Category: Progressive rock

Review: Mosh – Unbreakable Wall

On By NickIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

MOSH_AlbumArt_Square

“Unbreakable Wall” is a debut release from Mosh, an Israeli musician who “pours the human experience in all it’s rage, sadness, and happiness into his music as he explores universal themes of inner conflict, relationships with others and relationships with government.”

Speaking of the sound of “Unbreakable Wall,” it has a very solemn, jazzy feel that is brought some brightness in the form of Mosh’s vocal melodies. Due to amount of range Mosh possesses he is able to single handedly change the mood, or evoke some otherwise unseen emotion, in the various points of his songs. The effect of this is seen excellently on the track opening song “Keep on Moving,” where he begins the song with some low-register singing and then during the chorus he extends himself into a melody that would trip most vocal chords of the average rock singer. Throughout the song his constant change of singing, to all out bawling, to quiet talking makes the mood of the listener swing with the hymns. The instrumentation on the track and throughout the song is also superb and helps create the perfect backdrop for Mosh’s vocal expertise. Of special effect to this is the harmonica solo, courtesy of Roy Rieck.

Passionate performance on the lead single “Fish Us” sets the tone for the more mellow and emotional delivery both vocally and instrumentally, what tells about how far “Unbreakable Wall” goes when it comes to diversity. The mood of “All I’ve Got” is a fair bit optimistic than the previous song. The song has an acoustic guitar in it, and some other instruments. Mosh’s awesome voice shows in this song and his guitar abilites do as well. “One Way Out” is a mood-changer; stylistically it almost borders with the 1970s funk music; it comes with a catchy groove that makes it one of the highlights of the record. Warm vintage sound of electric piano in “You’ve Reached My Arms” and psychedelic vibe evolving around Mosh’s and Zoe Polanski’s vocals bring “Unbreakable Wall” to new heights. The instrumental work in “Save Me” serves as such a beautiful background for Mosh’s vocals, leading to some of his best performances on the album.

Overall, “Unbreakable Wall” is a pleasant listen, and perfect alternative rock offering from a musician that clearly knows what he wants to achieve.

soundstreamsunday #88: “Oh wie nah ist der Weg hinab” by Popol Vuh

On By Craig BreadenIn krautrock, Progressive rock, psychedelic rockLeave a comment

pv_letztetage.jpgIn the last few years, David Eugene Edwards has taken Wovenhand — soundstreamsunday #85 — in an increasingly heavy direction, towards drone metal underpinning an utterly unique and dead serious frontier circuit preacher mysticism.  The drone as tribal, the ancient tool of ascension to the Common One, and so Wovenhand’s thunderous droning riffs on 2012’s Laughing Stalk and 2014’s Refractory Obdurate relate to themes steeped in Native American and old time music, eastern desert whirlwinds and western desert stoner rock.  It is a vast music carrying a mad sensibility:

In its gothic-ness and existential riddles the music of Wovenhand is tied to bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, early Cult and, going further back, Popol Vuh.  The masters of acoustic and electrified devotional drone and chant music, Florian Fricke’s Popol Vuh were for decades known mostly for their Werner Herzog film soundtracks and often, mistakenly I think, identified as New Age.  The krautrock revival of the 1990s put them on a proper map and made their records — ranging from drifting synth meditations to acoustic chants — widely available, while their celebration by bands like Opeth (who often play Popol Vuh prior to coming on stage) have given them a certain hip cred.

By the mid-1970s Popol Vuh’s association with fellow Munich-based rock band Amon Duul II opened their music to harder electric exploration, and when drummer/guitarist Danny Fichelscher left ADII to join Popol Vuh following Connie Veit’s departure (Veit played on Popol Vuh’s stunning classic, 1972’s Hosianna Mantra), he brought with him the Teutonic heaviness that was ADII’s stock-in-trade.  What followed was a string of records where Fichelscher gave form, importantly, to Fricke’s east-meets-west devotional exercises.  Among these albums was 1976’s Letzte Tage Letzte Nachte, an electric monument joining dark guitar figures with Popol Vuh’s trademark mantras.  Renate Knaup, also from ADII, contributes vocals along with Dyong Yun, the band’s primary singer.  “Oh wie nah ist der Weg hinab,” though, is an instrumental, and is representative of the shadows and light found in the set.  Darkness builds and thunder cracks, and then the storm breaks, the world made new.  There is an intended spiritual drama unfolding here, as it does in Wovenhand’s music, and, wordless as it is, the message is clear.

soundstreamsunday presents one song or live set by an artist each week, and in theory wants to be an infinite linear mix tape where the songs relate and progress as a whole. For the complete playlist, go here: soundstreamsunday archive and playlist, or check related articles by clicking on”soundstreamsunday” in the tags section.

