White Willow - Signal To Noise

Since the announcement of White Willow’s new album Future Hopes which is coming out this Spring, I almost geeked out. For me, White Willow have and will always be one of my favorite progressive rock bands that came out of the ‘90s in Norway. From their psychedelic-folk to progressive and harder materials, they can do no wrong in my book. Jacob Holm-Lupo is the glue that keeps the White Willow train rolling. And despite line-up changes, he makes sure that they never stop and keep the fires burning.

They have combined the sounds between Mellow Candle, Genesis, Renaissance, and King Crimson in their sound with a bit of a story structure. The first four albums along with Terminal Twilight have been on my old portable CD player and sometimes when I go either for a morning/afternoon walk or the Gym, they keep me comfortable and relaxed. I’ve delved into their fifth studio album released back in 2006 entitled, Signal to Noise released on The Laser’s Edge label.

This is a diverse album. Here, White Willow moved away from their psych-folky sounds into a dark, heavier, and progressive approach which in my opinion may have divided a line in the sand whether they accept it or not. When I listened to this album for the first time, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to it. Believe me, my introduction to their music was on Sid Smith’s Podcasts from the Yellow Room and reading about them in PROG Magazine when I was in College.

But I’m off-topic. The second or third time I’ve listened to it, I fell in love with it. I like to see bands/artists go into different directions. Yes it may upset people, some people love it some people hate it, and as I’ve mentioned earlier, yes there is going to be a divided line in the sand, but I’m not one of them. For me, Signal to Noise it’s a step forwards and an accomplishment release 11 years ago.

Trude Eidtang who sings on the album, does an incredible job bringing the fire and energy that is brought to the forefront. She has this combination between Anneke Van Giersbergen, Tori Amos, and Kate Bush. The opening track, Night Surf is a gothic symphonic approach as the sounds of guitars, flute, and mellotron as the music builds up before delving into an essence of early Within Temptation.

The instrumental track, Ghosts is Jacob delivering the darker forces through his guitars as the haunting melodies with it’s different time signatures and the spooky moog and Brazilian guitar touches and diving back into the Crimson-sque forces are very off the wall. Joyride features this poppy and alternative sound as the lyrics reminisce between David Bowie and Kate Bush collaborating together.

Trude resembles also a mellowing version of Sharon Den Adel which is evidential on the progressive-pop-hard rock texture Splinters. Mellowing ballads flow in well and guitar riffs and it gives them a chance to see where they will go next. It keeps the atmospheric moments on there for a brief while thanks to the synths, organ, and choir to be ready for a chance to fly into the clouds.

I love how Frosile brings his keyboards to help see where Jacob would lead into next. With Chrome Dawn, Jacob lets Lars comes center stage as he, Marthe Berger Walthinsen and Aage Moltke Schou, breathe light and delve into an oceanic swim as the moog improvisation and mellotron chords and Floydian-sque guitar melodies by Lupo takes us into the deep, deep dark night with imaging a pin dropping at the right moment.

I have listened to this four times now. And Signal To Noise may or may not be everyone’s cup of coffee, but all in all it is one of their fascinating releases. It’s diverse, modern, heavy, and moving forwards, not going backwards. I can’t wait to hear what the band have in store for us this March with Future Hopes.

The Raptor Trail - Devil On An Indian

This is a band that has slipped under my radar. The Raptor Trail are a band from North Carolina that have released two albums and have released last year a concept album entitled, Devil On An Indian. It’s a story about internal spiritual warfare that comes from a young man who is coming to grips of his Native American Indian heritage after being raised in the 21^st century white Christian morality after a severe motorcycle accident.

The album is set in three movements. The album has a powerful story with a sad ending of a young man going through the motions of what he notices and realizes that this is not what he has expected in the future. It is suddenly a dystopian society that is headed for an apocalypse. The music itself is staggering from beginning to end. The band considers Gene Bass on Drums and Percussion, Matt Mayes on Vocals, Guijo, Acoustic Guitar, and Banjo, and John Meyer on Vocals, Guitar, Effects, Keyboards, and Bass.

Ten Bears opens the track with a Hammond Organ and roaring electric guitar that bursts through the flood gates like a bat out of hell as the composition goes through an alternative acoustic rock as the music and lyrics reminisces of Pearl Jam’s Ten-era along with Quaker Pets. With its heavy riffs and trying to run away from the past, present, and future, there’s no turning back with an embracing and melodic texture.

