The American masters of prog are back with a new CD and this time we get a one-track album, almost 50 minutes long. For those who missed the prog elements on their previous CD "Cowboy Poems Free", on "Mei" these elements are back. Actually the new album can be described as a mix between "Suffocating The Bloom" and "Cowboy Poems Free". I really liked their last album but this is what I hoped for when the rumours of a comeback started. Lots of variations and complexity plus a good sense of melody. Echolyn is one of the most interesting bands today and if you haven't heard them yet, it is about time you did. Old fans will not be disappointed.
(review by Olov Andersson)

From the southern parts of Wales comes this new and interesting act consisting of Jayde - vox & guitars, Matthew Cohen - bass and Charlie Steel - drums. On this debut album, Rob Reed (Magenta, Cyan) who plays all keyboards also nicely helps them out with arrangements and production.

It starts out with some monk chanting and mellow keyboard layers which is a bit reminiscent of Enigma, but very soon some Pink Floyd-like guitar melodies are added just to break out and develop into some rather heavy riffing. So you better listen to more than just the first minute of it before you decide that Erasmus is an Enigma clone because they are definitely not.

After a couple of minutes the vocals enters the song and now it's getting really interesting. The rather unique voice of Jayde is really to my liking. At times he sounds a bit as a desperate mix of David Bowie and Tim Smith of Cardiacs.

Most tracks on this album is of high standard and I really enjoy it as it's filled with fine songwriting, including some interesting chord changes and some unexpected turns. Some parts are quite heavy but I wouldn't call it metal. It's more in vein of Arena or any other contemporary progband that mixes warm keyboards with heavy riffs. But there are plenty of melodic and softer parts on the album as well, and we also get a short, but fine, guest performance from Christina (Magenta) in the intro to one of the songs.

If you like bands like Arena, IQ or any other of the contemporary British style prog rock bands but also like when a band has something of their own then I recommend you to have a try on this one.
I did enjoy it very much.
(review by Hansi Cross)

The second album from this symphonic rock outfit, lead by multi-instrumentalist Frank Carvalho, is a solid piece of work is stylistically taking off where the first album from 1998 ended with plenty of quite obvious influences from the 70's classic bands such as Yes, Genesis, VDGG and Gentle Giant. For instance, in the opening "The Song of Marsh Stig" (16,26) we get some guitar playing sounding as both Steve Howe and Steve Hackett at the same time as well as a piano part blending Tony Banks chords with Keith Emerson-like ways of playing. In other tracks we get Gentle Giant style harmony vocals, like in "Songs" (4,09) or ditto ways of arranging guitars and synthesisers such as in "Kentish Suite" (8,14). We also get the mix of pompous harmonic chord changes counter-parted by atonal pieces in a way reminding me of Van Der Graaf Generator, but despite of that I do not feel that ETC is a clone.

Sometimes, the only fun about these kind of bands can be to "spot the influences", but not here. They succeed with communicating emotionally by using the language of the aforementioned groups. We get well written compositions, which are skilfully performed with lots of love and energy. If you are into the 70's giants I strongly recommend this one and if you are more into the so-called neoprog bands I recommend this one all the same. "Tales of ardour and deceit" is a highly enjoyable album.
(review by Hansi Cross)

Here's one of the best albums of 2005. This is progressive AOR at its absolute best. By the term "Progressive AOR" I mean 70's style symphonic/progressive rock in the vein of Kansas, Kayak, John Miles, Queen & Styx. Lots of beautiful melodies from lead singer Christian Rivel (Narnia, Divine Fire, Audiovision, Wisdom Call & Modest Attraction) and mind-blowing keyboard-excursions by Linus Kåse (Brighteye Brison & Narnia). We are treated to six strong pieces with a clear Kansas vibe, with phenomenal instrumental passages and breathtaking vocal arrangements. The choirs of "You Are" (a personal favourite) together with the instrumental passages of the same piece is worth the price for this CD alone. As an extra treat for all the lovers of this genre/style the sixth piece is a new version of Kerry Livgren's "Ground Zero" from 1980. Kerry also appears as a guest on that piece with a smashing guitar-solo. If you like this melodic style of prog/symph then this album is essential. The CD is simply the best of its kind in a long, long time.
(review by Olov Andersson)

