Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Six brand new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
US prog rock duo Days Between Stations took top honours last week with their instrumental Seeds, with German proggers Blind Ego in second place and Halen guitarist Richard Henshall third. Congratulations to all.
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.
BEARDFISH - OUT ON THE OPEN PART 1
Recently reformed Swedish prog rockers Beardfish will release their new album, Songs For Beating Hearts, on InsideOut Music, with whom they re-signed earlier this year, on November 1. A standout is the near half-hour opus Out In The Open, which the band have teased by releasing the opening overture. Having heard the whole thing, we can happily report you're in for a real treat!
"Out in the Open was one of the very first songs we started working on for Songs For Beating Hearts and musically it’s a real trip," exclaims mainman Rikard Sjöblom. "It’s a 20-minute epic divided into five parts that range from quintessential Beardfish-esque melodies and themes to dreamy soundscapes, folky elements and heavy rock. Something that’s always been very important for us with these kind of songs are returning themes and this one has them all over the place, sometimes obvious ones but some of them are reworked and just subtle hints. Lyrically the song follows the love theme of the album and deals with finding your way back in relationships after falling out. There’s also a part that’s almost like a testament to ones hopes and dreams.
"On digital and streaming services the song is divided into five parts and the first part, that you can listen to here, is an overture that sets the tone for what’s to follow!”
OVERHEAD, THE ALBATROSS - PAUL LYNCH
Dublin post-rock quartet Overhead, The Albatross will release their second album, I Leave You This, on November 15. it will be the band's first release for new label Nice Weather For Airstrikes, also home to Prog faves VLMV and Poly-Math. Prog was impressed with the band when we saw them at this year's Portals Festival (as we were with the choice of name) and the near-ten-minute Paul Lynch offers much for the listener to get into, an atmospheric mix of post-rock and proggier avenues. Expect big things...
"Paul Lynch is named in memory of a close friend who played an essential role in the creation of this album," the band explain. "Paul, a best friend of our band member David, was a constant presence in the studio during the writing process. It was his encouragement that brought us back together after years apart, and without him, this album might not have existed. This song is our tribute to his friendship and lasting impact on us as individuals and as a band. The song ends with a cathartic chant that helps us remember Paul and invites those listening to remember the people in their own lives who they have lost along the way."
RAVEN SAD - THE OBSIDIAN MIRROR
Italian prog rock quintet Raven Sad release their fifth studio album, Polar Human Circle, through AMS Records and BTF Vinyl Magic today! The Obsidian Mirror offers a perfect example of their sound, fired by the imagination of multi-instrumentalist and main composer Samuele Santanna, who says the new album is "a sumptuous and fascinating conceptual journey on the salvation of mankind."
"Polar Human Circle is another enthralling progressive journey through intense soundscapes with a strong evocative power, a concept whose lyrics, sung by Gabriele Marconcini’s expressive voice, lead the listener to question our species’ actual survival ability. Within an international-scope sonic texture which, thanks to a hard edge and obscure side – unprecedented in the band’s music style – blends 90s prog-metal with more modern sounds."
MOTORPSYCHO - UP TO ME
Norwegian trio Motorpsycho are just one band who feature on a newly recorded version of Jethro Tull's classic 1971 album Aqualung. Aqualung Redux will be released through Magnetic Eye Records as part of their Redux series which has also included Pink Floyd's The Wall, AC/DC's Back In Black and Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. it will be released, as will a Best of Jethro Tull Redux, on December 6. Alongside Motorpsycho, the album also features Chris Goss from Masters Of Reality, The Sword and more.
"Jethro Tull is a band that made a niche of their own; and pretty much stayed there", says Motorpsycho vocalist and bass player Bent Sæther. "Around 1972, they caused a rash of flautists to take up space on stage with more heavy folk-rock bands than you could shake a stick at – before permanently going out of fashion a couple of years later. Huge in influence for a brief time and much loved by some, they were equally derided and scorned by others. The British were wonderfully original musical iconoclasts. Just like The Dead, Rush, and a select few other 'True Legends of 70s Rock', Jethro Tull's intractability and sense of self-control rang as true as Fugazi's 20 years later – and have been as great an inspiration to Motorpsycho over time."
VIRTUAL SYMMETRY - CANVAS OF SOULS
Italian-Swiss progressive metal quintet Virtual Symmetry will release their fourth album, Veils Of Illumination, on December 6, from which comes the intricate and catchy Canvas Of Souls. The band are equally adept at more complex fare, promising that the new album also features "an epic 20-minute suite"! Virtual Symmetry will support Swedish prog metallers Evergrey on their European tour throughout November.
"Canvas Of Souls is the first single from our new album Veils Of Illumination," comments band’s guitarist and mastermind Valerio Æsir Villa. I think it represents very well both the whole album and the band, which now features a new line-up that sees Ruben Paganelli on keyboards and Andrea Gianangeli on drums. The song perfectly embodies the new life of the band and the soul of the album."
ALEX CARPANI - AMNESIAC PART 2: PERFECT CHAOS
Italian prog rocker Alex Carpani will release his new album The Good Man through his own label Independent Artist Records on December 6. Amnesiac Part 2: Perfect Chaos is the first single from the upcoming album, which is split into two epic suites, Amnesiac and Good And Evil. It's complex and rewarding stuff and bodes well for the upcoming album.
"Musically, TGM is, perhaps, the album of my discography that most of all summarises and represents my style and the genres in which I have expressed myself over the years: rock, prog, prog-metal, symphonic rock, symphonic music, electronic, ambient," says Carpani. "The line-up also includes a mezzo-soprano singer, because the music has at times lyrical, almost cinematic characters."
