SOUL ENEMA Releases New Album; Feat. Arjen Lucassen, Yossi Sassi, etc.

On By NickIn progressive rock1 Comment

Soul Enema

Israel-based Progressive Metal band Soul Enema is announcing a release date of the upcoming album  titled Of Clans and Clones and Clowns. Out on June 23, the album is now available for pre-order from Bandcamp and iTunes.

The promising band’s second album represents an interesting and varied combination of influences, including 14 tracks mixed an mastered by legendary Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Paradise Lost, Symphony X).

Soul Enema has issued a statement on the forthcoming album saying:

“Looking back, it took a lot of time and effort to create ‘Of Clans and Clones and Clowns,’ and the final result brings the feeling of a real accomplishment. It was a long, complicated process, constantly laden with a myriad of good reasons to give up or compromise. It probably couldn’t be any different, as our goal was a mature, well-produced statement, consistent in quality throughout, and at the same time versatile enough in its various moods, styles and approaches.

“A creative and diverse Rock/Metal album, exploring vast melodic and rhythmic territories — from ABBA to Zappa, from King Crimson to King Diamond, between East and West and way beyond — in true progressive fashion. Like any reflection of the world we live in, it takes a wild ride over a wide emotional spectrum: sad, funny, perfectly sane, totally insane, very direct, quite obscure, and everything in between.”

Of Clans and Clones and Clowns also features guest contributions from Ayreon’s Arjen Lucassen, Yossi Sassi (ex-Orphaned Land, Yossi Sassi Band), Sergey Kalugin and Yuri Ruslanov (from leading Russian proggers Orgia Pravednikov).

The band commented: “We had a great honor of featuring the instrumental talents of these,  as well as other wonderful musicians. Our next aim was to ensure that all of these components  work in the final picture, and that’s the reason why we welcomed one of the best guys on the list to mix and master this work — Jens Bogren. It deserved the best possible treatment, just as you as a listener deserve the best possible quality. The mixing process was far from trivial, and it took some effort to shape everything our way – clear and powerful enough, yet not overproduced. So, if you like what you hear, please order yourself a CD, or the highest quality digital download, to have it the way we really meant it to sound – full-scale and uncompromising. We hope you will have your own exciting experience with the album!”

Soul Enema released a few singles from Of Clans and Clones and Clowns, you can check them below.

Of Clans and Clones and Clowns is out on June 23th, and it can be pre-ordered from Bandcamp or iTunes. Visit Soul Enema’s official website for more information, and follow them on Facebook.

Of Clans and Clones and Clowns Track Listing:

1. Omon Ra

2. Cannibalissimo Ltd.

3. Spymania

4. Breaking the Waves

5. The Age of Cosmic Baboon

6. In Bed With an Enemy (ft. Y. Ruslanov, S. Kalugin)

7. Last Days of Rome

8. Dear Bollock (Was a Sensitive Man)

9. Aral Sea I – Feeding Hand

10. Aral Sea II – Dustbin of History (ft. Yossi Sassi)

11. Aral Sea III – Epilogue(ft. Sergey Kalugin)

12. Octopus Song

13. Eternal Child (ft. Arjen Lucassen)

14. Of Clans and Clones and Clowns

soundstreamsunday: “Drowning in the River Half Laughing” by Joe Henry

On By Craig BreadenIn americana, country, folk music, folk rock, progressive rockLeave a comment

joehenry2 - EditedJoe Henry always tells it like it is.  What this “it” is depends on his song or object of the moment, but if artistry is about honesty then here’s a man who can be a W. Eugene Smith one minute and a Romare Bearden the next.  His is an Americana in context, wrought with a realism that has to, must, consider the world beyond the borders of his song.  And yet his skill at creating a complexity of life within the three- or four-minute lengths typical of his work belies this, so that his portraits are breathtaking and you are standing next to him, watching and hearing him compose a complete picture.

1990’s Shuffletown recalls both the chamber folk-pop of Cat Stevens and the improvisational glow of Astral Weeks, T-Bone Burnett’s restrained production going live to two-track and allowing a breathing space that played against the channel-filling fashion of its time.  I remember, then, marveling that an album like this could even get made anymore, much less thought of.  A modern record with a backroads feel that doesn’t get lost in bucolic moods or sentiment, it is more defining in its sound and in its genre than it gets credit for.  At its core — and the same could be said of Morrison’s and Stevens’ records — is an immediately recognizable voice, for Henry’s finesse with language is honored by a vocal delivery that is hip to its own thing, knows it limits and its power and its text.  It’s also full of hooks, patient in its timing, finding and following melody in Shuffletown‘s deep dusks and twilight.