But it’s Dream Catcher that made my eyebrows go up. It has these ominous banjo chords and the thundering drums and percussion atmosphere with an ending that is chilling and eerie featuring eerie keyboards and alarming guitars. It brings to mind the ‘70s Space Rock sounds of Ash Ra Tempel’s Manuel Gottsching and Aphrodite’s Child’s 666.

The closer Red Giant is where everything turns into an apocalyptic nightmare. You have this climatic volcanic roar of the Bass and Guitar with a harmonic soundings as the motorcycle revs up and driving into the night before ending with the pandemonium beginning and the explosion hitting for the nightmare to begin of annihilation.

Now is this a great album? No. Powerful and Mind-Blowing? In a roundabout way, yes. Devil on an Indian is an astounding album I’ve listened to this year. The story and music along with the lyrics will capture you to know that they aren’t showing off, but giving you a lot of power and glory throughout the concept. So I recommend checking them out.

Naked Truth - Shizaru

Since last year when I received a package of six albums in the mail from the RareNoise Records label, I was completely spell bound after I wrote an ecstatic review on WorldService Project’s For King and Country. I’ve wanted to discover the label thanks to Sid Smith’s Podcasts from the Yellow Room in which he’s introduced me to some of the band’s that made me want to write on the wish list. I’ve discovered for me one of my favorites, Naked Truth.

This is a review of their debut album entitled Shizaru released six years ago. Since the creation done by bassist Lorenzo Feliciati and featuring keyboardist Roy Powell, Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Stick Men) on Acoustic and Electric Drums, and Cuong Vu on Trumpet and Electronics, their music is very surreal and futuristic between the four-piece.

The title Shizaru means the fourth monkey which symbolizes “do no evil” and he may be either crossing his arms or covering his private parts. Now while I haven’t got a chance to listen to Ouroboros which is their second album and enjoyed their third album last year entitled, Avian Thug. All three of them is to me, like a circle coming in full. But let’s get straight to their debut.

It has this ambient, experimental, industrial, electronic, trip-hop, and Miles Davis sound filled with a chamber avant-jazz surrounding between the essence of Bowie’s Outside-era, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, and Brian Eno. Both the sounds and the experimentations that is on here is this mysterious travelling scenario between David Lynch’s Lost Highway or by Nicolas Winding Refn.

For my introduction to their music last year, Naked Truth are very, very good taking the listener and diving into ocean as they take them into unknown lands that is filled with a long and winding pathway filled with surreal painting done by dada artist Salvador Dali as if he’s the maestro letting the band take them wherever he goes. And where Dali takes, the listener goes with him and the band members follow. 

Shizaru is a good introduction to get you started of their music if you like the surreal dreams, the essence of Electronic, Experimental, Industrial, and Trip-Hop adventures into places you’ve never seen. And I hope they will continue to do more for the next few years to come. As Dali once said, “Painting is an infinitely minute part of my personality.”

My tribute to Esoteric Recordings

Since launching ten years ago on the Cherry Red Records group imprint, Esoteric Recordings has been home of finding rare and obscure gems in the history of Psychedelic, Progressive, Experimental, and Jazz Rock in the 1970s. Mark Powell who got his start as a freelance music consultant by working with Universal, Sony, and EMI by artists from Caravan, Camel, Hawkwind, and Soft Machine to name a few. He also wrote notes on the 3-CD compilations paying tribute to the labels of the late ‘60s and 1970s from; Island, Vertigo, Charisma, and Polydor. And he also wrote a book six years ago entitled Prophets and Sages: An Illustrated Guide to Psychedelic and Progressive Rock.

I first became aware of Esoteric Recordings nine years ago when I went ahead and bought a few of their reissues from sites including Doug Larson Imports, Kinesis, and The Laser's Edge including Rare Bird’s first two albums, Egg, Marsupilami, Web, Man, and Julian’s Treatment. To me this was more than just Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd. Mark is always searching to find more hidden treasures to see what the labels signed and why they were forgotten and never got the recognition they deserve.

They’ve also released box sets from the late Jack Bruce, Bill Nelson, and the Private Parts and Pieces I-V and V-VII 5-CD sets including Anthony Phillips reissues which the 2016 Progressive Music Awards for the Storm Thorgerson Grand Design Award. There is no stop sign for Esoteric. And with reissues from the realms of Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come, Beggars Opera, Cressida, Gilgamesh, Supersister, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Procol Harum’s first four albums, the Polydor-era of Barclay James Harvest, and The Move, they always surprise me of what to expect next.

