Welcome to Awesome Prog!

One or two may be surprised, they are delivering a really modern sound. This album proves that they should not be reduced to the vintage 1970's times. When the band could set a landmark concerning the development of experimental music, and hereby especially the Krautrock genre. It certainly sounds influenced by the album 'Malesch' and their early excursions to some French speaking North African ressorts. But some Far East flavour is coming up too while drawing obvious references to their 2007 re-union tour in Japan. Apart from new bassist Daniel Cordes the line up is still the same compared to the 1970 years. More than ever this is interspersed by a fascinating percussion work, and Michael Hoenig's contemporary electronic goodies, apparently resembling his experiences as a film music composer.

The orchestrations are lovely. The band is energetic. The choir is excellent. The production, despite its ties to Fascination Street Studios, is surprisingly good. But something is missing... passion, perhaps? Uniqueness?

The loss of Yossi Sassi here is very apparent. Idan Amsalem and Chen Balbus are proficient musicians, if not a bit generic, don't get me wrong. Chen makes a fitting rhythm guitarist, and Idan would fit in great with pretty much any other progressive metal band in the realm of Symphony X and Scardust; however, I feel the latter lacks the "wow factor" of Yossi. Can he shred? Yes! Can I headbang to him? I suppose. But can I bellydance to it? That's the real question and the answer is a disappointing no.

What we have here is a tradeoff of orientalism for technicality. And frankly, the way, in the videos, he displays his guitar and neoclassically shreds, as if he's a support act Michael Romeo, with a deadpan expression doesn't feel right for Orphaned Land - he feels like a show off, which works for bands like Symphony X and Dream Theater. In their previous live album, The Road to Or Shalem, Yossi was smiling the whole time, moving around and interacting with the crowd. Idan is just... kind there.

His style lacks power and heaviness - when Yossi plays it feels like I'm being hit with a sledgehammer - the sound works for Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs, as it was a more symphonic, classically-influenced album than the band's previous work. When he plays their older Mabool/ORwarriOR stuff, it just doesn't sound right.

Chen is the one who maintains the modality in the band's sound along with Kobi Farhi, and while he's competent, he just can't compare to Yossi, except when soloing, on which are evident that he spent a ton of time practicing them to sound just like Yossi - the satisfaction he gets when successfully completing them is wholesome. I understand that lineups change, but this was a major loss in my humble opinion.

As for improvements over The Road to Or Shalem, Kobi's clean vocals have improved significantly. That was my single complaint on their previous live album. He did not sound good - he was nasally and almost sounded lethargic. On here, he's shining bright, however, as expected with age, his harsh vocals here do seem a bit more strained, not unpleasant, just not as natural. Noa Gruman of Scardust singing Shlomit's parts was a surprisingly strong fit. I hear more Turkish vocal techniques in her singing than Shlomit's Yemenite techniques, but it works overall - it's still "oriental" enough to compliment Kobi's more Mizrahi/Sephardic Jewish vocal techniques. I also think the video production itself is a massive improvement; in The Road to OR Shalem, I couldn't stand how frequently the camera angle changed as it felt unfocused and all over the place. Aside from the generally better recording angles and higher quality video, the editing is a lot more focused and I feel the right people are in frame at the right time, and it's just a better watching experience overall.

Don't misinterpret me; the symphony orchestra is perfect match, and the band performed well. I just feel the lineup change since their last live album is just too much of a departure to the band's core sound and I would rather listen to The Road to Or Shalem, and part of this is because I prefer ORwarriOR and Mabool material to Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiah material, but mostly because I want to hear (and see) Yossi Sassi. Kobi Farhi is still a phenomenal frontman, and super engaging with the crowd, and Chen, like Yossi, is always smiling and happy to be there - he even appears to try to mimic Yossi's overjoyed facial expression and pseudo-laughter when soloing, and man does he NAIL those solos, which is very fun to watch in a good way; but I don't like his reliance on power chords and his too-polished guitar tone. Uri Zelcha, the "metalhead" of the band is headbanging to his hearts desires. Sharon Mansur, the band's touring keyboardist might be the most lovely woman I've seen play with a metal band - she's always smiling and super happy to be there, and I like seeing her play, but I do think the programmed keyboard sounds a little "cartoony," if not novel, and in contrast with the professional orchestra feels out of place, yet strangely enough I do like it. Matan Shmuely, as usual, is great drummer and adding the darbuka to his kit was a brilliant idea, and I also find it amusing how he's wearing the exact same shirt in this concert as he did in The Road to Or Shalem. It's a good album, overall, and it's interesting enough that I will probably still get it, I just think the new lineup needs some getting used to.