Rick’s Quick Takes: All Is As All Should Be by The Dear Hunter

On By kruekuttIn Progressive rock2 Comments

by Rick Krueger

The Dear Hunter first caught my attention when I saw them open for Coheed & Cambria and Porcupine Tree in 2009.  Imagine a group of hardcore punk rockers who’ve raided their parents’ record collections, only to be captivated by the Beach Boys and Queen records they’ve found.  It was hard-driving, deeply melodic, richly textured, over-the-top melodramatic, way impressive stuff.

Since then, I’ve happily followed TDH’s career, enjoying their Acts I-V concept albums, but more drawn to unrelated projects like their Color Spectrum EP set.  This new EP, their first self-released project, distills what makes Casey Crescenzo and company’s music special into just 25 minutes and 6 “all killer no filler” tracks.

As always with these guys, if your attention drifts, you might think you’ve accidentally stumbled into a completely different song.  For example, the agile Latin groove and warm, open-hearted verses of opener “The Right Wrong” slam directly into a stratospheric chorus of shreddy vocals, simultaneously putting the hardcore hammer down, then morphing into and out of a giddily rocking bridge in a flash.  “Blame Paradise” encompasses a seriously badass beat, a off-kilter opening riff, call and answer vocal patter over surf-music guitar, an unstoppable harmony chorus, a spooky instrumental bridge, an ominous vocal/synth duet, and an atonal dead-stop finale.  Whew!

“Beyond the Pale” slows things down in a riveting ballad that piles on the rich vocal harmonies, unexpected harmonic shifts, and synthesized strings and percussion.  When it can’t do anything else, it collapses into stasis, then seques into “Shake Me (Awake),” an utterly glorious Brian Wilson pastiche for the emo generation (with Freddie Mercury-like rhymes and a vaudevillian softshoe bridge to boot).

“Witness Me” aims true at mid-tempo existential yearning, telling its tale through multiple vocal characters, the verses downshifting into a gorgeous synth turnaround before the theatrical chorus, the hardcore holler of the bridge, and the “keep dreaming” electronica-laced fade-out.  The closing title track starts softly, climbing through muted verses to a floating chorus as a gently funky beat gains strength.  Edgy, ascending guitars build to a big choral climax  — only to wrap around to the song’s muted beginning, with a final half-verse just hanging there, suspended in mid-air.

And here’s the thing about The Dear Hunter’s music: as wildly disjunctive as all this sounds, the whole EP flows brilliantly from start to finish.  Every new element is a surprise, even a shock, as it kicks in — but almost immediately it feels inevitable and right.  This is great progressive punk-pop, made with open-hearted emotion, craft and commitment.  When Crescenzo sings and TDH locks in around him, they’ll sweep you along with them, no matter how bumpy the ride gets.

All Is As All Should Be is available for download now on ITunes and Bandcamp.   I completely missed the pre-order for physical formats (vinyl and CD), which are already sold out; here’s hoping a second pressing follows soon!  The EP is released to streaming services on December 8.

Rounding Up Some Live Ones

On By Thaddeus WertIn Progressive rock5 Comments

Several bands have recently released some nice live albums. In no particular order, here are a few of the most notable:

Pineapple Thief: Where We Stood

 

Wow, when I first heard this, I wondered who or what lit a fire under this group’s collective backside. After watching the excellent film that accompanies this recording, I have to say it’s having Gavin Harrison behind the drum kit. As good as Pineapple Thief’s 2016 album Your Wilderness is, I think the versions from this show are better: tight, energetic, and riskier. And if you ever wondered where Bruce Soord came up with the band’s name, now you can find out. By the way, every song from Your Wilderness is performed here, except for “Where We Stood”. Go figure.

Spock’s Beard: Snow Live

A lot of us fans of the classic Spock’s Beard lineup never thought we would see them reunite, let alone perform the double-album masterpiece, Snow. Well, Neal Morse managed to get all the Beardsters – past and current – together at his 2016 MorseFest, and they delivered a tremendous performance of Snow in its entirety. I’m probably biased (because I was there), but it is quite an emotional experience.

