Category: Progressive rock

Video: Delain — “Nothing Left” (Live) @delainmusic

On By Time LordIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Check out this video of a fantastic live performance by Delain which is also found on their new album:

Charlotte Wessels of DELAIN on the new video: ‘2019 marks 10 years since we first released “Nothing Left” on April Rain. Nowadays it’s a rare treat to see the track performed at one of our live shows, but it hasn’t lost any of its power in the decade that has passed. Performing “Nothing Left” together with Marco Hietala was one of the highlights of the night in Tivoli, and in fact, the entire show felt like a highlight; it was one of my favourite shows of our career so far. You can relive the night through our new EP/Blu-Ray Hunter’s Moon. As it was the first time we did an entire tour with Marco as a guest, all songs featuring him, including Queen cover “Scandal” are included, and the video for “Nothing Left” is now available on Youtube. We hope you enjoy it!’

Napalm Records comments: ‘Without a doubt: Delain belong to the golden spear head of Symphonic Metal! After last year’s release of their very first live album the Netherlanders present another live masterpiece – including four brand new studio tracks! Hunter’s Moon consists of this fresh material, a live album and a live Blue-Ray disc. The catchy title track “Hunter’s Moon” and the larger than life orchestral “Masters of Destiny” offer a haunting preview of what Delain is working on for their next studio album, due 2019. The band’s guitarists step to the forefront in composing two tracks exclusive to this release in “This Silence Is Mine” (Timo Somers) and “Art Kills” (Merel Bechtold). The live portion of the release will take you on a cinematic journey to the Danse Macabre Tour in Utrecht’s Tivoli Vredenburg. The majority of the live album features the deep tones of Nightwish’s Marco Hietala and includes heart rendering hits like “Nothing Left,” “Your Body Is A Battleground,” and “Control The Storm”.’

Black Vulpine’s new album “Veil Nebula”

On By Time LordIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Our discovery of the week must give a tip of the hat to AMG, who first won our interest by describing Black Vulpine’s new album Veil Nebula this way: “every song here either rocks hard, dooms hard, or at least contains nuggets of stoner, doom, and/or prog brilliance.” Check it out…

Progarchy Podcast: Nick Beggs Interview

On By Time LordIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Press_Photos_05

The Progarchy Podcast interviewed Nick Beggs today, and it was a fascinating time. Take a listen to our combination of an album review and a song-by-song discussion with the artist himself:

The podcast includes a detailed discussion, for over half an hour, track-by-track, of the new album from The Mute Gods, Atheists and Believers.

Tune in if you want to hear all the details. But here are some highlights to get you excited. Listen and learn:

  • how the first track, “Atheists and Believers” is devoted to telling the true story about extraterrestrial visitors to our planet;
  • how Alex Lifeson of Rush got involved with the second track, “One Day,” and what he contributed to it;
  • how Nick’s political views on “Knucklehed” and “Iridium Heart” spare none of us, since all of us end up being knuckle-headed in the end;
  • how Nick plans to keep touring until he drops dead, after one of his joyous concerts, as a happy old geezer;
  • how “The House Where Love Once Lived” incorporates Nick’s own experiences of marriage and of being a father;
  • how “I Think of You” is connected to Nick’s own mother, who died at the age of 38, when Nick was 17 years old
  • how “Twisted World Godless Universe” involved a collaboration with a friend of Nick’s who is a Catholic nun in Finland and whose talks with her about spirituality were part of the process by which the song was generated
The Mute Gods, Atheists and Believers
1. Atheists and Believers (4:11)
2. One Day (6:35)
3. Knucklehed (6:48)
4. Envy the Dead (5:40)
5. Sonic Boom (4:47)
6. Old Men (3:45)
7. The House Where Love Once Lived (4:54)
8. Iridium Heart (6:06)
9. Twisted World Godless Universe (8:32)
10. I Think of You (6:04)
Press_Cover_01
The last time that Progarchy spoke with Nick was back in 2016, and so it was great catching up with him today. Thanks, Nick!

RIP Mark Hollis

On By Bryan MoreyIn Progressive rock3 Comments

Talk Talk frontman Mark Hollis has passed away suddenly at age 64. Progarchy sends its sincerest condolences to his friends and family.