Dutch prog / symph outfit that really knows how to get the job done. There are tender moments with soft, beautiful passages and there are proggy, complex pieces as well as hard and heavy bits. When it comes to nuances this group has it all. The music is excellently performed and the vocal contributions are marvellous. Partly classic progrock, partly symphonic neoprog and partly modern 90's prog, they've combined all these bits and pieces of the genre into one fantastic album. This should attract fans of bands like Salem Hill, Arena, IQ, Spocks Beard (I could probably name a dozen more bands because there are many acts that come to mind) and of course lovers of the famous dutch prog / symph legacy. A future classic.
(review by Olov Andersson)

I'm blown away! The new album from the Flower Kings is their best work since "Back In The World Of Adventures". I honestly doubted that they would be able to make such a good album ever again, but I stand corrected. This time Hans Fröberg has taken over most of the vocal duties and what a singer he is. He gives me goose bumps. And how does Roine Stolt come up with all these fantastic musical pieces? He has just released a fantastic album with Transatlantic and still he manages to get this brilliant CD out as well. I'm truly amazed by his musical genius. I assure you that this album lacks nothing and no "King-Fan" will be disappointed. We're talking about a "Sure-To-Be-Classic" album here. There are no weak moments here at all, but some tracks stand out. "Last Minute On Earth", "City Of Angels" and the tough rocker "Sword Of God". Pure magic!
(review by Olov Andersson)

Second album out from this exciting US band (at the time for this review I have not heard their debut, so there will be no comparisons). I would say that even if many of the usual ingredients often found in progressive rock like tempo changes, rapid changes in mood and expression, odd time signatures and very competent musicians this bands way of writing songs and also their performance makes them hard to compare with more well known bands, and therefore a bit hard to describe. They are unique. That is one of the reasons why I like them very much. Another reason is that they manage to capture my interest and make me feel things. Fresh and emotional, can one ask for more?

Most of the songs are written by guitarist Troy Kidwell alone or together with vocalist Kara Trott whose vocal style spans from a cute and sensual tone to a slightly desperate or even a tough, almost bitchy style. She really comes through in an emotional and strong way. I guess that it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I certainly like it a lot. Drummer J Marchionna holds things together in a way I find very musical. No show-offs. Even if his playing at time's gets quite complex it suites the compositions perfectly. We also notice that the line-up lacks both a bass player as well as a keyboardist. But this is no problem really as they have Valerie Thompson on electric cello taking the bass lines and Vessela Stoyanova who plays midi marimba allowing her to use all kinds of synth sounds as well as the traditional marimba sound. This creates a situation where they can use traditional synthesizer sounds but played a little bit differently than it would have been done by a keyboard player. The result is very fresh and very audible.

In my world Fluttr Effect is one of the most interesting bands I have heard during the new century and "Marking time" is to me highly enjoyable and an album which stands repeated listening.
(review by Hansi Cross)

