Abiogenesi – Io Sono Il Vampiro (2005) Italy

Out of the entire prog catalogue, this prolific Italian band chose to go back to the roots, dressing up the 70’s traditional sound with new craftsmanship and a variety of influences. Classic prog isn’t exactly what they play as their style has a dark, hard feel, although it blends well with the symphonic style. Their influences are basically threefold: heavy art rock (classic influence or modern arrangements), psychedelic prog, and modern Italian symphonic prog. Retro-prog could perhaps be mentioned also, as the band seeks to recreate a druggy, classic psych atmoshpere that blends fantasy, melodious passages and improvisation.

Crossover Prog • Italy

Studio Album, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Io Sono Il Vampiro
2. Leandro
3. Di Nero Vestita (Lady In Black)
4. Vampire Blues
5. Amico Ti Penso (Never Let Go)
6. Ascolta I Sogni
7. Lontano
8. Infinito
9. Belfagor
10. Sex Vampire
11. Mary Clark
12. Sabba Vampire

Total Time: 63:57

Line-up / Musicians

– Toni d’Urso / vocals, guitars, bass
– Roberto Piccolo / bass
– Sandro Immacolato /drums
– Paolo Cercato / keyboards

Hyacintus – Elydian (2002) Argentina

HYACINTHUS is the one-man project of Jacinto Miguel Corral, a classically trained and multi-instrumentalist from Argentina. His style is melodic symphonic prog in the pure 70’s tradition and shows his strong classical roots (Wagner and Mahler mostly come to mind). Both of his cd’s are concept albums featuring Latimer-like guitar solos, melodic synths and lush keyboards reminiscent of Rick Wakeman.

“Elydian” is a gently flowing album that unfolds like a play, recounting a medieval tale of an ancient land known as… Elydian. It’s full of magnificence, especially on the softer tracks, with good continuity from one to the next. The harder pieces, however, lack a bit of energy (weak production?) thus diminishing the ‘grandeur’ effects. Three guest musicians appear on the album who contribute some keyboards, cello, viola, drums, percussion and choruses. On the slightly superior “Fantasia en Concerto”, again the tracks all neatly flow into one another. This time, eight guests contribute extra bass, keyboards, cello and vocals. A drummer is also credited but the drums sound almost entirely electronic, bringing the overall enjoyment down a notch – a common flaw to both albums.

Genre: Symphonic Prog
Origin: Argentina

Studio Album, released in 2002

Track Listings

1. Acto I – Elydian (4:17)
2. Acto II – El Costo Del Tributo (5:06)
3. Acto III – Creciendo Con Su Secreto (3:32)
4. Acto IV – Overlay (5:51)
5. Acto V – Destruccion Y Desolacion (3:18)
6. Acto VI – Dolor En El Alma (5:37)
7. Acto VII – Marcha Hacia Elydian (3:56)
8. Acto VIII – Recorriendo Las Calles (4:13)
9. Acto IX – Dubiel (3:33)
10. Acto X – Adiestrmiento Y Preparativos (4:12)
11. Acto XI – Preludio (2:41)
12. Acto XII – La Batalla (4:48)
13. Acto XIII – Final (3:20)

Total Time: 54:24

Line-up/Musicians

– Jacinto M. Corral / guitars, piano & keys, bass, cello, viola, percussion
– Ed Martinez / drums and programming on 3, 7, 9, 12 & 13
– Victor Sanchez / percussion and chorus on 2, 4, 7 & 13
– Ariel Sanchez / clarinet on 2

Hyacintus – Fantasia En Concerto (2003) Argentina

Genre: Symphonic Prog
Origin: Argentina

Studio Album, released in 2003

Track Listings

1. INTRO TERRA HOXE (0:47)
2. L’Over (3:27)
3. PASSAGE TERRA I (0:28)
4. Antique song (5:09)
5. PASSAGE TERRA II (0:53)
6. Geomelodysong (3:36)
7. PASSAGE TERRA III (0:54)
8. Relmu Tromen (4:40)
9. PASSAGE TERRA IV (1:01)
10. Désir de Liberté (E.14) (5:18)
11. PASSAGE TERRA V (1:05)
12. Intimo (3:40)
13. PASSAGE TERRA IV (1:59)
14. White Mind (6:47)
15. TERRA HOXE FINAL (2:33)
16. Quién eres Tú (6:45)

Total Time: 48:52

Line-up/Musicians

– Jacinto Miguel Corral / guitars, keyboards, bass, violin, cello, percussion, vocals

Guests:
– Jose Luis Hernandez / drums
– Hugo Bistolfi / keyboards (16)
– Adrian Barilari / vocals (16)
– Daniel Sanchez / stick and bass (10)
– Victor Sanchez / percussion (4,10,12)
– Ariel Sanchez / melodica (10)
– Ana de Marchi / cello (10)
– Mery / vocals (10)

Marián Varga & Collegium Musicum (1975) Slovakia

This band is an historical band in Czechoslovakia. They was active from 1971 until 1981 with 6 releases plus one live lp. Their style is like ELP with Wakeman, The NICE and clear classical influences. The band was composed by vocals, guitars (Ludovít Nosko); keyboards (Marián Varga); guitars (Karel Witz); bass (Fedor Freso) and drums (Dusan Hájek).

