Iamthemorning - Lighthouse

Iamthemorning have been around since their formation back in 2010 in St. Petersburg which consider Marjana Semkina on Vocals and Gleb Kolyadin on Piano. They have released two albums on the Kscope label including an EP and a live album. This year they released their third album entitled Lighthouse. The album is engineered by Marcel Van Limbeek who worked with Tori Amos and self-produced by Gleb and Marjana. They brought along Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) on Drums, Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) on Bass and Vocals, and Mariusz Duda (Lunatic Soul, Riverside).

The album is a mixture of classical chamber music, folk, and jazz by adding a wide-ranging texture throughout the entire set. It is also a concept album about a woman who is suffering from a mental illness as she tries to fight the disease through a remission and into a final breakdown. Through the inspirations between Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, it’s an emotional and touching story dealing with the subject along with depression.

It was recorded between London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg and it almost for me feels, like a soundtrack and a movie inside your head of a one-woman show sung throughout the whole thing which very much in the realms of Jacques Demy’s 1964 French classic, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. You can imagine the woman’s pain and suffering on what she’s going through her breakdowns and the illness she is suffering from. As the music itself, it is a spectacular and striking essence of what the duo brings to the story.

The striking ominous intro of the first part of I Came Before the Water sets a stirring tone of the character through the reflections of herself with beautiful string sections, dripping water, and a cry for help as Marjana’s vocals beams through the pain into the person’s head. Colin’s bass lines on Clear Clearer, has this spirited melody as organ and brushing drums starts at first with a Jazzier introduction as it moves into both harmonious rhythms with a lifting section as guitars channeling Robert Fripp at the very end.

Elsewhere, Sleeping Pills features a haunting piano section that Gleb channels in the midsection that the trouble for the person’s tragic soul is only getting worse as the title track featuring Riverside/Lunatic Soul’s Mariusz Duda takes onto the vocals in the last three-minutes of the song just gives me chills between him and Marjana’s duet-ting together, it gives the atmosphere a chilling yet soaring experience.

It reminded me at times between Steven Wilson and Ninet Tayeb’s Routine and bits of Hand.Cannot.Erase thrown in at the same time as Duda and Semkina do a brilliant job together. It just gives me more of what is on here that just made my eye-brows go up at each track. The lullaby turned waltz section in the styles of Vince Guaraldi with Harmony and the medium speed tempo with catchy grooves to dance to with Matches with an homage to Thelonious Monk and bits of Keith Emerson thrown in.

Chalk and Coal is a disturbing immense composition. The vocal arrangements, both singing and speaking in the beginning is someone near the end of their total breakdown. Marjana just hits those vocals in the park very strongly. There is a darker tone throughout the midsection with the experimental and heavier elements as the disease suddenly comes in as the character realizes in the speaking section as they taunt this person towards their doom with no light at the end of the tunnel.

I love the Jazzy sections in Gleb heads forwards through his piano to know what is happening near the end of the story as he plays towards the end in a fade out as we hear and watch what is about to happen next through an echoing reverb. The second part of I Came Before the Water and the finale, Post Scriptum, is the end with a tragic closing of the character’s choice of death.

It just sends goosebumps on my arms as you can see the person going through the final chapter of the book to say goodbye to everything. The instrumental closer, is a gorgeous piano filled experience and helps to understand the incredible talent that Iamthemorning shows here, is a gigantic wonder of amazement that have taken me to another surprise on what they did next.

I really enjoyed Lighthouse. It feels like looking at a beautiful painting of Vincent Van Gogh. The right moment at the right time that you could imagine hitting closer to home dealing with the subjects of Mental Illness and Depression. The duo themselves nailed it perfectly with an emotional and stirring concept. And with help from various band members, it is something worth exploring into their music. A challenging issue and a tragic storyline, this here is a stirring gem released this year that the Kscope label have released this year.

Beastmaker - Lusus Naturae

This is a new band hailing from Fresno, California that are carrying the torch of the Doom Metal genre in the essence of Witchfinder General, Black Sabbath, and Candlemass. They release their debut album on the Rise Above Records label this year entitled Lusus Naturae which translates to “A Freak of Nature.”

I love the art design of the album in which is done by Branca Studio in which it’s an homage to the great Horror films of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s in which it’s almost an homage to the Hammer films in the styles of the booklet. The band considers Trevor William Church on Guitar and Lead Vocals, John Michael Tucker on Bass, Andres Alejandro Saldate IV (Juan Bonham) on Drums.

