RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://the–verge.bandcamp.com/album/the-verge The latest release on the lovable Is It Jazz? Records is a proper tour de force in every conceivable way and a dizzying yet incredibly cohesive output that harbors a raw, authentic power unlike anything else that I have come across. This musically tasty and elegant yet highly explosive…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://whitewillow.bandcamp.com/album/sacrament-remaster The third album by renowned prog rockers White willow, namely the one entitled Sacrament, was recently given an all-analogue boost and remastered by main-man (and musical mastermind) Jacob Holm Lupo, and new life has definitely been breathed into this already evocative creation. Originally released back in 2000 to great acclaim…
VENUE: Forum SceneDATE: 17.10.2024 ORGANIZER: Bergen Live PHOTOGRAPHER: J. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context. It had been five years since I had the great pleasure of witnessing the inimitable Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in a live setting,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://theflyingnorsemen.bandcamp.com/album/the-flying-norsemen With a few original members of renowned prog rockers Arabs in Aspic in tow and a brilliantly designed album artwork, this is exactly the kind of thing that immediately caught my attention and let me tell you straight off the bat that I was not disappointed in the slightest by…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://trojkabergen.bandcamp.com/album/strobem-rke Norwegian prog-pop rockers Trojka is a rather engaging and entertaining musical experience and an entity that brings a certain warmth and humor to its eclectic brand of music. Quirky is certainly one word that comes into play here, and the great thing about this Bergen-based outfit is that these chaps…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ritual.se/ Swedish prog rockers Ritual are back on the musical radar following a painfully long hiatus, but judging by the quality of the sprawling epics that constitute this grand-sounding opus of theirs, they have spent their time between albums wisely as The Story of Mr. Bogd – Part 1 displays great…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.apollonrecords.no/product-page/arild-br%C3%B8ter-a-spectre-of-sounds-james-bond-music-reimagined This staggeringly creative and hugely enjoyable album by Arild Brøter (who is primarily known for his work with Norwegian prog rockers Pymlico) totally swept me off my feet and instantly made me pay close attention. Arild is apparently a humongous James Bond fan, and rightly so, if you ask me.…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com/album/dawn-of-oberon With Norwegian prog rockers Tusmørke you never quite know what you are going to get, but one thing that you can count on is that they are going to fry your brain and offer something that is musically eclectic, unique sounding, perfectly charming, and outright quirky. Such is the case…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://laughingstock1.bandcamp.com/album/shelter Norwegian prog rockers Laughing Stock have never been anything but adventurous and many of their outputs possess a creative wanderlust that sees them covering quite a bit of musical ground while showcasing an impressive ability to balance what can only be termed intimately introspective with themes that are larger in…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://larsfredrikfroislie.bandcamp.com/album/un-posto-sotto-il-cielo Singles are usually not something that this scribe covers in these online pages, but occasionally one has to make an exception, and this beautiful 2-song release by Wobbler’s immensely talented Lars Fredrik Frøislie, which will be released on 10-inch vinyl by Karisma Records, is one such exception. This one is…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.apollonrecords.no/ Norwegian art rockers Yobrepus have a knack for crafting richly nuanced songs and albums that are both musically and lyrically absorbing, a prime example being their latest LP entitled A Rhizome Revolution Part 1. Weaving traces and elements of prog, alt. rock, psychedelic folk, and brooding electronica together to stunning…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/nealmorse/ Neal Morse hardly needs any introduction to the prog rock aficionados out there, and his impressive back catalog speaks for itself. Personally, I favor his work with the amazing Flying Colors but that is a story for another day. The Nashville-based musician and songwriter is undoubtedly a virtuoso and his…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://whitewillow.bandcamp.com/album/ex-tenebris-remaster Recently remastered by White Willow’s very own Jacob Holm-Lupo and sporting the original cover artwork, this 2024 version of the band’s sophomore album Ex Tenebris (1997) is a most welcome addition to the prog music library. Venturing into darker and more world-weary territory than its predecessor did, the LP feels…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/uncannysounds/ This is my first encounter with the charming and delightfully wonky progressive metal band from Norway known as Uncanny, and I must say that I find this eclectic and perfectly unpredictable eight-track offering of theirs, which will be out in April, quite beguiling and seductive. While their soundscapes undoubtedly are…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://fatherrobin.bandcamp.com/album/the-songs-tales-of-airoea-book-ii The first installment of the trilogy by the splendid Norwegian prog rock ensemble known as Chronicles of Father Robin was a mind-blowing musical experience in that it captured a richly layered atmosphere with an earthy and folk-ish feel to it that was unlike anything that I had come across before.…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://arabs.bandcamp.com/album/the-magic-of-sin The sixth LP by the magnificent and eclectic prog rockers Arabs in Aspic originally came out in 2017 and contained lyrics and song titles in Norwegian, but this reworked, remixed, and remastered version of Syndenes Magi has undergone quite the change and now features words in English, hence the title…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://arabs.bandcamp.com/album/victim-of-your-father-s-agony The fifth record by the magnificent Norwegian ensemble known as Arabs in Aspic, which originally came out in 2015, is an evocative journey through glorious psychedelic landscapes shaped by hazy atmospheres, doom-laden riffs, and epic vocals that never fail to impress me. Impressive actually would have been a rather apt…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://arabs.bandcamp.com/album/pictures-in-a-dream This remixed, re-edited, and remastered 2023 edition of the otherworldly and all-enveloping Pictures in a Dream by the Trondheim-based prog rockers Arabs in Aspic is a proper musical treat and treasure trove. If you want warm and fuzzy guitars, 70s-flavored riffs worth dying for, and vocals that speak to the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://mesaverde.bandcamp.com/album/all-is-well I thoroughly enjoyed the debut offering by the eclectic Oslo-based ensemble known as MesaVerde, namely the engrossing KY album that came out in October 2022, and I was very much looking forward to this sophomore effort of theirs. In simple terms, All is Well surpasses its predecessor in every conceivable…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/dgmprog DGM hails from Italy and is one of the coolest and most inspiring progressive metal acts out there in the humble opinion of this scribe, and Life once again sees them firing on all cylinders from beginning to end and delivering ten enticing and elegantly composed songs that are positively…
