Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Seven brand new and diverse slices of progressive music for you to enjoy.
A massive shout out to Jordan Rudess whose Shadow Of The Moon romped home last week with over half of the votes cast, with Italian prog metallers Kingcrow in second place and Tim Bowness in third.
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner, and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
DILEMMA - THUNDER
Dutch prog rockers Dilemma will release their brand new album The Purpose Paradox on September 20. The album introduces new singer Jermain van der Bogt, known as Wudstik, who replaced previous singer Dec Burke, who has previously collaborated with well-known acts like Ayreon and For All We Know, and also performs with Dream Theater tribute band, Regressive Hypnosis. The band have also been joined by bassist Kristoffer Gildenlow, who has previously played with Pain Of Salvation.
"In his search for connection and fulfillment, Neon finds guidance from an unconventional mentor named Electra," the band explain of the theme behind new single Thunder. "She helps him realize that often, the things we look for are the ones that find us first. In ‘Thunder’ we discover another side of Neon: he is a musician longing to return to the audience with whom he has built a strong connection. Unfortunately, circumstances in the world are unfavorable, making it unclear when he can stand in the spotlight again."
HAVEN OF ECHOES - AD INFINITUM
Haven of Echoes is the collaboration between Paul Sadler (Spires/solo) and Andreas Hack (Frequency Drift), and the duo will release their second album, Memento Vivere, on September 20 through Construction Records. It follows their 2022 debut The Indifferent Stars and deals primarily with the theme of impermanence and the way in which we are all affected by the knowledge of our own mortality.
"Lyrically the album deals primarily with the theme of impermanence and the way in which we are all affected by the knowledge of our own mortality," the band explain. "All these elements are combine in a unique cinematic, gothic and truly progressive album, that despite its musical complexities remains relatable and honest, and will linger in the listener’s mind long after the music stops."
NYTT LAND - WAIT AND BLEED
Slipknot aren't your normal Tracks Of The Week fare, we grant you, but Siberian proggy folk duo Nytt Land have only gone and covered Wait And Bleed in their own hauntingly inimitable style. The new single follows Nytt Land's most recent album, Torem, which was released through Napalm Records last October 20 and ahead of an upcoming European tour.
"With great respect for immortal Slipknot heritage, we created this cover version of their famous song "Wait And Bleed" in our own sound with traditional Siberian throatsinging and musical instruments. Primal energy in its purest form is what this song symbolizes for us," the band say.
"And very soon, we are going on our big European tour to present our new Ritual in its full live sound. This is part of our life and we will share it with you. This time, for the first time, we will go on stage in Serbia, Greece, Romania, Spain and Austria, and of course we are very happy to return to France, Norway, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Belgium. Prepare for the Ritual!"
EBONY BUCKLE - GOLDEN SAND
Are there no end to Australian baroque progger Ebony Buckle's talents? Actress, part of the Solstice set-up as backing singer and talented singer-songwriter of thoughtful and melodic prog. Buckle is gearing up to release her second album, Hearts Get Started, the follow-up to her well-received debut album, Disco Lasers, and the wistful Golden Sand is the second single she's released ahead of the album
"I wrote the song after finding a photo of my brother Finn and myself playing at the beach when we were little," Buckle explains. "I get very homesick living on the other side of the world from my family. The music video is very nostalgic and was filmed where I grew up. It features my best friend Kat and her beautiful family, as well as a little cameo from my Mum."
THE APHELION - THE SEED OF DOUBT
The name may be kind of similar to a Leprous album from 2021 but The Aphelion are a Canadian prog metal quartet who are about to release their new concept album Nascence on August 9. The upcoming album tells the story of a man’s descent into madness and his mind in response to the mundanity and repetitiveness of the world around him.
"Musically, this song takes influence from the 70s prog rock era," the band state. "It features guest appearances by Brian Asselin on saxophone and Eric Littlewood on trumpet. At this point in the story, the protagonist meets the love of his life, and while their new love is beautiful and for a time he is fulfilled and happy, eventually the relationship sours as he becomes afraid of her hurting him, and grows distrustful and controlling."
LUCA - INTRA
Luca is the guitar-orientated solo project of Italian bassist Luca Negro, who also features in the band Temperance and which came to fruition after lockdown prevented bands from performing live. Inspired by the likes of Periphery, Plini, and Tesseract, Negro has just released Azalea, a five-track REP that highlights his prowess and compositional skills. With Temperance having just released their latest album Hermitage - Daruma’s Eyes Pt. II, it appears Negro is a very busy man these days.
"The initial idea for the project was conceived during the pandemic, a long period of forced absence from the live scene, which allowed me to create his first ideas and gradually accumulate material with a distinct style from all his other musical projects," Luca explains.
ARILD BROTER - BOND AND PARIS/CITY OF LOVERS
Best known as the mainstay for Norweigan proggers Pymlico, Arild Brøter has taken the bold step of blending his passion for progressive music and for James Bond music. Unlike countless others, however, Brøter hasn't just played around with the well-known theme tunes, but rather investigated much deeper, creating a wonderful proggy mix of Bind incidental music. The album is called A Spectre Of Sounds: James Bond Music Reimagined and is out now through Apollon Records.
"On this album, Arild has skipped most of the title tracks," his label state. "He has been digging deeper and meticulously taken apart the actual scores and the music used in the films and rearranged them in new, clever ways. 60 years of tone-setting music from one of the biggest film franchises that has ever existed has been transformed into new fresh electric instrumental rock tunes."