It was also announced five years ago that they would sign up-and-coming acts with a label entitled Esoteric Antenna. Which released the new collaboration between Steve Hackett and the late great Chris Squire entitled Squackett’s A Life Within a Day. And signed to bands/artists such as The Reasoning, Matt Stevens, Sanguine Hum, Son of Man, and of course my favorite, Panic Room.

This year, the label are reissuing gems from Blonde on Blonde’s last two albums, Gandalf’s debut album, Little Free Rock, Unicorn, and Gong and Hawkwind’s Tim Blake’s solo work. They are very, very busy when it comes to reissues and new artists when they lend a helping hand. And they make my wish list even bigger when it comes to the reissues and new artists.

As Fela Kuti said, “Music is a weapon of the Future.”

Here's my top 20 albums from the Esoteric label:

1. The Move - Reissues
2. Procol Harum - Reissues
3. Rare Bird - As Your Mind Flies By
4. Henry Lowther Band - Child Song
5. Supersister - Present Your Nancy
6. Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Galactic Zoo Dossier
7. Matt Stevens - Lucid
8. Sanguine Hum - Now We Have Light
9. Aphrodite's Child - End of the World
10. Web - I Spider
11. Barclay James Harvest - Everyone is Everybody Else
12. Tom Newman - Faerie Symphony
13. Kayak - Kayak
14. Earth and Fire - Song of the Marching Children
15. String Driven Thing - The Machine That Cried
16. Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North
17. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Photos of Ghosts
18. Morgan - Nova Solis
19. Marsupilami - Arena
20. Julian's Treatment - A Time Before This

Jack O' The Clock - Repetitions of the Old City

Formed 10 years ago in Oakland, California, Jack O’ The Clock have released four studio albums going from 2008 to 2014. Last year, they’ve released their fifth album entitled, Repetitions of the Old City. In an interview with Ian Beabout on Prog Rock Deep Cuts, Damon mentioned the story behind the title is assessing the traumas of the past and pulling you into the direction on a society level and experiencing of considering generations.

And the general information of moving forward. The music is a cross between Chamber, Folk, Canterbury, and Rock In Opposition. And guests including Fred Frith of Henry Cow, Darren Johnston, and Jonathan Russell. While I’m new to the ball park of Jack O’ The Clock’s music, I have to say I was very impressed from the moment I’ve listened to the album for the second time.

Understand, the band’s music is not very easy to get into, but once you get into the hang of it, you can see and listen to what they’re going for. And the five centerpieces, endures the mind of where Damon Waitkus and his fellow bandmates know the inspirations and conceptual textures through brainstorming. Videos of the Dead is marching drums and bass melody that begins the composition followed by Frith’s echoing reverb guitar effect.

At first, Damon sings through an underwater background, but the he walks us through the rooms of the damned human race and the music feels as if it is something straight through Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 film, Zabriskie Point. Fighting the Doughboy is a cross between Chamber Rock, Avant-Folk Pop, and the Rock In Opposition movement. Intense time changes with some bassoons, the lyrics are very Zappa-sque with double-track drums and vocal backgrounds in the styles of the Northettes.

Epistemology / Evel Keel at first has a walking/medieval folk lyrics and then it changes into a psychedelic-folk-jazz-ambient finale in the styles of textures a-la Robert Wyatt style while When The Door Opens, It Opens On Everything echoes both the Octopus and In a Glass House-era of Gentle Giant. Damon’s voice resembles at times of Kerry Minnear as Jack O’ The Clock channels the band’s structures of their excellency.

And not to mention Alban Berg’s 12-tone technique that Emily Packard does through her violin. The Old Man and the Table Saw shows the quintet walking us through the various parts of the world. Emily really gets the violin to set course for sail to another adventure. Damon and the rest of her team are very much like the Captains of the ship and everything written down on a piece of paper.

Both he and bassoonist/flautist Kate McLoughlin share the vocals dealing with the stories on the piece. Jack O’ The Clock’s new album is one of their most interesting listens I’ve delved into their swimming pool. And as I’ve mentioned their music, is not easy to listen to, but if you love the genres I’ve mentioned earlier in my review, this is a perfect introduction to their sound. And while this part one, I hope they continue with the stories.

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends. Welcome back Prog Magazine!