Yes: Topographic Drama Live Across America

I approached this set with trepidation – it is the first recordings of Yes without the late Chris Squire participating. However, as I got into the music, I was very pleasantly surprised. Jon Davison does an excellent job on vocals and acoustic guitar, while Billy Sherwood fills Squire’s huge shoes. Steve Howe is still full of fire, and Geoff Downes is uniformly excellent on keyboards. They perform all of Drama (one of my favorite Yes albums), as well as “The Revealing Science of God” and “Ritual” from Topographic Oceans. Add in “And You and I”, “Heart of the Sunrise”, “Leaves of Green”, “Roundabout”, and “Starship Trooper”, and you have a set to satisfy any Yes lover. It definitely helps that Jay Schellen was able to play drums and assist Alan White. God bless him, but Alan’s timekeeping has gotten a little shaky over past few years. That said, this is a surprisingly strong set of performances from Yes.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO: Wembley or Bust

Holy cow, this is a fun concert to watch! I wish I’d been there in June of this year when Jeff Lynne, supported by a crack band, played songs from every phase of his career, including The Traveling Wilburys. The love for Jeff from the huge crowd is evident, and he delivers an outstanding performance. I had forgotten just how many popular (and beautiful) songs he’s written. Takes me back to my high school days when ELO’s music was inescapable on the radio. How far we have fallen…. Anyway, this show had me grinning from ear to ear from start to finish.

 

Merry Christmas from Big Big Train

On By Thaddeus WertIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

If this doesn’t get you in the spirit, then nothing will:

Fractal Mirror #4

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rock1 Comment

I’m thrilled by this news.  The first three albums were extraordinary, and I’m sure #4 will live up to expectations.  And, to make it all even better, FRACTAL MIRROR is now a part of the Bad Elephant Music family.  In addition to Kscope and Karisma, who doesn’t love Bad Elephant!!!

No. 4

Bad Elephant Music is delighted to announce that internationally renowned progressive rock band Fractal Mirror is joining the family for the release of its new album, Close To Vapour, in early 2018.

For this, their fourth album, core members Leo Koperdraat and Frank L Urbaniak are joined once again by Brett Kull (of Echolyn, and producer for label-mates Valdez) and founder member Ed van Haagen guesting.

“We’re extremely pleased to join the diverse Bad Elephant Music family”, said Frank. “We are confident that together we’ll be reach a wider audience with Close to Vapour. For us this reflects a dramatic step forward in both composition and production, and we’re grateful for BEM giving us this opportunity, and for the confidence they’ve shown in us”.

David Elliott from Bad Elephant had this to say: “I’ve been a keen follower of Fractal Mirror’s music since Strange Attractors, their first album, and we’ve been talking over the last couple of years about working together. The stars finally aligned after I met Frank at RoSFest this year, and with Close To Vapourthey’ve produced their finest work yet. We’re proud to be associated with the guys, and delighted to be once again working with Brett!”

Close To Vapour will be released on CD and high quality digital download in the first quarter of 2018.

Fractal Mirror are:
Leo Koperdraat: voice, Mellotron, guitars, keyboards, recorder and programming
Frank L. Urbaniak: drums & percussion

with:
Brett Kull: guitars, bass, keyboards, backing vocals
Ed van Haagen: occasional keyboards

Leo and Frank formed the band in 2013 (with Ed van Haagen, pictured above), after discovering each other’s demos posted on online music forums. Both have long been involved in the progressive music scenes in their relevant home countries, The Netherlands and the United States. Frank was involved in the progressive scene during his college years in Essence, with Larry Fast, which led to Synergy and Larry’s involvement with Peter Gabriel and others.

Fractal Mirror’s music represents a multitude of progressive, pop, rock and indie influences, having drawn comparisons to David Bowie, Tears for Fears, R.E.M. Psychedelic Furs, Blackfield and No-Man. Their debut album, Strange Attractors, gained positive reviews, with follow up Garden of Ghosts, making the shortlist for a Grammy award nomination. By third album Slow Burn 1 the band had secured the talents of Brett Kull (Echolyn) as producer, and to add additional musical embellishments.

Their new album, Close to Vapour, introduces further influences from the likes of The Grays, Jellyfish, Pugwash and Beck. Lush vocal harmonies abound, with perhaps a rougher musical edge being introduced, all without losing the characteristic Fractal Mirror sound. Close To Vapour will be released by Bad Elephant Music in the first quarter of 2018.

Fractal Mirror website

Matt Stevens News

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rockLeave a comment
Matt Stevens
Hi!
Thank you to everyone who booked tickets for the Fierce And The Dead album launch show next May, only 18 tickets left then we have our first London headlining show sold out! Incredible! If you want one of the last ones it’s:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/423353

Album pre-order info soon.

If anyone wants a weird guitar album for Christmas you can get my Lucid album for £4.99 on CD from:
Forthcoming Fierce And The Dead shows:
Thursday 15 March 2018 w/Stick Men Robin 2
Saturday 16 June 2018 Sonic Rock Solstice Festival Senser, Evil Blizzard, Astralasia,
Cheers for your support
Thanks
Matt Stevens

My Best of 2017???

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rock2 Comments

Let me just state from the outset that I love that Chris had the gumption to post his favorites albums of the year already.  We’re not even in December, Chris!  Love it.