Almost 4 years after the fine debut album "Fiction Edge - Pt1" we now get the second release from this Portuguese prog rock act and it was with rather high expectations I placed CD1 into my CD player. Have they been able to follow up the fine debut with an equally good one? The opening track "Dreaming of reality" (hmm…that title seems kind of familiar to me) is an 2:39 minutes instrumental which is linked up with the following song titled "Senses" (9:47) and proves from the start that this band have taken their concept bit further. It is semi-heavy modern progressive rock in the vein of, for instance, Arena but with the usual Genesis/Marillion influences often found at many of today's neo prog acts not that obvious here. When I try to find comparable names to drop then Rush, Pink Floyd and Cross is the one's that comes to mind. And some parts make me think about Casino or Twelfth Night. The two rather strong opening tracks is followed by "Strange affair with the night" (8:32), a very nice prog ballad pushing the fine lead vocals of "Linx" to the fore. Track 4, the 19:52 minutes "Dream killer", is another strong composition with some parts slightly reminding of mid 80's Rush, great vocals and an overall, very fine performance including, as on all tracks a solid group who know how to arrange the songs nicely mixing 70's, 80's and 90's sounds into something fresh. "Floating spirit dimension" 1:12 is, which the titles suggests, an atmospheric and soothing little piece that let's us take a breath before entering "Pay the price" 6:20, a fine one combining interesting chord changes and heavy guitars with a sense for unique but accessible melodies. Opening track of CD2 is "Struggle" 13:21 which starts with some nice harmony vocals before switching to a more threatening mood based on a guitar and bass riff, reminding me of a part from Jesus Christ Superstar, just to transform into a piece with an unusual mix of jazzy but yet heavy chord changes and some ethnic percussion and then again they…well just let me tell you that this song has a lot to it including melodic parts as well as chaotic King Crimson-like stuff and is quite hard to describe and that I enjoy it. This one is merged together with following, softer tracks "Death" 1:21 and "Angels embrace" 6:27. "A trace" 1:31 works as an introduction to the ending "The Final sentence" 9:39 starting out with some fine acoustic guitar, discreet keyboards and, again, very fine vocals then about halfway through the song it grows into the pompous and beautiful finale of this very, very fine follow-up to their very fine debut album. Now I am just wondering what happened to "Fiction Edge - Pt2". Will there ever be such an album?
(review by Hansi Cross)

Back in the mid seventies there was a band named Friendship Time who was touring rather intensively around Sweden, creating a following of enthusiastic fans. In 1974 they signed with Virgin and recorded the debut album and a test pressing was done. The LP cover was finished and everything was set for release. At this very point a series of tragic incidents happened involving the passing away of the bass player as well as the manager which resulted in that the album was never released.

Friendship Time consisted of: Leif Fröling on vocals and mellotron, Kent Kroon (who, among other things later on toured with Jan Akkerman, worked as studio technican/producer and appeared as special guest on the first and third Cross albums) on guitars, Dag Mattson (who released a solo album in the mid 90's featuring, among other's, Kent Kroon and Paatos' drummer Huxflux Nettermalm) on guitars, Martin Cerha on bass and mellotron, Thomas Löwgren on drums.

How they sound? Well...one can easy point out certain Yes influences.
Imagine a band with Steve Howe and Peter Banks on guitars and a more technical Chris Squire on bass with Bill Bruford, at times imitating Ginger Baker, on drums and a nameless Swedish vocalist adding some singing as well as mellotron here and there. Then you are getting rather close to how they did sound. We could also add some parts that maybe can be described as "Greenslade on two guitars".

An album from 1975 that, thanks to Mellotronen, we now - more than 30 years after it was meant to be released - are able to enjoy this very fine one. A true gem!
(review by Hansi Cross)

This American (New Yorkers actually) band have been around since 1998 but from the beginning under the name "Lumpy Gravy". And if you haven't guessed it yet they were performing entirely Frank Zappa material in the beginning of their career. After changing their name they started to write their own material. It's not hard to understand that with their musical influence the band started to write music that wasn't so far away from Zappa himself. With much use of violin and trumpet as well as a number of different percussion instruments as complement to the ordinary rock band setting, the band successfully writes very interesting music and uses a lot of time signatures. However, if you're afraid that this is totally crazy that Zappa can be at times you have nothing to be worried about. Frogg Café never misses a chance to serve you with a delicate melody above all the different music segues. The singer and main composer Nick Lieto reminds me a lot of Norway prog band Circles Ends singer in his calm voice. The band is a very tight unit and really gives a good nod to their master Frank Zappa. I must also mention that Zappa is indeed their greatest influence but you can also hear trademarks from both classical and jazz music, as well as other great bands such as Yes and Gentle Giant. This album is their third in their production and if you like this one you better check out the other two. I really enjoy this!
(review by Göran Johnsson)