(Some of my collection of PROG Magazine)

It’s always something good happens for a new year in a new beginning. And believe me it is very good news. Not just the hero saving the day or Superman rescuing Lois Lane from Lex Luthor, but more than just that. When it was announced last year in December before Christmas that TeamRock had went into administration and laid-off some of the workers including who had been home to publications to Classic Rock Magazine, Blues, Metal Hammer, and Prog Magazine, it hit me hard.

Because not only that, but for me, Prog Magazine was sort of like my Bible to read about up-and-coming bands, articles, interviews, the albums that built Prog, labels to discover, and My Record Collection with people such as Zach Galligan (Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch), Comedian Bill Bailey, Sci-Fi Author Kevin J. Anderson, Photographer Mick Rock, Kavus Torabi, and Comic Book Artist Brian Bolland (The Killing Joke, Judge Dredd) to name a few, showing their love of the music and the inspirationals for them.

I would sometimes go to Barnes and Noble to find new issues or on eBay to find both old and new issues of PROG Magazine and sometimes I would have to pay my Mom back on finding some of the issues that would come in the mail. 

My blogsite, Music from the Other Side of the Room, wouldn’t haven’t gotten started if it wasn’t for both Houston Community College and Prog Magazine when it launched back eight years ago. And I can imagine the people who worked in which I mentioned about my tribute to the magazine last year in December, they worked their butts off to write the articles, interviews, and reviews.

My first reaction to that was “What a horrible way to end the year like that.” Because let’s admit 2016 was a rough year of losing artists including Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Prince, Glenn Frey, Alan Rickman, and the late great David Bowie. But then, something special happened. Ben Ward of Orange Goblin launched a JustGiving fundraising website to raise money to help the staff who were made redundant just in time before Christmas with no pay. They raised £88,760.00 ($109,853.81) and the band performed at a fundraising gig on January 5^th  of this year at the Black Heart in Camden, London. 

Stan “The Man” Lee always said, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.” That’s what they did and the supporters of the magazines did, you give something back. And then just as if it was about to fade into nothingness, I read online that Future Publishing had saved Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, and PROG Magazine from closure.  It’s also the owner of titles including Guitarist, Total Film, and T3, which covers gadgets and technology.

It was like a breath of fresh air when I heard the announcement. Future deserves a big, big, BIG gigantic pat on the back for what they did. I wish Jerry Ewing and the rest of his team nothing but the best. They are for me in my opinion either the Justice League or the Avengers of Prog Magazine. (My geek shirt just popped out!) And hope to get the Prog train steam going up for more chugging like there’s no tomorrow. It’s going to take some baby steps, but as Captain America says, “Avengers Assemble!”

Pandora - Ten Years Like In a Magic Dream

It’s been 11 years since the formation of Pandora launched. With three albums in the can, they’ve released their fourth album on AMS records last year. With Pandora’s music combining with themes, plans, memories, and moods, the father-son relationship between Beppe and his son Claudio Colombo followed by keyboardist Corrado Grappeggia, they keep the Pandora train rolling without any stopping. And adding to the line up, Emoni Viruet, makes the band a quartet.

The new album entitled Ten Years Like In a Magic Dream features three sections; Fragments of the Presents, Temporal Transition, and Fragments of the Past. Guests include on here are Dino Fiore and Andrea Bertino from Il Castello Di Atlante, Vittorio Nocenzi of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, and David Jackson of Van Der Graaf Generator. The first section is a new performance of Pandora’s compositions sung in English for the first time.

You have Drunken Poet’s Drama which begins with an Allegro string section by Bertino himself, it could be the cross between New Trolls and Deep Purple’s concerto before for a brief second going into the Brazilian vibration. Corrado’s rough voice, takes you into the mind of the poet’s deep, cavernous, darker tales with a symphonic progressive metal dramatic followed by the sections from the strings from the keyboards and from Andrea himself.

I love how in The Way You Are shows both the keyboards and heavy guitar riffs sheer into battering punches and followed by lead sections from Claudio by getting the juice with sparking-electrical results while Passagio di Stagioni is a tribute to the late great Francesco Di Giacomo. It begins for the first four minutes and thirty seconds between a mourning sound between the Moog, Mellotron, and Drums setting in these ominous tones.

And then the Organ and David Jackson blaring the door down for a weird section as the acoustic-folk comes in to calm everything down and the cover of Banco’s Canto Di Primavera shines brightly and honoring the legends thanks to Emoni’s vocals to know that Francesco’s spirit and legacy will keep growing for years and then Vittorio has their back and knowing he is lifting his head and pointing to the sky for Francesco.