This band from Argentina has delivered a splendid new album, the production fulfills all the wishes of a Symphonic Prog lover. Especially to note Lalo Huber's comfortable opulent keyboard and synthesizer presence all the way through. Due to the dramatic organ this partially resembles an Atomic Rooster and ELP feel. Splendid female lead vocals on top, lyrics are in native language. Just let me file the music under the term Flourishing Symphonic Prog. Because the more I listen the more I'm enjoying the album.

Inspired by the dystopic Jack Vance Sci-Fi novel 'The Blue World' the band around David and Gonçalo Ferreira is delivering a captivating varianted atmosphere. They ultimately are capable of setting the dramaturgy into motion, to transfer the adventurous context into the appropriate musical expression. The album marks a competent blend of Hawkwind inspired Heavy Space Rock, tempting Psychedelic expression and a pinch of Kraut Rock due to some hypnotic motoric rhythm work in between.

Occasionally this sounds like a more way-out incarnation of the band Sanguine Hum, also similar to Nick Prol and The Proletarians project in some way. Meets my taste. Hard to believe, actually they are capable of delivering a rather unusual, alienated yet wonderful experience based on a Math Rock approach with microtonal guitars. Another strong contender for an album-of-the-year contest.

A band that cannot be pinned down to a specific genre respectively style of music. And so on this occasion we have a Space Rock odyssey at hand, featuring an android as the protagonist. Meant as a spiritual excursion in the same way this is excellently worked out from the band that is headed by multi-instrumentalist Steve Babb, needless to say. Hannah Pyror's crystal clear vocals are a counterpart to the mostly heavy loaded, slightly dark mooded atmosphere.

Once already announced to see the light of day in Spring/Summer 2022, it took some time from the final mix to the official release date. It was worth the wait. All's well that ends well. The line up sees primary songwriter and guitarist Liza Kotova. And front man Efim Kolitinov sounds in the same manner as diverse highly praised Neo Prog vocalists. Furthermore the band from Moscow skillfully implements diverse string instruments. Some keyboard contributions are added by Adam Holzman. Sound-wise this occasionally comes close to bands like Hillward, Head With Wings, Pinn Dropp.

It's certainly also due to the frequent exchange of the staff. Norwegian bands are definitely one of the top priorities when it comes to produce inspired and innovative Prog music. Two musicians are responsible for the songs on this occasion, also (occasionally) active for projects like Tusmørke, Breidablik, The Chronicles Of Father Robin aso. This album leaves nothing to be desired when you are a fan of a multi-varianted blend of Symphonic and Folk. Very authentic, lyrics are presented in native language. And it's all created with a lot of easiness and joy of playing.

It seems, apart from one early promo EP, they have reserved all their inspiration and power for one production solely. Definitely groundbreaking, more than 100 minutes of sheer beauty. The band easily could have divided this into two or even three separate albums, without losing any quality standards on each side. Singer and guitarist Marco Ciancaglini is the head of this ensemble from Italy. They let it rock with ease. Nice incorporated samples, and four short interludes are filled with quite different impressions from atmospheric space to traditional folk.

Technically flawless, definitely varianted, the lyrics are embracing the complete range of emotions. And those five guys in their prime hailing from the Hanover region in Germany are bringing all the available energy into the game, that's assured. Simon Moskon's formidable singing voice again ranges from clear, charming towards raw, aggressive. The song material is properly Rock n' Roll tinged. Stylistically the new songs are to be classified somewhere between Prog, Alternative, Hard Rock, Metal. Overall there is a step away from Progressive Rock standards to note here. Nevertheless, leaving my personal preferences aside, this album is an excellent production by all means.