The last Steve Cichon album I heard was 2010's "Cranial Feedback", a release that was full of skill and technique, but ultimately not that exciting. New one "Heavy Sleeper" is a similar beast, though fortunately the adrenaline levels are pumped up several notches making it a lot more then mere background music.
The sound is still a combination of jazz, prog metal, hard rock and occasional electronica, but a lot more effort has been put into the variety and the spunkiness of the rhythms this time. Gone are the stupid live crowd effects, gone are the very fake drums, being replaced by fake but considerably better percussion sounds. The result is enthusiastic, interesting and a lot more energetic than the guy on the artwork.
Due on May 22 via Radiant Records, "Cover 2 Cover" is the new CD from Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy and Randy George. Together, this group of musicians hand-picked these classic cover songs to complete the second such CD in the bands extensive catalog. This widely diverse selection of songs is sure to capture the essence of the age of music that has impacted these accomplished musicians!
BLACK WIDOW, the ground breaking, occult, orgiastic progressive hard rock group who were banned by the BBC and besieged by religious nutters when they originally emerged in 1970, return to the Sabbat in 2011 with a brand new studio album, Sleeping With Demons, released on October 31st, distributed by Cargo Records.
Sleeping With Demons, which marks a massive return to the black magic roots Black Widow know so well, is packed with anthemic rock songs, huge chants, soaring hooks, and a story line with a host of new black magic stories to tell. Written, performed, and produced by Clive Jones and Geoff Griffith, Sleeping With Demons also features special guests Tony Martin (lead singer with BLACK SABBATH from 1987 to 1997), Kay Garret and Paolo ‘Apollo’ Negri.
UNWRITTEN PAGES originated from the Netherlands and is the brainchild of German/Dutch composer/vocalist Frederic EPE. He and his brother Michel EPE form the core of a musical collaboration that had its name chosen for the very purpose of the eclectic musical adventures that are neither restricted by style nor current trends.
To give further meaning to this statement, the band's debut album "Noah" - a two-disc concept album - features a solid array of guest musicians/artists, such as Damian WILSON and Karl GROOOM of THRESHOLD, as well as sci-fi artists Mattias NOREN that helped lay the foundation for a heavy space opera that isn't afraid to take the experimental route and challenge listeners with music that goes beyond the common verse-chorus scheme.
With their second release already in the works, Frederic and Michel take things to a completely different level: "Fringe Kitchen", while having an encompassing and overarching theme of self-imprisonment, drops the classical concept album approach and sci-fi attitude. Instead, the album will rely on heavily textured and driven songs with a strong focus on songwriting, though never taking any compromises or shortcuts in the making.
“Macroscream is a symphonic rock new ensemble based on the writing of Alessandro Patierno (bass and piano), on the classic vintage keyboards as Hammond, Rhodes, Mellotron and Moog by Davide Cirone and on the violin of Gianpaolo Saracino. The CD is dominated by the eponymus long suite (25 minutes). The other four tracks, among 6 and 8 minutes, are well constructed as well and feature some interesting folk inserts.”
May 17, 2012 15:13
All Exclusive Heavy Metal |Power Metal Progressive Rock
Now...
Here's another first for April, Juggernaut is my first experience with Texas metal band All Too Human. It appears that this album has been sometime in the making. We last heard from the band in 2002. The core members remain: Clint Wilson (g), Maurice Taylor (b), and Chris Lucci (d). They've borrowed Gordon Tittsworth from Images of Eden on vocals. (Lucci also plays drums for Images of Eden.)
With one spin I'll admit I was skeptical. Juggernaut is a rather diverse and dark album. To the former, you'll hear a variety of influences informing the prog, including traditional heavy metal, power metal, and modern hard rock. As to the latter, the heaviness unleashed here gives the album a weighty brooding quality. The best pieces are the bookends of the title track and the revamped instrumental Arrythmia, from 2002's Entropy.
Russell Allen’s – Atomic Soul (2005) Lossless + MP3
May 15, 2012 11:12
Hard Rock Progressive Rock
Band Russell Allen Info: USA Info: Atomic Soul Style: Hard Rock/Prog Metal Years: 2005 Info: Lossless (FLAC,image+.cue, scans)/MP3 CBR 320 kbps Info: 408 Mb /118 m
While waiting for ACT to get their thumbs out and release a follow up to the appropriately entitled “Silence”, please welcome Time Code Alpha. Ok, in all honesty, Time Code Alpha shall be seen as no substitute for ACT, we are talking a new highly interesting band with its own sound but in the same genre here. Time Code Alpha features the undisputed talents of former Biscaya singer Mads Clausen, guitaristPeter Lazar and bass player Ken Sandin who has been seen in bands like Alien, DaVinci, Transport League etc.
While listening to the debut album recorded by the American progressive rock band Gekko Project, the British band Camel immediately crossed my mind and especially the albums Raindances (1977) and Breathless (1978). On these albums Camel made a mixture of progressive rock with elements of jazz-rock and fusion. The same kind of influences is noticeable on Electric Forest.