Their take of Yes’ Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil) which they do an 11-minute version of the complexuality composition from their 1973 magnum opus and dividing line in the sand album, Tales from Topographic Oceans shows Pandora going into a sonic energetic and experimental weird twist to capture the style and journey beyond the stars. With the loss of Greg Lake last year to cancer, they honor him with a cover of Lucky Man.

It starts off with this Floydian-sque guitar lines a-la Dark Side of the Moon-era and then straight into the classic version  For me, this is Pandora showing support and knowing that the music will never die, but will live on for many generations to discover the true beginnings of the progressive genre. Not to mention the insane Moog improvisation to honor Keith Emerson’s finale near the end of the piece.

I really enjoyed listening to Pandora’s new album. It’s been three years since I’ve listened to their music while I was nearing the end of my final semester of Houston Community College. The band can do no wrong for me. And I hope they will continue to surprise me even more in the future to see where they’ll do next. In the words of Babe Ruth “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”

Robert Jürjendal featuring Andrus Lillepea - Simple Past

I can’t believe that this album passed right through me. For me, when it comes to new artists and bands, I’ve always wanted to discover more of their catalog. One of them is guitarist and composer from Estonia named, Robert Jürjendal.  He has released two solo albums from 2013 to 2015. Robert creates these effects that makes you open the doors of landscapes and ambient vibrations by creating his styles of Frippertronics.

Since I’ve mentioned Fripp, he is also a craftie in which he was a part Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft from 1992 to 1997 which he would learn to play loop music that included craftie alumni's Trey Gunn, The California Guitar Trio, and Markus Reuter. He also worked with artists such as Toyah Wilcox with This Fragile Moment. Now for me, I'm new to Jürjendal's music, but the moment I listened to his music, I was blown away by his textures of using the touch guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, and percussion. Last year, he released his third solo album entitled Lihtminevik in which translates to Simple Past. It is a concept album that is based on the temporality notion of the human world.

And how we have to realize no matter how much hard work and the job that is at times complicated, our lives will one day sooner or later disappear into the endless world of emptiness. What Richard has done, as he brings Lotte on water drop samples, Six on breathing, and drummer Andrus Lillepea, is bring the concept to cavernous, darker, and landscaping textures that lead into unexpected moments throughout the ten compositions.

There are at times Robert not only channels the styles of Fripp, but Heldon’s Richard Pinhas and at times between Agitation Free, Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis. It’s ambient, classical, and jazz at the same time. Everything on Simple Past, is here. When at times I mention an album, it the movie inside your head, that’s is what the album is closing your eyes and imagining the film in your mind to see where Jurjendal will go to next.

The sounds on here are great. Bob and Andrus on the first 8 tracks are spectacular and work well together between the two of them. I wish I could name some of my favorite compositions on here, but it’s all of the above for what Robert brought into the dining room table to bring the all the music and the story together. And I hope to hear more of Robert’s and Andrus' music in the near future or this year to see what I was missing.

Esquire III - No Spare Planet

Formed in 1982, Esquire have released two studio albums from 1987 to 1997 with the sole self-titled debut and Coming Home. Last year, they have released their third and final album entitled, No Spare Planet. It features nine unreleased material that Nikki Squire (Chris Squire's first wife) and Nigel McLaren’s composition that were completed before Nigel’s passing in 2015 just as they were getting ready to mix and master the album.

This completes the Esquire trilogy and making the duo come in full circle. It’s Nigel’s swansong and saying goodbye as the music is a cross between art, symphonic, new wave, and progressive style of music. Now I’m very new to the band’s music. And listening to their last album, for me, it is an emotional farewell to say goodbye and the legacy of Esquire will live forever.

And five highlights on the album will bring the listener to be prepare to have the Kleenex box in toe. It’s again one of the most emotional and powerful goodbye’s I’ve listened to from beginning to the very end. Ministry of Life kicks things off. The composition is done in three movements as the piece changes through the passages of time.

It is an excellent introduction to start the album as it brings to mind between the harmonizing vocals of the Beatles and Nikki’s voice resembles the style of early Annie Lennox and she can sing amazingly well while the ‘80s New Wave of the Pop scene comes into the foreplay of Human Rhythm followed by a touch of the Momentary Lapse of Reason-era of Pink Floyd and elements of Freddie Mercury’s solo work by dealing with the chance to go back and rewrite history and Stay Low.