Finally it's here, the long awaited follow-up to 1992 "Us" album. And I'm glad that I can say that it's well worth the wait, an absolute masterpiece it is! The opening track "Darkness" is alone worth the cost of the album, it's what can be described as a modern version of "The Family and the Fishing Net" from his 1982 album. All of the ten songs are masterpieces and "Darkness", "Sky Blue", "No Way Out", "I Grieve", "More Than This" and "Signal To Noise" is even better than everything on his two previous brilliant studio albums! Truly a must have album - honestly!
(review by Stefan Polzer)

This is the sixth album from Swedish Galleon. There have been some changes in the line-up. Mikael Värn has retired and left the stringbending duties to Sven Larsson and it's a true vitamin-injection. 7 new songs, presented with a slightly different approach and just as good as their former albums or even better. This CD will grow on you. Classic symph / prog with a neo-prog touch and with some truly amazing moog playing by Ulf Pettersson. He must be one of the best keyboard players around today. After a few listenings you will simply love it and if you ever get a chance to see them live, you should. They're really worth the ticket. A real "live-band". Now stop reading this and order this CD. NOW!! (review by Olov Andersson)

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The new Glass Hammer CD is a real masterpiece. It is a truly solid effort from a solid modern progrock-band. This band will never let you down. They have now produced 8 CD's with high-class symphonic prog and their fanbase increases every day. The music on their new album is very recognisable for old fans with an addition of female vocals and a string trio. Every lover of melodic prog should check out this band immediately and start their collection. For you who already know about Glass Hammer, I can assure you that the new CD is as good as their previous. A sure "Top-5" of 2004.
(review by Olov Andersson)

The new album is a 2 CD set divided in two parts. CD1 is titled THE KNIGHTS and contains two epics,
"A maker of crowns" (15:21) and "The Knight of the north" (24:39). CD2 is called THE LADY contains
11 songs based on an epic poem by bass player Steve Babb named "The Lay of Lirazel".

I have always enjoyed Glass Hammer but, at times, felt their Yes and ELP influences were a bit too obvious. Not on this one. We still get the Chris Squireish Rickenbacker bass and the somewhat Wakeman/Emerson like organ solos, but the compositions has definitely more of a Glass Hammer feel then ever. The use of a string quartet is very tasteful and the wider use of Walter Moore as lead vocalist is very much to my liking. To me this means that I have no longer any objections what so ever.
THE INCONSOLABLE SECRET is a true masterpiece combining traditional symphonic rock style of the 70's with melodic yet inventive song writing. A must in every proghead's collection.
(Review by Hansi Cross)

Yes, this is a nice album. The second opus from GRAND STAND is better than the first one, which was great! Two new members, Göran Johnsson (Lead Vocals and Bass) and Michael Rank Jensen (Guitar), complete the line-up with of course Olov Andersson on keyboards and Tomas Hurtig on drums. Some background vocals was performed by Fredrik Andersson and Hansi Cross, which is new here cause the first album is totally instrumental. The band itself say about their music: "moves in the same area as GENESIS, CAMEL and will for sure attract fans of PENDRAGON and ARENA". That's exact, just want to add that the music is not so far from the work of HACKETT, 1975 to 1980 and as much as GENESIS 70's works at times. Probably a more rock oriented album than the first one, which is composed in parts with some electronic feed. Wow! - this is a really nice one, played with honours and respect towards the progressive music genre. With lots of emotions this is a must. And "Old Man's Tale", yes this song will be a tale for a long time in the world of prog, what a nice piece indeed. Please buy this album just to help these guys to continue their nice works. One of the 2002 best albums for sure in my mind.
(review by Denis_t)

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This is the second album from a multi talented vocalist with a past as a member of the rather successful Genesis tribute band Cinema Show. This is a very, very nice album showing the expected Genesis influences but also a fondness for Rush, Yes and perhaps also E.L.P can be easily traced. Timeless symphonic rock clearly rooted in the 70's, but with a fresh approach. Shaun Guerin was a man of great talent. He was a rather skilled keyboard player, a fine vocalist in the vein of Peter Gabriel and a brilliant drummer. Here he's helped out by John Thomas on guitars, Matt Brown on vintage keyboards and Dan Shapiro on bass in creating memorable performances of his compositions, which I find both interesting and recognisable. A very, very fine album!
(review by Hansi Cross)

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