Is it possible to fall in love with a voice? Not the physical kind of love, of course, but the sound, coloring and timbre of someone’s vocals? To me the new album by District 97 has definitely made an enormous impression. Some of the female vocals that grace the new record called ‘In Vaults’ are simply electrifying. Will we be able to salvage more than just the vocals from this record?
Oh my, this is why I love progressive rock and metal so much. It’s the diversity and the huge productions that the best prog bands try to create. You will immediately recognize a band of this caliber whenever it crosses your path. This time the Italian band Kingcrow has gained this status with the release of their latest album ‘Eidos’.
New and unknown progressive rock and metal bands are always welcome. But sometimes you got these older and more experienced musicians that feel the need to do some solo work. You had the Liquid Tension Experiment with members of Dream Theater and Neal Morse, former vocalist and keyboard player, went solo as well. In between the work he does as the vocalist of The Flower Kings, Hasse Fröberg wanted to do his own stuff. That is where ‘HFMC’ sprouted.
Nostalgia, is sometimes referred to as some kind of sickness. You should not be nostalgic, don’t look back to the past, but focus on the present and keep track of what’s going to come. But I personally don’t mind some good old nostalgic moments, especially in music.
And along comes Mabel Greer’s Toyshop! The predecessor of the legendary prog-rock band Yes. ‘A New Way Of Life’ could be another major trip to the past on a disc. But is this true?
It’s amazing how easy it sometimes seems to be. A woman decides to form a new band, with a bit of a hippy, retro sound. Then she recruits a couple of metal musicians that agree to give in to the sound, to make a lovely prog-rock album, with it’s roots deep into the psychedelic. And that’s exactly Blues Pills.