Nigel McLaren's vocals, gives a final warmth and knowing that the angels are waiting for him to give his final bow. The two tracks in which he sings on the album; Friends and Enemies and Heaven Blessed, puts the toes into the water of Peter Gabriel’s solo work letting listeners know that it is time to go. The opening of the gates of heaven, is showing the circle now is in full. And No Spare Planet is a remarkable farewell.

Mercy Fire - Undying Fire

It’s been seven years since I’ve done a review on a Female-fronted Symphonic Metal band that would make my ears perk up. Whether it would be early Within Temptation, Amberian Dawn, Stream of Passion, Ancient Bards, Edenbridge, Delain, After Forever, or Tarja’s debut album My Winter Storm. I still haven’t forgotten about these bands and writing a review on some of the albums can be hard or tricky and various listens I would sometimes buy their music on The Laser’s Edge website.

Now for me, I’ve always have a soft spot of the Symphonic Metal movement when it gets a classical and roaring epic taste with an orchestral vibration from the keyboards or a real orchestra and choir in which Within Temptation used on the Black Symphony live album recorded in their home of the Netherlands at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam at the time they were promoting their fourth studio album, The Heart of Everything. My brain is still waiting for the right Female Symphonic Metal band…. until now.

A band that is an American-Dutch band that launched back three years ago by vocalist Kassandra Novell after having some successful performances in Belgium at the acclaimed Metal Female Voices Festival. With a few EP’s under their belt, they have released their debut album entitled, Undying Fire which was released last year in late October which coincided their European premiere at Metal Female Voices Fest XIII.

Their debut album is an eruptive volcanic explosion that made my ears ring when I turned the volume as in the words in the back cover of David Bowie’s album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, “To Be Played at Maximum Volume.” And you might want to play it really, really, really loud! Stop, Kiss Me, the intro gives to mind Queen’s Son and Daughter before the guitars going into overdrive on the rhythms and riffs as Kassandra’s vocals and one of the sharing vocals delve deep on reconcile the love they had now in ruins before trying to start again.

The dynamic roaring guitars really sets the tension between the two with double guitars textures as if Arjen Anthony Lucassen was conducting both Metallica during the Kill ‘Em All-era and the British Steel-era of Judas Priest creating an orchestral finale. No One Will Save You is being trapped in your own prison and you’ve finally had knowing you will have to pay the price the vocals and Kassandra’s snarling vocals is crossover of the Beauty and the Beast.

This time, Beauty has transformed into a snarling beast and she’s not letting go. She can snarl perfectly. It’s a haunting and rising composition and the lyrics dealing with knowing that no one can help you, the character has come to a breaking point of being pushed too far. With help from Trillum’s Amanda Sommerville who was not just a producer on the album, but a vocal coach, she helps out by sharing a duet with Mercy Isle.

She and Kassandra work well together as Joop De Rooij sets this mourning piano melody with a Celtic Folk flute sound in the background dealing with how the world is now cruel and knowing that there’s no hope for peace as the song is telling it by Saying Goodbye to hope, love, peace, and joining hands without any chance that is now filled with hatred.

Kassandra brings her inner vision as if she’s Kate Bush on If I Could. It is a gentle piano, bass, and drum section filled with a thundering guitar climbing up that hill. The Celtic sounds on Jeroen Goossens’ flute and Brian May-sque licks, is a crossover as if he had produced Hounds of Love. I can imagine one day this song will be a live fan favorite for audiences to sing along while the opener Wake Up, which starts off with an alarm going off rises up to challenge both Delain’s Charlotte Wessles singing with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and After Forever.

I have listened to Mercy Isle’s Undying Fire about three times now. This is a revelation for me. Both going for my afternoon walks on a grey and blistery day and just being completely gobsmacked of how not just Kassandra but how Joop, bassist and vocalist Chad Novell, and drummer Ywe van der Pol and guests guitarist Sebas Honing worked well to give her a helping hand.

It is symphonic metal at it’s best with it’s epic roaring productions. So if you love Within Temptation, Edenbridge, After Forever, and Kate Bush, than I highly recommend you check out Mercy Isle’s Undying Isle. As Marvel’s own The Mighty Thor once said, “Waves are but water. Wind, but air. And though lightning be fire…yet it must answer thunder’s call!”

Tohpati Ethnomission - Mata Hati

It’s been six years since we’ve heard some music by Tohpati Ethnomission. The innovator and maestro himself has been very busy with his solo career, SimakDialog, and Bertiga. He knows right away that Ethnomission is always there right inside the back of his head and waiting for the right moment to return. It’s always a great chance to start the New Year with the release Tohpati Ethnomission’s new album entitled, Mata Hati released on the MoonJune label.

