The Jelly Jam – Prophet/Profit (2016)

What do you get when you combine three (prog) rock/metal heavyweights? Of course, we do know a lot of super groups like Asia, Transatlantic, and Liquid Tension Experiment… But have we ever heard of The Jelly Jam? This album named Prophet/Profit is their fourth studio album, and I have to admit I never heard of them before.

Porcupine Tree – Lightbulb Sun (2000)

One of my favourite Porcupine Tree albums which I spin regularly. It was the last album with Chris Maitland on drums before Gavin Harrison took over his place. This album is not as dark as Siginify, but not as poppy as Stupid Dream. I just love the album sleeve of this album, it’s beautifully done and really represents the album title.

Anderson/Stolt – Invention Of Knowledge (2016)

Jon Anderson of Yes and Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings, making an album together? Why not? I always had the feeling The Flower Kings are heavily influenced by (early) Yes. The two blokes surrounded themselves with guest musicians like Tom Brislin, Daniel Gildenlöw and Nad Sylvan, and (ex) members of The Flower Kings for this album.

Honourable mention: Crescent Moon – The Lidless Room (2015)

This is not just an album review, but also a personal story about my introduction to the music of Crescent Moon. A band I never heard of, which isn’t odd at all, because they just released their debut album The Lidless Room only half a year ago (December 2015). And I know, this is a debut album that will stay with me forever.

Tim Burness – Whose Dream Are You Living? (2015)

Whose Dream Are You Living is Tim Burness’ seventh album, and not just an album. The energy what Tim Burness puts in his music immediately grabbed my attention. The album contains a lot of different music styles, from progressive rock to pop, from electronic to ambient like moments. I have to admit, I’m not totally convinced by Tim’s vocals. They’re far from bad, but I just miss a certain power in his voice to carry the songs well enough. Somehow it does fit the music just fine.

Review by John Eje Thelin: Argus – Tell Me! (2016)

A review made by guest writer/reviewer John Eje Thelin:

I realize that this is my second guest review that is fairly critical (although I did give the first album a passing grade), and that it is far easier to write a negative review than a positive one. So I will make a concerted effort to have my third one be about a release that I actually like, even though precious little modern “prog” impresses me much.

Argus – Tell Me! (2016)

Let me get straight to the point. This is sadly a case of a band with an ‘awesome’ album sleeve, but the music itself is sadly ‘not so awesome’. You would think it would be a (progressive) metal album according to the sleeve, but it’s progressive rock. Nothing wrong with that of course, but somehow the music isn’t something you wouldn’t expect with this kind of album sleeve.

Fractal Mirror – Slow Burn 1 (2016)

First of all, my apologies! I’m a bit on the late side with this one, but this album was really worth to review! I interviewed Ed van Haagen in April (and you can listen to the interview here), and we discussed a lot about the new album.

Must Have Album: Frost* – Falling Satellites (2016)

Finally, Frost* is back after eight years… And what a comeback it is!!! Wow! This album immediately grabbed my full attention the first time I listened to it! I can hardly contain myself when listening to this album, I can’t sit still when I’m listening to it behind my desk. What can you expect? For the people who never heard Frost* before; think about Spock’s Beard with balls! The music is energetic, fast and contains so much power! It’s also a real mixture of different music styles, from dance to metal. Is this ‘prog’? I don’t care if this is prog, this is some splendid music! The band consists of wonderful, talented musicians; Jem Godfrey on keyboards and Chapman Railboard (never heard of that instrument before, but I’m sure it has something to do with Chapman Stick), John Mitchell (It Bites, Arena) on guitar, Nathan King (Level 42) on bass guitar and Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson) on drums & percussion. Jem and John are good lead vocalists who provide most of the lead vocals on the album.

Sebas Honing – The Big Shift (2016)

The Big Shift is Sebas Honing’s third (or fifth, I’m not sure about that) solo album. Sebas is a talented multi-instrumentalist and does a lot of lead vocals. He’s accompanied by his wife Petra Honing on lead & backing vocals and Christiaan Bruin on drums. It’s a concept album which gives a view about Sebas Honing’s current life. The music is a combination of metal, progressive rock and even pop rock. It’s a mixture of powerful uplifting tracks and more quiet (semi) acoustic rock songs. You can also hear that some repeating musical themes come back in several songs. There are no long tracks on this album, all tracks are in between three and six minutes long. I quite like the apocalyptic-like artwork on the sleeve, it is very nicely done.