“The moon is losing ground, drowning in the river…”

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 above.

Rick’s Retroarchy: Works Volume 2 by Emerson, Lake and Palmer

On By kruekuttIn progressive rockLeave a comment

by Rick Krueger

When I picked up Works Volume 2 (on the day after Thanksgiving 1977, at Hansen’s Music Store in Greenville, Michigan — thanks for taking me along, Mom!), it didn’t feel like a disappointment.  In fact, on first listen it was a nifty change of pace from the orchestral bombast of Volume 1 — 12 shorter tracks, all new to me, exploring the jazz, blues and boogie that only occasionally showed up on ELP’s earlier records.

Continue reading “Rick’s Retroarchy: Works Volume 2 by Emerson, Lake and Palmer” →

Apex explained track-by-track! [UPDATED] @UnleashArchers @NapalmRecords

On By Time LordIn progressive rock1 Comment

Recently I highlighted the excellence of Apex, the new heavy metal concept album from Unleash the Archers, and I supplied you with some links for reading about it.

For a detailed track-by-track explanation, here’s the band’s amazing vocalist, Brittney Slayes, taking you through the story.

How great is it that in the age of YouTube we get video supplements as liner notes?! Wow… enjoy… and remember to follow me to Apex…



Review: Adaen – Welcomer

On By NickIn progressive rockLeave a comment

There are times in every music lover’s life where a record’s concept, ambition, and execution is understood and loved immediately. Not just by the heart and how it makes you feel but on an intellectual level as well. These moments are when one truly appreciates an artist’s creation. Welcomer has all the essential ingredients to conjure up this feeling in anyone who listens to it with no fluff added.

More focused than the meandering nature of Muse and more immediate than the sometimes glacial pace of TesseracT, Adaen is a project, led by composer, singer and guitarist Valentine Berezin who is joined by bassist Alexander Vorontsov and drummer Leonid Nikonov, striking a balance seldom can attain, much less in the realm of progressive rock/post-metal. The sheer number of ideas as to where to go and what to do with the medium has resulted in many albums either going too far with the wall of noise or holding back too much in fear of doing so. Welcomer doesn’t experiment with the plethora of soundscapes and instruments available to those subscribing to the jazz/fusion moniker but instead chooses to hone its more contemporary musicianship to a razor sheen. Every instrument is clearly differentiated and contributes to the different cascades of mood every song portrays. The guitars in particular showcase a perfect mix of distorted riffage and technical fret play which play through and off each other artfully. The noodling has a clear focus in each song, and never seems to just fill space. In fact, the entirety of the record gives a definite sense of progression, carrying the listener from one section to the next seamlessly and gives off a welcome cohesiveness.

Adaen live

At the heart of Welcomer is its concept, which is that of stripping away the superfluous qualities of emotion, situation, and inspiration and leaving behind only its essence. This is the “concept” in terms of following certain vibe and structures, and perfectly describes the band’s direction with the absence of a variety of instruments and the sharp focus of the songs. That is not to say Welcomer drags on at any point, in fact the pacing is beautifully crafted. Musically, the record achieves everything it was made to do.

Adaen bestow upon the masses a genre-defining album, displaying a marvellous blend of experimentation, songwriting expertise (not using that word lightly), and the feeling of plain rocking. The strange juxtaposition of using a concept of stripped-down instrumentation, conveying feeling and moods at their most basic level using a framework as frequently ostentatious and gaudy as progressive rock is not lost on this reviewer and the fact that it’s pulled off so well by three guys only is quite a feat. Those who want thrills without frills in their music cannot go wrong by giving this a listen.

Welcomer is available here.

King Crimson, Heroes

On By kruekuttIn progressive rockLeave a comment

by Rick Krueger

“Studio and live are two worlds. Would you, the audience, prefer to have a love letter or a hot date? Each have their value. Crimson were always a band for a hot date. From time to time they could write a love letter, too, but for me they were better in the clinches.”  (Robert Fripp)

In advance of King Crimson’s upcoming US tour (starting June 11 in Seattle), Discipline Global Mobile has released Heroes, a low-priced live EP of recordings from last fall’s European excursion.  Blending the best of Fripp’s two worlds, it shows the Seven-Headed Beast that was 2016’s Crimson in fine fettle and ready for the clinches.

