Lost Salt Blood Purges & Boring Bathtimes – Yellow Fog Sword

Australian and British entities Lost Salt Blood Purges and Boring Bathtimes have collaborated on a release of massive proportions, elegantly titled Yellow Fog Sword. On this release, Michael Snoxall (Lost Salt Blood Purges) set out to create a novel and its accompanying soundtrack with Oliver Aldridge (Boring Bathtimes), whom he already had made some small collaborations in the past. The original story of Michael ended up as a forty-four-page novelette, illustrated by Ov Exvn Infërnvz. Then, the outline of the music was created, with directions for pacing and events, and the task of coming up with music was handled … Read more

Leprous – Malina

There is a trend in modern prog: some of the more popular bands are seeking to capitalize on their popularity via the age-old model of shifting to a poppier style with broader appeal – lowering their common denominator, as it were. Leprous’ debut single from Malina, ‘From the Flame’, suggested to some that the Norwegian titans might be drifting in that direction. They are certainly ripe for popularity, with their smooth and entrancing approach to metal composition and Einar Solberg’s appealing singing voice. However, I am pleased to report that, despite some of the structural elements being poppierRead more

Quantum Trio – Duality: Particles & Waves

With members from Poland and Chile meeting in the Netherlands to play modern, progressive jazz together, Quantum Trio just released a massive hour-and-a-half-long double album, Duality: Particles & Waves. Besides being of massive scale and tremendous musicianship, Duality is a concept album on the wave-particle duality, an important concept in quantum physics. The first disc, Particles, is focused on the tangible, while the other one, Waves, embodies the ethereal facet of matter and energy. Concretely, the shift is very noticeable on the music itself. As per their own description, Particles contain polyrhythmic tunes and ballads, both undeniably … Read more

Porcus vs. Equus – Music out of Shit

Australia’s experimental rock band Porcus vs. Equus just released a single, or short EP, under the name Music out of Shit. With merely three tracks and a runtime of just eight minutes, M.O.O.S. is very short, but also very sweet. First of all, ‘Wet Sugar (Player vs. Environment)’ is a magnificent song to begin with. Reminiscent of the Spaghetti Western aura of Robotmonkeyarm, with their reverb-laden, aggressively-plucked overdriven guitar notes, Porcus vs. Equus bring in some rhythmic and structural surprises into this complex ear-worm of a song. At over three minutes long, it’s the least concise of the triptych, … Read more

The Tangent – The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery


Out this Friday is The Tangent‘s new album The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery, or “Where Do We Draw the Line Now?”. This politically charged prog album is very dense but enjoyable once you fully dig into it. It has some nice jazz sprinkled throughout and some great melodies and solos. There’s an electronic breakdown in the track ‘Slow Rust’; apparently the band brought in a DJ for those sections. They even got Chumbawamba founder Boff Whalley on as a guest vocalist. The slogan of this album is “The World Changed. Not the Band.” But, with this genre, … Read more