The lp always contain long tracks all composed by Varga that give to compositions solid classical inspirations an example is “Hommage a J.S. Bach” or “Concerto in D” and other tracks, the guitar have much space supported by superb keyboards (hammond, minimoog, piano, spinetta) base and solos. I support people who think this is one of the best east Europe bands of ever.

Symphonic Prog • Slovakia

Live, released in 1975

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Mikrokozmos (7:23)
2. Nech zije clovek ~ Long live man (16:29)
3. Preludium in C Dur (a cast z baletu Romeo a Julia) (8:40)
4. Hudba k vodometu C.1 ~ Music to the fountain no (10:38)
5. Nesmierny smutok hotelovej izby ~ An immense sadness of Ti (2:37)

Total Time: 45:47

Line-up / Musicians

– Ivan Belak / bass
– Jozef Farkas / guitar
– Dusan Hajek / drums
– Marian Varga / organ, piano

Epignosis – Still The Waters (2009) U.S.A.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4642

Epignosis is essentially a solo project by Robert W. Brown, Jr., an American who began teaching himself the guitar in his early teenage years, inspired by his father and grandfather. Branching out into other instruments, he learned music from an eclectic bunch of artists, including rock, country, and classical. It wasn’t until he picked up a dusty used copy of Kansas’s Greatest Hits that he began to explore the world of progressive rock, and it wasn’t until seeing Kansas and Yes in concert that he began to love it.

While he wrote music for many years, the basic chord progressions, riffs, and lyrical platitudes quickly became stale, and upon hearing “Miracles Out of Nowhere” for the first time as a teenager, he began writing symphonic music, trying to capture the spirit of more robust instrumentation and thoughtful arrangements.

After over three years of difficulty (both technical and financial), the debut, Still the Waters, became a reality on January 10th, 2009. The music depends heavily on acoustic and electric guitar, organ, Mellotron, and synthesizer. The lyrics remain inspired from history and the Bible, serving as a personal encouragement and consolation. It should find favor with those who enjoy stark, organic passages interspersed with fuller segments.

Symphonic Prog • United States

Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Still the Waters (8:03)
2. A Pearl in a Field (7:59)
3. Move (9:56)
4. An Everlasting Kingdom (10:14)
5. No Shadow of Turning (19:48)

Total Time: 56:00
Line-up / Musicians

– Robert W. Brown, Jr. / all instruments and vocals
– Tasha Brown / guest vocal (4)

Agents of Mercy – The Fading Ghosts of Twilight (2009) Sweden

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4650

Formed in 2008, AGENTS OF MERCY was originally a side-project by Roine Stolt (guitars, bass, vocals) of The Flower Kings fame, whrere the goal was to create a low key, mostly acoustic based type of music.

Along the way Ned Sylvan (vocals) from Unifaun was invited to participate with vocals. However, one thing lead to another, and pretty soon the two of them found themselves involved in a creation that almost took on a life of it’s own – for some reason or other the compositions got longer and longer, more and more progressive rock elements found their way into their creations – pretty soon this had evolved into a collaborative project, and the music had changed from low key and acoustic to anything but low key and highly progressive.

With the participation of several musical friends debut album The Fading Ghosts of Twilight was issued in March 2009. Sylvan and Stolt finished some additional projects following the album release; and are taking this project on the road in the autumn of 2009 – in most cases doing a double bill with another Flower Kings side-projct; Karmakanic.

Neo-Prog • Sweden

Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. The Fading Ghosts Of Twilight (7:29)
2. The Unwanted Brother (5:45)
3. Afternoon Skies (4:01)
4. Heroes & Beacons (9:06)
5. Jesus On The Barricades (4:02)
6. Waiting For The Sun (5:17)
7. A Different Sun (8:08)
8. Ready To Fly (4:53)
9. People Like Us (4:54)
10. A Soldiers Tale (11:48)
11. Bomb Inside Her Heart (4:25)
12. Mercy & Mercury (7:56)

Total Time 77:50

Line-up / Musicians

– Nad Sylvan / vocals
– Roine Stolt / guitars, bass, vocals
– Biggo Zelfries / piano, organ, mellotron, minimoog, violin
– Pat Mastelotto / drums, percussion
– Zoltan Csörsz / drums
– Jimmy Keegan / drums
– Jonas Reingold / bass

The Wishing Tree – Ostara (2009) U.K.

This is Steve Rothery’s (MARILLION) solo musical adventure recorded in ’96 during a break in the action of MARILLION. The WISHING TREE features Steve Rottery on guitar and Hannah Stobart on vocals. Rounding out the line up is Paul Craddick on drums and Pete Trewavas (MARILLION) on bass. Rothery uses quite a lot of acoustic guitar which complements Stobarts voice very well especially in the ballads. The music has a neo progressive approach to the production but there is also a strong influence from English folk music which seems to come mostly from Stobarts voice and performance approach.