Trevor wrote the 12 compositions on here. And the music itself is blaring, eruptive, and filled with intense riffs, stoner rock, and in your face to see what Beastmaker will think of next. This is a must have for Doom and Occult Rock fans and I love what is on here from right into the beginning and in the very end. The trio know what they are doing and they are pulling no punches with the homage to the ‘70s rock sounds.

Fierce and raw power comes into action with Eyes are Watching, The Strain, and Astral Corpse. Both of these tracks have the intensity and energetic force. And Trevor’s voice resembles a young Ozzy Osbourne and capturing the Sabbath and Doom genre torch and making sure it doesn’t burn out. I can hear almost as if they were recorded between 1970 and 1973 from the Paranoid, Master of Reality, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath sessions.

The trio really head into town as they work as a team. Loving those metallic bass lines that John Michael Tucker does. He carries the fuzztone levels through the riffs which is shown on You Must Sin and the homage to Electric Wizard with the Arachne. Trevor carries the rhythm and lead on here and both lending John and Andres a helping hand. Andres can take the drums from the styles of Bill Ward and Jan Lindh (Candlemass) to various sections. From mellow grooves to haunting/ominous directions on his kit.

The mid-galloping twist of Skin Crawler, sends me goosebumps and I can imagine the touches of Black Mountain’s In The Future-era in there. Trevor and John go into town between Guitar and Bass playing the melody together as if they were definitely writing scores for the Horror genre in the styles of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out.

This is my third time listening to Lusus Naturae. I was completely spellbound the moment I put the CD on. There’s going to be a few more good releases coming out this year and some competition to go with it. Beastmaker have landed on earth with a mighty punch to send the Doom Metal sounds with a vital force! This is a recommended band worth checking out. And I hope they will continue to see where the road will lead them into.

Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule

Doom Metal and Occult Rock band Blood Ceremony show absolutely no sign of stopping since their formation ten years ago in their hometown in Toronto, Canada. With three albums in the can on the Rise Above Records label, I always imagine what will they think of next with their follow up. Alia O’Brien is brilliant with her vocals, keyboards and flute playing. And with her fellow comrades including guitarist Sean Kennedy, bassist Lucas Gadke, and drummer Michael Carrillo, she knows that she has got their back and never letting them down.

She’s been very busy as she contributed to a film score with a 2015 documentary film from Banger Films covering the historical origins of Satan entitled Satan Lives which is directed by the same people who did Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, and Super Duper Alice Cooper. But let’s get straight to their new album entitled, Lord of Misrule. The traces of Psych, Folk, Doom, and Prog is still there with the essence of Jethro Tull meets Black Sabbath meets Fairport Convention.

But thrown in The Electric Prunes, Jefferson Airplane, Trees, and Forest, Blood Ceremony know their roots very in their cream of the crop of Prog and Doom. And they know what to get when they shop around for new songs and carrying the torch is showing how much they have come along and I’m very blown away here.

The opener, The Devil’s Widow, is a killer introduction with mid-tempo rhythms, blaring lead guitar riffs and solo, and drums getting the shuttle making a jump to light speed before Alia’s flute shows a bit of the essence of Thjis Van Leer. Flower Phantoms is like something straight out of the first Nuggets compilation as they go into the ‘60s garage rock-era with a hyper mood to jump into the groove with the VOX-like organ sounds, guitars heading into a haunting area.

Lorely is Blood Ceremony’s homage to the late great Harry Nilsson with a touch of British Psychedelia approach capturing the line busy tone from the Rhodes keyboard before to a swirling Beatle-sque ascending Mellotron ending. But I also love their approach of the band doing a waltz. It’s evidential on The Weird of Finistere.

I can imagine both Roxy Music and The Moody Blues working together on a composition like this as if they recorded this between 1969 and early 1970. And it’s such a chilling piece between Alia and Sean together. The double-tracking vocals, echo-reverbed, laid-back percussion, and lyrics dealing of the last rite of the character’s dying scenery.

Old Fires sounds like a chugging yet crunchier roar thanks to Sean’s guitar with it’s pumping riffs, blaring organs, and dramatic lead section in which he goes straight to the sky with his improvisation as he plays both at the same time in the double-tracking section that makes my head bang a bit more. Half Moon Street goes into Doom-Folk-Metal as if Sabbath had teamed up with Comus to create a grittier version of Song For Comus.

