Category Archives: Review

Kamancello – Kamancello

by Matt Matheson

Improvisation is the cauldron in which most great music is born, but for most musical acts it is just the beginning of the composing process. Some artists, though, are secure enough in their creative talents to make improvisation an integral component of their sound. The right musicians and framework can produce magic with this approach, and that’s precisely what a pair of internationally renowned string players have done on the self-titled debut album of Kamancello. If you like improvisation, chamber music, and portmanteaux, this is the album for you.

Kamancello juxtaposes the dynamic cello performance of Raphael Weinroth-Browne, whose … Read more

Kaipa – Children of the Sounds

by Jeff Nixon

I first discovered Kaipa about a decade ago when I was really into The Flower Kings and was exploring their various side projects. The Flower Kings frontman Roine Stolt was a member of Kaipa during the late 70s (when he was only 17), and during their reformation in the early 2000s, but left after their 2005 album Mindrevolutions. Children of the Sounds, out on September 22nd, is now the eighth album since Kaipa’s return, and thirteenth overall.

The dynamic between Patrik Lundström’s and Aleena Gibson’s vocals is quite powerful and something that has always stood out to me … Read more

Wobbler – From Silence to Somewhere

by Dæv Tremblay

Wobbler is a Norwegian progressive rock band that’s younger than it sounds. On October 20, they will release their fourth full-length album, From Silence to Somewhere, and it seems lifted straight out of the golden age of progressive rock. The Canterbury sound is quite apparent in this there eclectic, there symphonic monument of an album. The eponymous megalith opening this four-track record covers a wide range of the progressive rock of the late sixties and seventies. Rarely – if ever – do we smell the faintest fragrance of modernism in this musical anachronism. Organs, flutes, – did I hear … Read more

Rosetta – Utopioid

by Matt Matheson


Philadelphia post-metal quintet Rosetta released their sixth full-length album Utopioid last week, and I figured I owed it to the band I named my daughter after to give their new offering a review. The troupe has been around since the peak of post-metal saturation; their debut, The Galilean Satellites, was released in 2005, right alongside undisputed classics like Isis’ Panopticon, Cult of Luna’s Salvation, and Neurosis’ The Eye of Every Storm. For my money, The Galilean Satellites – released as a metal side and an ambient side designed to be played simultaneously – is the pinnacle … Read more

Instar – The Ex nihilo Cycle

by Dæv Tremblay

Instar is a narration-driven progressive metal band based in Austin, Texas. Their debut album, the self-titled Instar EP, came out in January of last year, and was a pretty interesting insight into what the project could become. With their debut full-length coming right around the corner, we get a better glimpse into the promising future of their formula. As for what they currently offer, I’ll be reviewing that right here.

First of all, narration-driven music can’t be good if the narration itself isn’t. In a day and age where the posh British accent is revered amongst many media – just … Read more