Continue reading “King Crimson, Heroes” →

Unleash the Archers delivers superb concept album Apex @UnleashArchers @BrittneyPotPie

On By Time LordIn progressive rock1 Comment

archersalbummarch

The new album from Unleash the Archers, Apex, is truly impressive. But you already know that if you have read my review or listened to it for yourself.

Yet what I left out of my review was an explanation of the concept album’s full story extending from the first track to the last track. In that regard, the excellent review over at Angry Metal Guy is the best thing you can read, because it nicely details how the storyline unfolds and is perfectly realized in the music (which fits it like a glove).

If you’re a progger who needs an entry point through one song, try downloading just “False Walls” and listen to it again and again until you are hooked. I guarantee that you will find the excellence of the musicianship to be truly stunning.

Well, the whole album is that good. And the integrity of the epic storyline will have you thinking that this just might be the prog album of the year, because the whole album is in effect one gigantic epic song that deals in mythical archetypes. It’s so good that as you listen to it you can imagine it being realized cinematically as a full-length movie.

Follow me to Apex!

White Willow, Future Hopes

On By kruekuttIn art rock, progressive rockLeave a comment

by Rick Krueger

The only White Willow album I’d heard before their new effort was 2011’s doomy Terminal Twilight.  Gorgeous, Gothic stuff, but it didn’t leap out at me as anything special.  Future Hopes, however, is a gripping album, unpretentious in presentation (Roger Dean cover notwithstanding) but wonderfully ambitious in scope and sonics.  It starts in darkness, then doggedly journeys toward the light — and it carried me along from beginning to end. Continue reading “White Willow, Future Hopes” →

Chris Cornell, Existential Theologian

On By Time LordIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Christianity Today had a great analysis of some Chris Cornell lyrics back when they reviewed the first Audioslave album:

“In your house I long to be/Room by room patiently/I’ll wait for you there like a stone/I’ll wait for you there alone”
— from “Like a Stone”

…

The album’s single “Like a Stone” has enough content to warrant its own essay. The chorus (excerpted above) is a strong plea for salvation and to be in God’s presence. No doubt many will be hung up on the lyric, “On my deathbed I will pray to the gods and the angels/Like a pagan to anyone who will take me to heaven.” In the song’s context, however, it seems more like a desperate plea than an actual strategy or worldview, akin to the rich man asking Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Chris also qualifies it with the contrite third verse, “And on I read until the day was gone/And I sat in regret of all the things I’ve done/For all that I’ve blessed and all that I’ve wronged.”

It’s not the only faith–inspired track on the album. The prayerful “Show Me How to Live” is fairly self–explanatory: “Nail in my hand from my creator/You gave me life, now show me how to live.” One of the album’s softer tracks, “I Am the Highway,” could be interpreted as what God is and isn’t–present in everything and bigger than we imagine: “I am not your rolling wheels/I am the highway/I am not your carpet ride/I am the sky/I am not your blowing wind/I am the lightning/I am not your autumn moon/I am the night.”

“Exploder” illustrates how spiritual freedom helps us reconcile the hurts of a sinful world, and “Hypnotize” reminds us to show love and compassion to our fellow man. The most stunning example of faith comes in “Light My Way,” which at times rivals most other prayerful anthems you hear in Christian music: “In my hour of need, on a sea of gray/On my knees I pray to you/Help me find the dawn of the dying day/Won’t you light my way.” Some even wonder about the album’s cover, incorporating the band’s logo of a fire blaze. Maybe it’s just my Christian worldview, but it strongly reminds me of an extremely huge representation of Moses and the burning bush.

Rock is dead? Long live rock!

On By Time LordIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Pete Townshend had it right years ago: “Rock is dead, they say… long live rock!”

Now there’s a good essay — “For The Last Time: Rock Is Not Dead, You’re Just Not Paying Attention” — by Steven Hyden. Read the whole thing. It builds inexorably to this excellent conclusion:

All music should be appreciated on its own terms. Pop shouldn’t be a zero-sum game, in which you’re either an uber-famous celebrity or an irrelevant nobody stuck in a dead genre. Maybe we can find a little more room to praise the pop star and lionize the underground hero.

In the meantime, this pile of great new undead rock records isn’t going to play itself. Let’s dive in.

Prog on, chillun!