I’ve been a supporter of Tohpati’s work since 2013 when I received a few albums from the label to get me started by going on the Train of MoonJune to see what I was missing thanks to my introduction of the label from PROG Magazine to the first of the series of Romantic Warriors. Remember when I said “Whenever something in the mail comes in and it’s from MoonJune Records, I know my ears are ringing.” Well they are ringing more for Tohpati.

Recorded in February last year in Jakarta, Indonesia, it’s almost as if it’s a welcoming return for the band to be back in action. It’s the same line-up as before from their 2010 release, Save the Planet. And this time, featuring the Czech Symphony Orchestra to lend Tohpati a helping hand. With five centerpieces, it shows that he’s back in full force and no one there to stop him.

Reog offers a thumping rocker to styles of Mr. Bungle, Zappa, and Primus with a Funk-Rock connection. The midsection shows Tohpati delving with an experimental effect from the delay/reverb effect he brings both on the riffs and the lead sections. Opener, Janger is a journey back to his home in Indonesia thanks to the Czech Symphony Orchestra as he brings his own version in the styles of Autumn Leaves.

The melodies between his guitar and Suwarjiki’s Flute followed by the drums and percussion from Demas and Ramdan. Both of the rhythm sections give it the full energy and the heart and soul of not both progressive and jazz music, but world music. And they let the sun rise by making you feel the warm breeze and the tempos for a new day with Tanah Emas.

Indro’s bass improvisation shines throughout for a brief bit. I wish he had a little bit more on the track and I always imagine both he and Tohpati dueling for a bit on the arrangement while Rancak is a classical-acoustic world adventure of flamenco genre with a striking beauty that Tohpati makes you feel at home. But it’s not over yet.

Amarah is heading into the waters of Heavy Metal with a Progressive roar between Mastodon and King Crimson. It is an interesting twist, but it works. Tohpati himself grabs between the styles of rhythm and lead improvisations and heavy riffs with a backbone pulse and a sonic crunch. The six-year long gap, while it took long and waiting for Ethnomission’s return, it’s well worth the wait.

This is my fifth time listening to Mata Hati. Everything is on here. Jazz, Fusion, Progressive, Classical, and World Music and Tohpai Ethnomission’s return is a crown jewel that will keep growing and knowing that they are back. 

Wingfield Reuter Stavi Sirkis - The Stone House

As I’ve always said about MoonJune, “Whenever something shows up in the mail and MoonJune shows up, something magical happens.” Yesterday I received in the mail from MoonJune is perhaps one of the most innovative and challenging releases to start off the New Year with a big bang. It was Wingfield Reuter Stavi Sirkis’ The Stone House. When I went out for my Morning workout at the Gym and listened to the entire album, I was completely taken aback and just in awe of the textures of how compelling these six tracks can take you on a whole new world.

Recorded at La Casa Murada Studio in Banyeres del Pandes, Spain on February 19, 2016, all four of them work together like a team creating these mysterious voyages between Space, Fusion, Trance, and Psychedelic music. And while the album cover has this strange homage between the movie posters of either the hammer horror films or something straight out of Italian Giallo films of the 1970s, the quartet delves into the looking glass.

Mark Wingfield, Markus Reuter, Yaron Stavi, and Asaf Sirkis, work together as a team during those sessions. It felt at times listening to the entire album recalling the essence of the THRAK-era of King Crimson with a Holy Shit momentum. When this was announced last year, my first reaction was “This is a perfect team, perfect match, perfect combination, and perfect quartet.” And I was right on the money with this.

It felt as if they were breaking the doors down of Jazz with a gigantic bulldozer with some experimentation's they were doing in the studio. And the music itself is original, ominous, and eerie at its finest. Not to mention the feedback sounds in one of the tracks that shows them even more accomplished than ever! At times it feels that the quartet were writing a score for a film done by Fantastic Planet’s Rene Laoux and out of stories with designs done by the late great Jean “Moebius” Giraud.

After delving into the six tracks, Wingfield, Reuter, Stavi, and Sirkis keep the fires burning more. This is a spellbinding release that MoonJune Records released. I hope they continue to do more in 2017. And as I’ve mentioned this is a great introduction to start the New Year off with a big or even a bigger bang. 

