News Archives - Page 25 of 54

See “Everybody Dies” from the Ayreon Universe – Live DVD; Pre-orders available now!

by progrock.com | Jan 30, 2018 | News, Prog Report

After creating rock operas in the studio for more than 20 years, prog mastermind Arjen Lucassen, aka Ayreon, finally took his Universe to the stage in September 2017. Three shows sold out within hours after annoucing. 9000+ Fans from all corners of the world flocked to the 013 venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands to see this long-awaited show live. The filmed shows will be released on March 30 as a 2 and a half hour concert on various formats.

See the video for “Everybody Dies” here:

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ITEMS AND FEATURES
Here’s a list of all the items:
Earbook – 2CD/2DVD/Blu-ray (album + full show + bonus material on DVD and blu-ray)
Blu-ray
2DVD
2CD
Black Vinyl – 3LP + download card
Gold Vinyl – 3LP + download card – Limited to 500 copies worldwide
The DVD and blu-ray will have an extensive making of documentary, including interviews with the entire cast, and highlights from the try-out show performed a few weeks earlier.

Per-orders are available here.

Long Distance Calling launch ‘Boundless’ album player

by progrock.com | Jan 30, 2018 | News, Prog Report

German instrumental rock powerhouse Long Distance Calling are set to release their sixth studio album ‘Boundless’ this Friday 2nd February 2018. To celebrate its imminent arrival, the band have launched an album player featuring snippets from all the albums tracks.

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The album will be released as a special edition digipak CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD (incl. etching on side D) & as digital download. Pre-order now here:
https://longdistancecalling.lnk.to/Boundless

Following the release of two albums that saw the band exploring the addition of vocals to their sound, the band have gone back to basics and created a purely instrumental record.

The band comments: “We are happy to announce our new album ‘BOUNDLESS’ which will see the light of day on February 2nd 2018. This time around the four of us locked ourselves in a room over a couple of months and pretty much got back to where we started as a band to catch this “go with the flow” feeling. This is probably the purest LDC album ever, no guests, no vocals, all instrumental. We´re stoked how it turned out and this album got a lot of energy, heaviness, melodies and twists, we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.”

Mark’s Quick Review: Organized Chaos’ – Divulgence

by Mark Monforti | Jan 29, 2018 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

Organized Chaos is a progressive metal band from Belgrade, Serbia. Their music can be described as a mixture of different melodies, forms and orchestrations which unconventionally combine modern progressive metal with different musical styles like funk,classical music, Latin, hip-hop.

They are a new band to me and for once the released single I think is really great. I did nominate it for best track of 2017 with the song Cinnamon.

This a pretty heavy album at times but never really getting close to being extreme. Lalić’s vocals are memorizing and help accentuate the more melodic parts of the album.

The song writing is very solid and unique. Check out a track or two right here on progrock.com. Just select a link below and request a track.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(4.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK:	(3.5 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Cinnamon Here Request Broken Divine Here

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Spiral Key’s – An Error Of Judgement

by Mark Monforti | Jan 28, 2018 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

So this album is the second I have heard by the band and, quite honestly, I can barely remember the first album. This one seems to stick out to me a bit more. I really like the vocals first of all. At times they actually sound a bit like Roger Daltrey.

The opening track should be the “walk on” music for Bernie Sanders. Trump fans feel free to skip this track just based on subject matter. For people that do not like rifling drums that might be another reason to take a pass. It can bother me sometimes but not at all with this album as its not constant by any means.

John Mitchell (Frost*, It Bites, Arena) contributes a guitar solo to the track ‘Dark Path’, and vocalist Miguel Espinoza (Persefone) features on the track ‘Possessive’ and I really like both guest spots a lot.

If you are still with me here I can say that I suggest this album. For fans of Dream Theater and other prog metal.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(2.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(3.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(2.0 / 5)
ARTWORK:	(4.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(3.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(3.5 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Reason Revolution Here

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Hangover Paradise’s – Out of sight

by Mark Monforti | Jan 27, 2018 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

So I had never heard of this band despite them having a 2013 release called Mirrors. I was quite happy listening to this album and thought there were some nice moments on this album. I didn’t think it was consistently over average but if I were you I would give it a listen if you like crossover prog. The final track is quite good, why not request it below and hear it for yourself.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.5 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(2.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(4.0 / 5)
ARTWORK:	(4.5 / 5)
DRAMA:	(2.5 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(3.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Flowers in the Rain Here

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Rausch’s – Book II

by Mark Monforti | Jan 26, 2018 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

I missed the first album by Rausch, but Book II found its way to my inbox and as I proceeded to spin up the first track which still seems to me a farcical musical number, I was left a bit perplexed.

But once I made it to Irked, the fourth track, I saw the light and realized that this album has some potential.

For me the songs that are 9 minutes plus are exceptional and the shorter songs just are not doing it for me just yet. But the tone and the tension of this album is really exceptional.

I am glad to suggest this album to you, Shadow Gallery fans should take special note as Gary Wehrkamp guests on this album

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(3.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.5 / 5)
ARTWORK :	(4.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Drain Here
Request Irked Here

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

See “Everybody Dies” from the Ayreon Universe – Live DVD; Pre-orders available now!

Long Distance Calling launch ‘Boundless’ album player

Mark’s Quick Review: Organized Chaos’ – Divulgence

Mark’s Quick Review: Spiral Key’s – An Error Of Judgement

Mark’s Quick Review: Hangover Paradise’s – Out of sight

Mark’s Quick Review: Rausch’s – Book II

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