The closing somber, Things Present, Things Past makes the atmosphere melancholy to give it a look back on what will happen when we look back on the memories and that remained and either we fly into the previous chapters of our lives or play the last game to decide to make that choice either way. Blood Ceremony have scored for me another home run.

It’s great to see them going into a different direction, but keeping the Doom and Prog approach and showing that it’s still there and with the new album, it’s another classic surprise that makes me just jump for more and here they unleashed it again. Highly recommended.

Trettioariga Kriget - Trettioariga Kriget

I have been writing reviews on Progressive Rock for about eight years since I’ve started Music from the Other Side of the Room. And there’s not a single stop sign for me. I’ve been a champion of bands from the different isles alongside from the States and in the UK including, Italy, Scandinavia, France, and Indonesia to name a few. I’ve always loved the Swedish Progressive Rock scene with bands/artist such as; International Harvester, Beardfish, Opeth, Samla Mammas Manna, Turid, Hansson & Karlsson, Anglagard, and the late great Bo Hansson.

One of the bands that are one of the Heaviest and Proggiest is Trettioariga Kriget. Formed in the summer of 1970 in Saltsjobaden in which is in the east of Stockholm it is translated as The Thirty Years War in which it was between from 1618 to 1648 in Central Europe between the conflict of Catholics, Political Rivals, and German Protestants in the three countries of France, Sweden, and Denmark who were opposing the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.

The band recorded their sole self-titled debut album between May and June of 1974 and was released in September of that year. Listening to this again, you could tell how much they were ahead of their time and it is at times heavier, dark, sinister, and just in your face. Most of the time it sounds like if Rush had recorded their debut in Sweden and give it a real kick of high voltage that would shake up the city with a big alarm clock waiting to hit at the right exact moment.

Listening to this album for me, is like that. But with an eruptive explosion to kick things off with Kaledoniska Orogenesen. From the volcanic guitars, crescendo drums, and electrifying bass lines, both Stefan Fredin, Dag Lundquist, and Christer Akerberg head into town. I can hear the essence of Close to the Edge-era of Yes between Stefan and Christer as it becomes dynamic at times before Robert Zima’s spooky vocal arrangements and then the mood changes into a haunting melodic in the rhythm section.

Roster Fran Minus Till Plus begins with dooming bass lines, xylophones, and guitar melody that has a nightmarish essence of the Rock In Opposition format before transforming into a spacey and spooky atmosphere featuring the Mellotron coming in to give it a chilling vibration. Fjarilsattityder brings the combination between Gentle Giant, Gnidrolog, and King Crimson with a brutal force as Christer and Stefan challenge each other to a sword-like duel on their instruments and they go nail each other in their lead sections as Dag helps out to give an epic battle on the drums.

Mina Lojen starts off a heavy intro before diving into a melodic yet folky-acoustic-electric rhythm section. Vocalist Robert Zima is at the top of his game to give it a cooling mesmerizing section before the time signature changes as Stefan is really giving the Bass a gigantic blast through various sections that really resemble Geddy Lee and Chris Squire at times. The band give Stefan a chance to free-rein himself as he shines and giving Christer more of the section for a helping hand.

Ur Djupen channels the MKII-era of Deep Purple’s In Rock sessions while the closer, Handlingens Skugga which was inspired by Democritus, the Greek philosopher of the 5^th century B.C., gets back into the heavier side and it becomes a chaotic adventure as they head into the crunching mode.

There are three bonus tracks in which the album was reissued on the Mellotronen label thirteen years ago. Under the Pendent Roof in which it’s the first version for Ur Djupen is an eruptive guitar knockout by Crister himself. He channels both Ritchie Blackmore and Tony Iommi in the lead section that is jaw-dropping as he goes through both the lead and rhythm sections and it carries the twist between Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Judas Priest.

I’ve Got No Time starts with a ballad and you can almost imagine that Trettioariga Kriget show their softer side as Perspektiv in which it was the first song that Stefan wrote and the band worked and rehearsed in 1970. It was originally known as Amassilations which appeared on the Glorious War album which were recordings between 1970 and ’71 when the band was starting. It is a great unearthed gem as the band go into their improvisations that inventive and hypnotic.

This is one of these albums that I get a kick out of everytime I want to play this at maximum volume. The album did receive well in the music press as it was considered the first Swedish Heavy Rock LP. They were ahead of their time. They would later go back into the studio for a follow up which would be Krigssang (War Song) in which it was their second album.