The BBC has an obituary for him here: https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/entertainment-arts-47373897 

Interview with ENDWORLD HALOS

On By NickIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Endworld Halos album art

Finnish dark prog debutants Endworld Halos have launched their self-titled full-length album back in October, which in the trio’s own words is “a versatile and abitious slab of Finnish prog-infused rock.” Kimmo Utrianen spoke for Progarchy about the release.

How do you usually describe your music?

The most common description is dark prog (with a highly versatile range). An aural projection of the world as seen from these cold northern regions anno 2019.

What is your writing process like?

Me and Toni both come up with ideas we wish to incorporate to this project, passing them on to each other frequently (mostly digitally) and occasionally taking them to the practice space for a guitar jam-out session. With the guitar parts or just the melodies sorted, we start to figure out the vocal patterns and melodies, then the drums and the rest of the arrangement as a whole band. Quite a few of the songs are by either one of us, but some tunes are the fruit of our musical symbiosis.

E H

Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?

Older prog and non-generic music, people and musicians who dare to do whatever they please artistically, without caring about trends or standards. Other than that, my inner tracts, subconscious thoughts and conflicts I cannot deal with though any other means than music. Those are my primary source of inspiration. Through this assembly, my music connects to the outside world, hopefully leaving a mark from my point of view. The chance to (attempt to) do that is also very inspiring.

What is your favourite piece on “Endworld Halos” and why?

Adjusting to Light perhaps. It represents my scale of writing really well, as it ranges from weird and psychedelic passages to peace and harmony. One of the best tunes I’ve ever written, not to forget there’s some significant co-writing value to be considered, too. I also like Toni’s bizarre percussion on that song, including some household items, but let’s not go further into that topic here.

What makes “Endworld Halos” different?

In the nowadays array of progressive music, I feel we don’t play as much “safety” as quite a few bands. Even though we are not the most uniform or the easiest band to listen, or one with a smooth and conventional modern soundscape, we have managed to squeeze quite a bit of heart’s blood and even madness to our music. I’m very happy about that, even though I’m not referring to us being the only band that’s capable of doing that in 2019. The world needs a little grit, and we’ve got just that.

What should music lovers expect from “Endworld Halos”?

Songs and compositions that don’t bow to anyone in the field of modern prog music. Hard work by three Finns now manifested through digital medias such as Spotify and Bandcamp, not to forget the CD version we released, including a striking 12-page booklet with lyrics colorful photography by the band. Music that goes where ever it needs to go, and in this case, from the twilight of man to metropolitan chaos, to turbulent skies and barren wastes and deserts, eventually to a sundown and silence.

What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?

I’d leave that for the listener to decide, but realizing how small we are is a good pick. Confusion, too, if all else fails.

Are there any plans to promote the album live?

No, not at this point. So far we work as a designated studio act, so no tour or show plans in the horizon.

Pick your three favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.

Genesis: Foxtrot, Mercyful Fate: Don’t Break the Oath, Pearl Jam: Ten.

 

“Endworld Halos” is out now and is available to order from Bandcamp.

Video: “Keep Waiting” — Space Elevator

On By Time LordIn Progressive rock1 Comment

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Here’s a song from their new album, Space Elevator II:

Video: “Rocket Man” — Kate Bush

On By Time LordIn Progressive rock1 Comment

kate_bush_rocket_man_2000-1920x1219Kate Bush has just released the video for “Rocket Man,” unreleased for years.

NME has an interview: “Years later, in 1989, Elton and Bernie Taupin were putting together an album called ‘Two Rooms’, which was a collection of cover versions of their songs, each featuring a different singer. To my delight they asked me to be involved and I chose ‘Rocket Man’. They gave me complete creative control and although it was a bit daunting to be let loose on one of my favourite tracks ever, it was really exciting. I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version.”

Hunter’s Moon: new release from Delain @delainmusic

On By Time LordIn Progressive rock1 Comment

charlottewesselsfeb2019_638

Delain is back! Released today is a new disc of their epic brand of symphonic metal.

Hunter’s Moon includes four new studio tracks, plus a selection of live recordings, as well as a Blu-Ray disc of the live tracks.

Delain is working on their next studio album, due in 2019, but the four new tracks here on Hunter’s Moon give an idea of their musical direction.

The band’s guitarists each compose a new track here: “This Silence Is Mine” (Timo Somers) and “Art Kills” (Merel Bechtold).

