1: NOTHING IN WRITING - New Lives for Rent
2: SURRILIUM - Aila
Description: Surrilium is a progressive rock band from Freiburg, Germany. Founded in 2011, they have released two full length studio albums previously: Fridolin’s Journey (2013) and Sir William (2015). Surrilium is predominantly a studio band, bringing the musical visions of bassist Robert Pachaly to life.
What we have is an ear-pleasing mix of classical and progressive rock, topped off by the impressive voice of Lindsey Blount. This album deserves a much higher profile. Well worth investigating. Top track: The One Who Saw
3: ESTHESIS - Watching Worlds Collide
Description: Esthesis is a progressive, alternative rock project formed and led by French multi-instrumentalist Aurélien Goude. The current line-up is composed of three other musicians: Baptiste Desmares (lead guitar), Marc Anguill (bass) and Arnaud Nicolau (drums).
Their debut album, The Awakening was one of the albums recommended by this site in 2020 and led to the band being voted the best unsigned band by the readers of Prog magazine.
Watching Worlds Collide is self-released today (19th August 2022). I've pre-ordered the 500-limited edition CD, and on a first listen it is a natural successor to the debut. The music retains many influences from classic British prog (Floyd, Camel, Porcupine Tree). This is mixed with elements of cinematic, post-rock and pop-rock in the seven songs that are heavily-reliant on emotive and ambient passages. Essential listening!
4: WUCAN - Heretic Tongues
Description: I've often seen this female-fronted band from Dresden mentioned as something I might enjoy. What took me so long? Groovy, flutey retro-rock with a touch of krautrock (synthesizers and theremin), classic hard rock, metal and disco. This is their third studio album. I'm off to check-out the complete discography!
5. SPEAKING TO STONES - (In)human Error
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Description: The second surprise of the month was the re-emergence of this American band/project after a 10-year silence. Their second album from 2012, Elements, is one of my all-time favourite prog-metal albums.
Speaking To Stones is based around multi-instrumentalist Tony Vinci. This time he has recruited drummer Mike Malyan (Monuments, Disperse) and vocalist Maxi Curnow with the aim of delivering a more modern metal sound. Lyrically Tony describes this as "a personal journey through the beauty and disappointment of trying to make change in our too broken world."
The CD was released on labels in north America and the Netherlands on August 5. Streaming of the full album is available on Spotify and YouTube.
More info from the official band website
6. A-Z - A-Z
Description: The third and final surprise came with the news that my favourite drummer Mark Zonder has reunited with Fates Warning vocalist Ray Alder, along with bassist Philip Bynoe (Steve Vai, Warlord), guitarist Joop Wolters, and keyboardist Vivien Lalu, to create this new band A-Z.
Their debut album has a memorable cover and a collection of songs that will appeal to a wide fan-base; one that enjoys accessible, heavy, melodic rock/metal. There is a level of depth to the compositions and arrangements that will reward repeat listens. Fans of Ray Alder's recent solo album, What The Water Wants, should adore this.
The Top 20 Heavy Prog & Progressive Metal Albums of 2021
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