But if you love the heavy rock sounds of Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Rush followed by the Prog touches of Gentle Giant, Yes, and King Crimson, then Trettioariga Kriget’s sole self-titled debut is the album worth exploring into. And play this very loud! 

Sam Coulson - Electric Classical

Sam Coulson, guitarist for ASIA, has released his first solo album in which it’s his take of classical music done in an instrumental format entitled Electric Classical in which he self-released it last year. There are ten tracks on here that clock in at 24 minutes and 05 seconds and there aren’t any guitar shredding and powerful riffs, it’s Sam showing a beautiful and gentle side of his love of the genre from the realms of Beethoven, Bach, Anon, and Tarrega to name a few.

He started sharing videos nine years ago on YouTube of playing Guitar from the realms of covers and classical interpretations. And it caught the eye of Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X) as he brought him to be a guest instructor at the Great Guitar Escape in which Gilbert himself created back in 2012.

It soon got Coulson to fill in the place of Steve Howe after he departed with ASIA as he released Gravitas two years ago on the Frontiers label and I hope he’ll do more with them for years to come. Now onto his debut album. I have to admit, I wasn’t aware of Coulson’s music until I saw his videos and just being blown away of his interpretations and he brought a lot of amazement to me of his videos on his YouTube channel.

With the release of his solo debut, I was impressed that it showed he’s got lot of potential in his virtuosity. Both clean and hard, he nails these pieces of music that proves he isn’t showing off, but nailing it down top to bottom. The tracks clock in between, 2, 3, 4, and 1-minute long and it’s very laid-back, beautiful, uplifting, and very strong in which he brings it to the dining room table.

It is now my fourth time listening to Electric Classical. And even though I was very new to Sam's music, it is a beautiful and short debut album for him and I hope for the second album he continues to do more. Maybe some longer pieces in the future as I hope he will do challenging pieces from Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, and Alban Berg to name a few.

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All in all, it’s a welcoming debut for him and along with his work with ASIA. And I imagine Paul Gilbert has done one amazing job and being very proud of giving the shining light for Sam Coulson.

The Winstons - The Winstons

This here for me is one of those unexpected debut albums that had my ears glowing brightly on earphones waiting for something unexpected and out of this world. And that band who carry the essences of Psychedelic Music, Garage Rock, and the Canterbury scene in the history of Progressive Rock is a trio called, The Winstons. They are from Milan, Italy and when I’ve listened to one of their samples and being in awe of the artwork done by Japanese artist Gun Kawamura, I knew I had to buy this album straight away.

And right from the moment I put the CD on, I was sent on a journey that almost made me feel as if they recorded this back in the golden-era of the Progressive Rock scene. They carry the essence of the Syd Barrett-era of Pink Floyd, The Doors, Caravan, Soft Machine, Arzachel, and Jennifer Gentle. The trio considers under the fictional names of Linnon, Rob, and Enro Winston. But they are in real life; Enrico Gabrielli on Keyboards, Alto Sax, Bass Clarinet, and Lead Vocals (Calibro 35, Mariposa, and Der Maurer), Roberto Dell’Era (Afterhours) on Bass Guitar, and Lino Gitto on Drums.

It is this blasting and hypnotic debut in which the trio just goes into town with an Avant-Psych-Prog Canterbury approach that just send shivers and arm hairs going up at the exact momentum. The instrumental Viaggio Nei Suono A Tre Dimensioni is set into hyper-space rock featuring thunderous fuzztone bass lines, VOX organ-lines, and driven tempo drums setting the course into the Milky Way that screams early Floyd and Hawkwind.

She’s My Face does remind me of the late great Ray Manzarek’s keyboard playing in which Enrico does to pay tribute to the legend who brought The Doors sound and resembling the Strange Days-era while Nicotine Freak sees The Winstons paying homage to the Canterbury backing vocal arrangers of The Northettes before delving into a Psychedelic voyage into the Outer Limits that you can imagine this being performed in the swinging ‘60s at the 14-hour Technicolor Dream that would send you on a trip like never before.

The ¾ Jazz-Psych Rock blasts more into the adventures of the trio’s music as they sing in Japan in which Kawamura himself wrote the lyrics for on Diprotodon. As both Gabrielli and Dell’Era share vocals with each other as they channel the early Soft Machine sound and Mike Rateledge’s blaring fuzz Organ that gives it a shrieking and melodic groove before the Saxes come in and then back into the Waltz that you can delve into.