The live tracks (tracks 5 to 14) follow the Danse Macabre Tour in Utrecht’s Tivoli Vredenburg, and most of the live tracks (tracks 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14) feature Nightwish’s Marco Hietala.

1. Masters Of Destiny
2. Hunter’s Moon
3. This Silence Is Mine
4. Art Kills
5. Hands Of Gold (Live) — studio version was on Moonbathers
6. Danse Macabre (Live) — studio version was on Moonbathers
7. Scarlet (Live) — studio version was on The Human Contradiction
8. Your Body Is A Battleground (Live) — studio version was on The Human Contradiction
9. Nothing Left (Live) — studio version was on April Rain
10. Control The Storm (Live) — studio version was on April Rain
11. Scandal (Live) — studio version was on Moonbathers
12. Not Enough (Live) — studio version was on We Are the Others
13. Sing To Me (Live) — studio version was on The Human Contradiction
14. The Gathering (Live) — studio version was on Lucidity

The Progarchy Interview: Tim Bowness, Part 3

On By kruekuttIn art rock, Progressive rock4 Comments

In Part 1 of Tim Bowness’ latest Progarchy interview, Tim discussed his previous solo albums, working again with his first band Plenty, reuniting with Steven Wilson for fresh No-Man music, and how it all feeds into his new album Flowers At The Scene (released March 1 on Inside Out Music).  Part 2 was an in-depth look at the new album’s music and players.  To finish up, the conversation branches off into the process of writing, the genesis of Tim’s label/online shop Burning Shed, the state of the music business and more!  Note that [brackets] below indicate editorial insertions.

I’ve always found your lyrics very, again, distinctive and appealing.  The words for your songs, if you read them on the page, they look very sparse; they’re epigrammatic, or they’re almost like a hymn text.  But they convey a lot of emotion and meaning when you sing them – It’s like you hear what’s behind them, kind of like a minimalist take on lyrics.  Was there anyone who particularly influenced how you write lyrics – or melodies, for that matter?   Where do the words come from for you?

I think the words in some ways came before the singing, because I used to like poetry, before I ever really was in a band.  So I’d always loved reading, and still am a fairly avid reader of novels and poetry.  There were a lot of lyricists I adore, so, I think … Joni Mitchell is an absolutely fantastic lyricist.  But I can’t say there’s any lyricists I’ve been particularly influenced by.

I think that, in terms of that pared down style, I guess I always quite liked people like Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter and Raymond Carver.  Certain writers like that.  And, although I don’t think I’m anything like them, that might be the core influence.  And there’s also, there’s an English poet called Ian Hamilton, who has a very sparse approach, and I always used to like his work.

And so in some ways, it’s kind of closer to that; it’s closer to the poetry that I grew up reading, without being particularly like it.  And as I said, I’m a fan of many singers, many lyricists.  Again, Roger Waters, fantastic lyricist, fantastic concepts, but I can’t say it’s particularly influenced me.  So maybe it comes from outside of music, the lyrical element of what I do.

Plus, I also think it comes, of course, from my own experiences, my own obsessions, my own emotions.  So that’s thrown into the mix.

Would Philip Larkin be in the mix?  It just occurred to me that was another person that kind of worked in that epigrammatic, lyric style?

Yeah, very much so, yes indeed!  The Collected Works of Philip Larkin are on my shelf.

Well, it’s amazing how busy you are, because along with all of what you do – your solo work, No-Man — you also co-direct one of my very favorite online shops!  And it’s certainly a favorite of all of us at Progarchy.  Burning Shed is just a wonderful place to buy music from, even across the pond.  You’re listed as a co-director; what does your role there involve?

Well, I still – the newsletters you receive, I write them.

Oh, OK!

The text that goes on the site, I write it.  So I suppose, in a sense, Burning Shed was my idea of a company.  So I started burningshed.com as an idea of doing cost-effective, experimental solo albums.  And so initially, we released three CD-Rs.  So the idea was originally in 2001, online, on demand, cost-effective solo albums that labels wouldn’t be interested in.  So Steven [Wilson] gave us a Bass Communion album; I gave a Samuel Smiles live album; Roger Eno gave an ambient album.  And almost from the off, it did better than we thought it would do.

Continue reading “The Progarchy Interview: Tim Bowness, Part 3” →