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Tag Threshold

Vicinity – VIII (Uprising Records)

This is the third album of progressive metal songs from Vicinity, a long-standing band out of Trondheim in Norway. The melodies and rhythm patterns are said to be of appeal to fans of Threshold, Circus Maximus and Dream Theater. The… Continue Reading →

Sky Empire – The Shifting Tectonic Plates of Power – Part One (ViciSolum)

If the title of this album sounds like some grandiose prog album from the 1970s, then the accompanying publicity suggests that this isn’t so far out. Nods are given to bands like Dream Theater, Threshold, Rush, Tesseract, Haken and Vola… Continue Reading →

Oblivion Protocol – The Fall of the Shires (Atomic Fire Records)

If you have a member from each of Threshold, Within Temptation, Darkwater and the Devin Townsend Band, as Oblivion Protocol do, then it’s fair to regard this band as a supergroup. There’s even Threshold’s stellar guitarist Karl Groom on here…. Continue Reading →

Black Orchid Empire – Tempus Veritas (Season of Mist)

A bit more mainstream than some of the works reviewed on this site, Black Orchid Empire do pride themselves on a combination of heaviness, melody, emotion power and rhythmic complexity. If done well, this is a potent combination. The band… Continue Reading →

Toehider – I Have Little or No Memory of These Memories (Bird’s Robe)

If you would like an audio depiction of a girl taking a 2TB usb stick off her keychain, and plugging it squarely into a swamp of a tiny planet, here’s the place to come. This ambitious work is a prog… Continue Reading →

Threshold – Dividing Lines (Nuclear Blast)

Melodic, progressive or whatever you want to call them band Threshold now hit us with their twelfth album release. I knew about them but really picked up on them mid-way through with their 2007 album “Dead Reckoning”, which is as… Continue Reading →

Kingcrow – Persistence (Laser’s Edge)

I can’t speak highly enough of Kingcrow’s two previous albums “In Crescendo” (2013) and “Eidos” (2015). Both are far-reaching immaculately structured collections of progressive metal songs. So naturally I was hoping for more of the same from “Persistence”, the seventh… Continue Reading →

Redemption – Long Night’s Journey into Day (Metal Blade)

My recollection of Redemption from seeing them headlining at ProgPower Europe in 2011 is that they are big, brash and American. Since then they have replaced their then lead singer with Evergrey’s Tom Englund, acquired a keyboard player, and temporarily… Continue Reading →

Ayreon Universe – Best Of Ayreon – Live (Mascot)

If someone as musically innovative and fan-friendly as Arjen Lucassen is approached to release a ‘Best Of’, it’s pretty fair bet he will find a way to do it differently, in a way that treats his fans to something new…. Continue Reading →

Power Quest – Sixth Dimension (Inner Wound Recordings)

I remember watching Power Quest a few years ago. I am sure they were supporting Helloween and it was at the Camden Palace, or Koko as it now is. My recollection is of cheesy jollity. To their credit, Power Quest… Continue Reading →

ProgPower Europe, 30th September, 1st and 2nd October, JC Sjiwa Club, Baarlo, Netherlands

Sunday 2nd October Smallman came from Bulgaria with the promise of mysterious music. So there we were at 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon, witnessing a very deep, dark and mystical sound with bagpipes and at other times a flute and a… Continue Reading →

Knight Area – Hyperdrive (Lasers Edge)

The strangely named Knight Area (makes me think of a seedy Chess Piece only Night Club, with designated regions – Bishops huddled together in one corner, Rooks in another plotting their downfall, and in a dimly lit area that’s just… Continue Reading →

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