…

ALL MEN UNTO ME – Requiem

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/allmenuntome Once in a while one encounters and experiences an album that transcends genres and conventions while also being transcendental. All Men Unto Me, which is a swirling mass of pitch-black musical brilliance spawned by the man known as Rylan Gleave, is unarguably one of the most unique and moving outputs we…

TARJA – Circus Life

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://tarjaturunen.com/circus-life/ The talented Tarja Turunen recently released this 18-track live offering via earMUSIC titled Circus Life in the shape of a great-looking 2CD/Blu Ray set, and this is a rather interesting symphonic metal release for a number of different reasons. Recorded in Bucharest just a couple of months shy of the Covid-19…

LORENTZEN – Leave Nobody Behind

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://apollonrecords.no/products/lorentzen-leave-nobody-behind-cd Apollon Records were kind enough to hand me a copy of Leave Nobody Behind, which was composed and crafted by the talented Eivind Lorentzen (ex-Gentle Knife, Oldenborre, and Synsbedragerne), and the idea behind the album and lyrics seemed a rather interesting and intriguing one on paper. Floating somewhere between atmospheric prog,…

Expressionist Sonic Images by Sagntid

Up from the ashes comes a most unwelcome specter of the past, namely a 10-track compilation containing re-mixed and re-mastered songs dating from 2008-2010 by the now-defunct ambient/post-rock entity known as Sagntid, which was released on June 26. Consisting of the entire debut album titled The Slipstream World of Sagntid and three additional compositions lifted from…

FRANCIS ROSSI – The Way We Were Vol. 1

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.francisrossi.com/ Francis Rossi of Status Quo fame recently released this seventeen-track compilation of various demo versions and alternate takes – many of which relate to his work with and songwriting contribution to the aforementioned Quo – and it is a rather intriguing album in many respects. Some of the ideas presented on…

HELHEIM – HrabnaR / Ad vesa

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://helheim.bandcamp.com/album/hrabnar-ad-vesa It is a thrillingly peculiar thing when one receives a promotional disc for a new album by Viking metal legends Helheim in the sense that you never quite know to expect from them except for all-out quality, which is a great thing, because these veterans never fail to amaze this scribe…

JON ANDERSON AND THE BAND GEEKS – Live – Perpetual Change

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.jonanderson.com/ None other than the legendary and inimitable Jon Anderson assembled a group a few years ago endearingly named the Band Geeks and recorded something akin to a Yes fan’s wet dream in the shape of this superb-sounding live album. A collection of epics and classics by Yes sure sounds good, does…

CHRIS ERICHSEN – Kjærtegn og Manifester

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://chriserichsen.bandcamp.com/album/kj-rtegn-manifester I had no idea what to expect from this curiously titled opus by Chris Erichsen of Det Aller Værste! fame, and although Erichsen’s solo output does bear more than a subtle resemblance to the aforementioned band and its take on New Wave and (post) punk, Kjærtegn and Manifester is something else…

PICTURE ANN RELEASES THE “FROM THE WINDSWEPT SHORE OF TYNEMOUTH” EP

Inspired by a handful of trips to Newcastle upon Tyne and Tynemouth these past few years and more specifically the rich history surrounding those parts of England and the whole cultural landscape in the Northeast, a morose and reverb-drenched collection of tunes collectively known as From the Windswept Shore of Tynemouth has presented itself. In…

AFARGANG – Andvake

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://afargang.bandcamp.com/album/andvake Afargang, which is a relatively new and exciting addition to the Norwegian progressive scene, offers plenty of atmosphere and evocative qualities on this unique-sounding debut album of theirs. Spearheaded and masterminded by fiddle player and harpist Olav L. Mjelva, this talented ensemble merges folk music, forward-thinking black metal, and prog metal…

VARIETY JONES – Shell Shocked

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://variety-jones.bandcamp.com/album/shell-shocked What a lovely, rabble-rousing debut offering this is! Variety Jones hail from Bergen but sound like they crawled out of the gutter in Los Angeles roughly thirty-eight years ago, which is obviously meant as a compliment. With an emphasis on raw and concise riffs that will make you raise your fist,…

ANDERS BUAAS – Trollringen

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://andersbuaas.bandcamp.com/album/trollringen The epic and ambitious trilogy titled The Witches of Finnmark (2017-2019) by the immensely talented Anders Buaas was a captivating musical saga, and I was therefore rather curious as to whether something sporting the intriguing title Trollringen would somehow follow in that same vein or perhaps be more akin to the…

BRAKE LOOSE – Frenetic

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.brakeloose.com/ What a fabulous outfit this is! Irish/Venezuelan rockers Brake Loose have made quite a name for themselves this past year or so thanks to some stellar live performances, and there is something quite refreshing and invigorating about this inspired five-track EP of theirs appropriately titled Frenetic. Taking their cues from 80s…

VADER – Humanihility

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.instagram.com/vader_band_official/ Polish death metal legends Vader are not merely one of the foremost purveyors of insanely catchy and pummeling tunes of darkness but also exceptionally consistent with respect to delivering outputs that ooze quality and great songwriting chops. They have been around for what seems like forever, yet they have lost none…

DAVID LEAF – SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/smile-the-rise-fall-and-resurrection-of-brian-wilson-published-10th-october-2024 Noted author and filmmaker David Leaf not only wrote the magnificent God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & the California Myth, which remains one of the best books on the subject ever conceived, but he also directed the moving and heartfelt documentary titled Beautiful Dreamer: Brian…

GARY MOORE – Gary Moore Live – From Baloise Session

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/collections/gary-moore Often imitated but never surpassed, the sadly missed Gary Moore was one of a kind and his music will continue to inspire and thrill us for many decades to come. Recorded towards the end of 2008 a mere three years before his untimely death at the age of 58, this beautiful…

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