King Crimson - THRAK (40th Anniversary Series)

In 1984 after the release of their tenth studio album, Three of a Perfect Pair the band finished their tour at Montreal’s Le Spectrum as the resurrection of King Crimson was no more as they went separate ways. Cut to six years later of the second half when Robert Fripp decided to bring the band together again. But done in the style of a “double trio”. This time containing two guitarists, two bassists, and two drummers.

That and the release of their eleventh album released 22 years ago entitled. Originally released on the Virgin label and reissued by Panegyric, this was Crimson at their best. Alongside Adrian, Robert, Bill, and Tony, they brought Pat Mastelotto (Naked Truth, Stick Men) on Percussion, and Trey Gunn on Stick and Warr Guitar. Recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Studio, Real World, the band decided to go into a new sound previous from their ‘80s-era.

While Steven Wilson has done the previous Crimson albums from the sole self-titled debut to Three of a Perfect Pair, Jakko brings the clearness and vibration into this mix. It’s feels like a breath of fresh air from the textures and bringing it to life. During the making of this album, they brought back the Mellotron which was used during In The Court of the Crimson King back in 1969.

The two-parter, Inner Garden is a dooming yet dystopian ghostly composition as if Crimson were doing a different version of Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan. Adrian’s stirring vocals as he sings “So many things have come undone/Like the leaves on the ground/And suddenly she begins to cry/But she doesn’t know why.” You can imagine the sadness and eerie Twilight Zone-scenery of the memories that was once found, now in peril.

VROOM starts with this ‘50s landscaping view of the future thanks to the Mellotron before a burst of an eruptive roar from Fripp’s guitar kicks the door down with a hardcore punch. The double trio get down to business with a beast-like sound and spooky midsections of Belew, Fripp and Levin creating the magic of opening up the doors to see what lies ahead.

Dinosaur is still a powerful composition. Not just because it kicks ass, but the melody and story structure of searching through the bad judgments and mistakes of what this person went through after being dead for many, many years. The song nails it as Belew sings through of what happened before going into the afterlife of being your own worst enemy.

Things go smooth as it delves into the styles of In The Wake of Poseidon-era as Fripp takes higher levels into the beauty and clean melodies with some backward moments of a jazz groove for a romantic beauty of Walking on Air while the nightmarish synths go into a musique-concrete nightmare as Bill and Pat do a drum duel between each other in combat on B’Boom.

They go bit by bit and crunch by crunch on the drumming as the patterns go from high and low places with slow and fast tempos as the beast is unleashed out of its cage to reign terror on the title-track. The guitars are in a fast mode and various frets while the double drums and keyboard sounds make you wonder where they will go next with some climatic boundaries between rhythm and virtuosity musicianship. And it’s a situation to be away from the Beast can be a tricky situation. All of a sudden, King Crimson lay down the funk touches a-la Red and Ladies of the Road style.

With Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, Adrian goes from a calming vocals into a shrieking nightmare through the leslie speakers as the band move into the mode of a haywire effect. When I say haywire effect, it delves with a chaotic moment that the instruments are in a full-scale assault then back into the bluesy-funk metallic punch. Don’t forget that Mellotron that appears a quick second in the last minute of the composition.

It comes back again with that lullaby sound as I call it the ‘50s sound of the future and then you can imagine a reprise of the opening instrumental. But this time roaring to the end with VROOM VROOM. Just when you think it’s over, guess again. It’s not. The double trio close it off with a gigantic bang and then with the coda it’s into this climbing terror a-la The Devil’s Triangle: Part III.

The 40^th anniversary series in which I got as a post-Christmas/Hanukkah gift last year, is the CD/DVD release. The 16-page booklet contains sleeve notes by Sid Smith, an introduction about the group coming back together by Robert Fripp 20 years ago at DGM (Discipline Global Mobile) World Central, and pictures of the making of the album, including a performance in Buenos Aires at the Prix D’Ami Disco and concert tickets from Argentina before working on the album.

Along with a CD single of Sex Sleep Eat Dream and the Ampex tape of VROOM VROOM. The DVD contains the 5.1 mix and the original stereo mix for it’s 30^th anniversary back in 2002. Now for the die-hard Crimson fan, you might want to save some money for the THRAK box set containing 12 CDs, 1 DVD, 1 DVD-Audio, and 2 Blu-Ray discs.

This is Crimson at their best to show they were back and in action and delivering an eruptive return back in the ‘90s. For me, it’s been one of my favorite albums and I’ve always wanted to check this out since I was in High School. And 15 years later, listening to this I always enjoy both the original and new mixes. Worth checking out!