So, just as an experiment, I checked my player’s settings and calculated the albums I listened to the most.  While I can’t claim this to be a fair statement of what I think the best of the year was–after all, some albums, such as Glass Hammer’s UNTOLD TALES.  It’s only had a month to compete against some albums that have had 11 months.  Still, it’s a marker.

Additionally, because my player calculates the number of plays for the year total, it registers all albums in my collections, not just those that came out in 2017.  So, by the number, folks, by the numbers—the ten most played albums in the Birzer house for the last 11 months.

No. 10 most played of 2017:

Glass Hammer Untold

 

Continue reading “My Best of 2017???” →

Review: Painted Black – Raging Light

On By NickIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

PB_Promo2017_3

Lisbon based progressive metal visionaries PAINTED BLACK released their second full length album, and follow up to their 2014 EP Quarto Vazio back in October via Wormhole Death. Titled Raging Light, you may need to ensure your seatbelts are fully adjusted as you are in for one hell of a journey.

Raging Light constantly keeps you guessing as it meanders through a varied assortment of quirky time signatures, hitting you at every turn with ruthless blastbeats and piercing vocals as the quintet encapsulate you in a maze of riffs. In particular, the combination of “The Raging Light” and “Dead Time” are both packed to the brim with beautifully crafted insanity and just as you feel your head is about to spin off “The Living Deceiver” is a welcome change of pace inundated with hypnotic riffs.

PB_RagingLight_Cover

Considering the progressive metal scene’s tendency to lean towards more extensive compositions for the most part PAINTED BLACK have devised very digestable tracks which keep the listener enticed and engaged. They combine the harmonious subtleties of OPETH, the atmospheric pace of KATATONIA and the bludgeoning force of DARK TRANQUILLITY to devastating effect but where they particularly shine is on the album closer “Almagest,” a 17-minute prog epic. Ironically when they begin to dial down the vicious assault they are at their most captivating with eerie whispering verses and a more methodical pace.

PAINTED BLACK are clearly an intellectual and forward thinking band, and hopefully The Raging Light will bring them recognition they deserve. This is a band to look forward to in the coming years.

The Raging Light is available from Bandcamp.

Review: Obiymy Doschu – Son

On By NickIn Progressive rock2 Comments

OD

Ukrainian Progressive Rock six-piece Obiymy Doschu have just put out their new release titled “Son” (Ukrainian for ‘dream’). The first thing that is quite obvious is that the band sing in Ukrainian, and I would say that it makes the difference indeed.

As Progressive as Progressive Rock can be, long lingering guitar solos with chords that stretch past the count of an individual musical bar blends with softly played keyboards and piano, and beautiful vocals are earnest, and in top form. The music of “Son” is hauntingly beautiful, moving, strange, and cosmic. Fans of Nosound, Lunatic Soul, Gazpacho, Sylvan, No-Man and Blackfield will want to add this release to their collections.

Obiymy Doschu - Son

What an extraordinary collection of music this is. From the atmospheric symphonic intro of the opening track “Ostannya Myt’,” to the gorgeous acoustic guitars of the gentle, “Razom,” to the supernatural, eerie, dreamlike sequence of “Son,” the listener is transfixed, almost as if staring into the darkest regions of outer space. What Prog Rock is, Obiymy Doschu does it perfectly, and this release is proof. The longer this CD plays, the more real the music becomes, and it quickly becomes clear that the members of the band have some supreme talent in composing music that is moody, atmospheric, layered and intensely technical. Each track takes the listener on a voyage, of sight, sound and sensations. String and woodwind instruments, as well as choir, are used to their fullest potential to create that sound that is neo-classical, while the drumslay a steady backbeat, but a closer listen reveals syncopated rhythms.

“Son” is just downright amazing. Listen to the title track that when hearing it, one will feel as if they are suspended somewhere between a dream and reality. Close your eyes when hearing this song, and as the song fades into black, you will be left with emotions that don’t come to often when hearing music – breathless, spent, and moved. The title track in parts is soft, in others loud, at others heavy, while music that is bizarre but passionate as hell plays havoc with your sense of what is real and what is made up.

Again, this was downright marvelous. The mixing, courtesy of Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), is incredible, the sound astonishing, with every note crystal clear. The vocals are audible and easily understood. The lyrics make sense (no, I don’t speak Ukrainian, but the band took care of it), and the musicianship was breathtaking. Not a bad track to be heard, no “fillers” to have to worry will come along and ruin the progression of sensations that are felt during this CD’s playing time. For lovers of the intense, the heartfelt, the reflective, and the sincere type of Progressive Rock that Obiymy Doschu plays – and plays so perfectly – this is a must have.

Visit Obiymy Doschu’s official website for more information.