Play with the Rebels channels the ascending momentum of a Beatle-sque ballad as they delve more into the early Pink Floyd again with a crossovers between A Saucerful of Secrets meets the Ummagumma sessions for …On a Dark Cloud. It’s a beautiful homage to Richard Wright and David Gilmour’s playing at the time he joined the band in 1968. There’s this film-score quality that I like about this as if they were doing a score for one of my favorite filmmakers in the surreal world of Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Some will love or hate The Winstons music. For me, I adore it from I put it on my Portable CD player.  This isn’t your typical Prog-Rock band, this is a band and project that I hope the trio will continue to do more in the near future to see what lies ahead in the years to come. AMS Records released their sole self-titled debut this year and I welcome it with open arms.

So if you love the Psychedelic Jazz Rock, Canterbury Prog, and the hidden treasures what they bring to the kitchen table, then be prepare to delve into the music of The Winstons. This is an album that might be played loud and turn it up at the right moment for an amazing psychedelic avant-garde adventure that you will experience.

Magni Animi Viri - Heroes Temporis (World Edition)

Ten years ago Giancarlo Trotta and Luca Contegiacomo have come from backgrounds between Metal and Classical Music from the Southern Italian state, Salerno. They created this project called Magni Animi Viri and released a Classical Metal Opera entitled Heroes Temporis. It received positive critical reception from Italy and abroad the world. Now in 2016, the duo have returned re-release the album again in an English edition with two international stars both in the Symphonic and Progressive Metal community.

Featuring Russell Allen (Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob, Star One), and Amanda Somerville (Trillum, After Forever, Avantasia). And with Clive Riche doing the narration. Alongside the three, there is the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, John Macaluso on Drums, the late bassist Randy Coven, and guitarist Marco Sgogli (Creation’s End, James LaBrie, Project Damage Control, Jordan Rudess) who takes over the great Franco Mussida of PFM.

With the release of the album, it also features to go into a charitable aim to help donate a ward for dedication to autism children for a clinic in Italy in which to finance an opening of a "game-and-diagnosis" at the MerClin ward in Campagna, province of Salmero. Now onto the story. It's about a Man’s journey towards understanding redemption through the attention that the reality that he’s living in, is nothing more but a dream. And the music itself, being a fan of both Symphonic and bits of Prog Metal thrown in, it is for me, an epic spiritual journey to find out who you really are.

From the moment I put the CD on, I was taken to an open door to a world of peace and hope that all heroes will be joined as one. And the music itself nails it perfectly. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed from the music that Trotta and Contegiacomo brought here in their arranging and composition format of the story and orchestral metal that blend well.

For me, I’ve been a huge Amanda Somerville fan since hearing her work in her orientated project entitled Trillium back in 2012 with the release of Alloy that I bought from The Laser’s Edge website. And I was just completely blown away of her vocal arrangements in the melodic format and for me, she can sing very well.

Both she and Russell handle the duets as if working together as a team. The evidence is there on songs including the Thrash turned ascending Symphonic yet beautiful Thoughts. I love how the guitar goes through these various section between power riffs, leads, and rhythm as drums lend a mid-fast tempo beat before choirs kick in the door open and I get a feeling it will become a fan favorite and yet a sing-along song classic.

The acoustic ¾ waltz time signature to dance to with an emotional strong and powerful lush on Moon Peace while Intus + Until captures your heart with an embracing moment as Somerville’s vocal arrangements that resembles the styles of Within Temptation’s early days from the Mother Earth sessions and not to mention Trillium’s Alloy which I could imagine it could have been used as a bonus track.

Both Temporis and Heroes captures the styles of Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody’s Ascending to Infinity. I love the classical boundaries thrown in between classical guitar, harpsichord, and the Sinfionetta’s by giving Russell’s voice which carries a resemblance to Alessandro Conti. It’s not that he brings passion through his vocals, but at times calmer and ascending positions on his vocals that had my eyebrows go up.

This is my tenth time listening to Heroes Temporis (World Edition). It’s a strong, powerful, and poignant album from start to finish. And I have to give this project a huge amount of credit for helping donating on autism awareness for children and music itself is a healing process. If you love Symphonic, Power, and Progressive Metal from the realms of Within Temptation, Ayreon, Nightwish, Dotma, and of course, Luca Turilli, then delve into Magni Animi Viri’s Heroes Temporis.

Here is the website on what they are doing: http://www.heroestemporis.org/index.php/en/