Prog Related • United Kingdom

Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Ostara (5:16)
2. Easy (5:26)
3. Hollow Hills (6:21)
4. Seventh Sign (5:43)
5. Falling (5:55)
6. Fly (4:41)
7. Kingfisher (4:16)
8. Soldier (5:36)

Total time 43:14
Line-up / Musicians

– Hannah Stobart / vocals and backing vocals
– Steve Rothery /guitars, bass, keyboards, and production
– Paul Craddick / drums
– Jo Rothery / additional backing vocals
– Mike Hunter / additional keyboards and percussion

Beardfish – Destined Solitaire (2009) Sweden

Eclectic Prog • Sweden

Track Listing:

01. Awaken the Sleeping (6:01)
02. Destined Solitaire (10:53)
03. Until You Comply Inclusing Entropy (15:21)
04. In Real Lief There is No Algebra (4:33)
05. Where the Rain Comes in (8:29)
06. At Home… Watching Movies (1:53)
07. Coup De Grâce (9:49)
08. Abigails Questions (in an Infinite Universe) (9:12)
09. The Stuff that Dreams Are Made of (10:40)

Line-up/Musicians:

– Rikard Sjöblom / vocals, keyboards
– David Zackrisson / guitars
– Robert Hansen / bass
– Magnus Östgren / drums

Tempest – Tempest (1973) U.K.

Formed by drummer Jon Hiseman in 1974 after the break up of COLOSSEUM, TEMPEST (no relation to the US band of the same name) are most notable for their line up rather than their albums. Hiseman brought in an at the time very young guitarist by the name of Allan Holdsworth, with Mark Clark (bass) and Paul Williams (vocals) completing the band. Clark had also been a member of COLOSSEUM. Paul Williams had played with JOHN MAYALL’S BLUESBREAKERS and JUICY LUCY.

TEMPEST released two albums with Peter “Ollie” Halsall (PATTO, SCAFFOLD) replacing Holdsworth for “Living in Fear”, and taking on keyboard duties for that album too. He replaced the departed Williams on vocals, resulting in a completely different sound for that album. Their music is more jazz rock than fusion, and Hiseman’s COLOSSEUM influences can be heard in the jazz influences in both albums. While “Living in Fear” was more direct and dynamic than the first self titled album, neither was particularly satisfactory.

Hiseman went on to form COLOSSEUM II, while Holdsworth found varying degrees of success both as a solo artists, and with bands such as GONG, SOFT MACHINE, UK and BRUFORD. The late Ollie Halsall (died 29 May 1992) recorded with BOXER and Kevin Ayers among others. Clarke worked with various bands including NATURAL GAS, URIAH HEEP, MOUNTAIN AND RAINBOW.

Heavy Prog • United Kingdom

Studio Album, released in 1973

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Gorgon (5:44)
2. Foyers Of Fun (3:41)
3. Dark House (5:02)
4. Brothers (3:37)
5. Up And On (4:19)
6. Grey And Black (2:29)
7. Strangeher (4:07)
8. Upon Tomorrow (6:41)

Total Time: 35:00

Line-up / Musicians

– Allan Holdsworth / guitars, violin, vocals
– Mark Clarke / bass, keyboards, vocals, all vocals on 6
– Paul Williams / vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
– Jon Hiseman / drums, percussion

Tempest – Turn of the Wheel (1996) U.S.A.

TEMPEST is a band with a modern folk-rock Progressive led by Lief SORBYE. Traditional instruments like Mandolins and Mandolas are used. “Turn Of The Wheel” includes the participation of Keith EMERSON on one track, while “The Tenth Anniversary Compilation” is a review of the group’s career. Recorded in 2001, “Balance” proves to be an excellent second album that is a little tougher, no doubt about it in order to justify their presence on this label with a very marked identity.

Prog Folk • United States

Studio Album, released in 1996

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. The Barrow Man (4:55)
2. Dunmore Lassies (3:16)
3. The Soul Cages (5:18)
4. Bogey’s Bonnie Belle (7:34)
5. The Midnight Sun (4:14)
6. Winding Road (3:37)
7. Bonden Og Kråka (The Farmer And The Crow) (6:26)
8. For Three Of Us (3:39)
9. Nine Points Of Roguery (5:47)
10. Cat In The Corner (8:27)

Total Time: 53:13

Line-up / Musicians

– Lief Sorbye / lead vocals, mandolins, octave mandolas, flute, harmonica, bodhran
– Rob Wullenjohn / guitars and harmony vocals
– Adolfo Lazo / drums
– Jay Nania / bass
– Michael Mullin / violin

Also:
– Keith Emerson / keyboards (#1)
– Robert Berry / keyboards and harmony vocals
– Jon Berger / violins and pennywhistle (#2)
– Chojo Jacques / violin (#5,#6,#8)