#255: That was the year that was! The all-in-one guide to the 58 albums recommended by this site in 2022.

In February, this blog will celebrate its ninth anniversary. Ever since our very first edition, the idea has been a simple one: to bring you some of the best up-and-coming progressive artists from around the world.

Each edition features at least five albums, with a full album stream and video for each, plus a mini review and a link to the artist's website. 

In eight years we have brought you over 250 editions, featuring more than 1600 great albums; so far reaching over 840,000 readers.

In 2022 we published eight normal editions featuring 58 wonderful albums. 

As it can be difficult to keep track, here is an easy-to-use, all-in-one-place list of our recommendations from 2022. There is the album cover, title and a brief description of the music, with a link to the edition in which it originally featured. There, you will find a mini review, streams and info and a video for every album. Happy listening.

KARFAGEN - Land of Green and Gold

February: EDITION 243

ALTESIA  -  Embryo

PLASTIC WOODS - Dragonfruit

This Andalucian power trio was formed in 2019 and this is their second album mixing prog, psyche, stoner and doom. To add interest and texture, the drums, bass and guitars are enhanced by flute, trumpet, sax, violin and flamenco guitar.

February: EDITION 243

LALU - Paint The Sky

Being the son of two musicians from the 70s, and growing up surrounded by progressive music, French musician Lalu says that he always wanted to craft a true-to-its-roots progressive rock album. His third solo album is exactly that.

February: EDITION 243

RIVERWOOD - Shadows and Flames

If you like bands such as Myrath or Orphaned Land, but seek a bit more prog, then this band from Alexandria more than delivers.

February: EDITION 243

VASS KATSIONIS - Ethical Dilemma

A pure listening joy for all fans of the traditional 90s style of prog-metal, especially Fates Warning, Queensryche, and Conception.

April: EDITION 243

RICK MILLER - Old Souls

Rick's 15th studio solo album is an excellent continuation of his Pink Floyd, Camel and Genesis-infused prog-rock.

March: EDITION 244

THE SILENT WEDDING -  Ego Path

A very enjoyable blend of Savatage, Evergrey and Fates Warning with top vocals and a great use of keys to add extra layers and melodies.

March: EDITION 244

JHUFUS - The Call of the Monolith

Fuzzy, instrumental, guitar-led heavy-psyche from obscurity-ville somewhere near Madrid.

March: EDITION 244

BLUE RUMBLE - Blue Rumble

The keyboards and guitars and production scream the 60s! An Atomic Rooster for modern times? 

March: EDITION 244

C Z A R I N A  -  Arcana

Ready to try something a little different? C Z A R I N A (A.K.A. Vero Faye Kitsuné), an American award-winning synth and electronic artist, songwriter, producer, visual artist and filmmaker now based in Galicia and London. 

March: EDITION 244

IZZ - The Endless Collection

The three fairly-short songs mix symphonic prog with jazz, latin, acoustic and funk in an inventive framework where the vocals are very much to the fore. Brightly enjoyable.

March: EDITION 244

VON HERTZEN BROTHERS - Red Alert In The Blue Forest

Follow the link below to discover my favourite song of 2022

May: EDITION 245

KAPREKAR'S CONSTANT - The Murder Wall

Third album from this UK-based folksy-prog collective that will delight all fans of early Genesis and Big Big Train, with a lovely blend of male and female voices.

May: EDITION 245

ODDLAND - Vermillion

Almost exactly a decade after the release of their debut album, A Treachery of Senses, complex prog-metallers Oddland return with their third effort

May: EDITION 245

HUMANOTONE - A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand

Hailing from Cocuimbo, Chile, heavy-psych, progressive, stoner, doom one-man band Humanotone tick all the right boxes for me.

May: EDITION 245

BIID - Medium

Here's some alt / prog / rock / metal that deserves more attention than it seems to have been getting so far.

May: EDITION 245

TANGERINE DREAM - Raum

On their new album Raum, Tangerine Dream develop the concept of its precursor EP (Probe 6—8) further.

May: EDITION 245

SPHERIC UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE - Back Home

This is the first album in a decade from the French masters of heavy, technical, melodic prog-metal.

June: EDITION 246

VOIVOD - Synchro Anarchy

Formed 40 years ago in Quebec, studio album 15 sees this quartet continue in a nerdy-avant-tech-thrash-metal vacuum of their own making.

June: EDITION 246

TRANZAT - Ouh La La

Please judge this book by its cover! Abject oddness from Brest (that's not a dodgy innuendo, it's a city up in the north-west tip of France!).

June: EDITION 246

 ZERO HOUR - Agenda 21

They're back!! Album number seven is a natural tech-metal successor to what has gone before, despite it being 14 years since The Dark Deceiver. 

June: EDITION 246

PREINCARNATION - Incarnation

From out of nowhere this hard rock/blues-rock/prog-rock album spun straight into my Top 3 albums of the year. Brilliant singer and great melodies.

June: EDITION 246

GUILD OF OTHERS - Guild Of Others

The secret to the success of this album is simple; great song-writing and fantastic melodies. Top 10 album of the year for me.

June: EDITION 246

MOTHER OF MILLIONS - Orbit (EP)

I just love the two new songs on this stop-gap EP. I wish there was more!!!

June: EDITION 246

SEVENTH WONDER - Testament

The big melodic rock chorus of The Light (below) and the more metallic crunch, the Kamelot-style phrasing and the keyboard frills of Warriors, suggest that this will delight existing fans.

June: EDITION 246

TALIESIN - Faceless

Another delicious alice of Australian heavy prog. This should appeal to those who like a bit of compositional depth to their rock and/or metal. 

June: EDITION 246

ALL THINGS FALLEN - Shadow Way

This is the second album by the Swedish progressive metal band founded by Markus Sigfridsson (Darkwater, Harmony, 7days).

June: EDITION 246

GIANT WALKER - All In Good Time

A new band from the north of England that is generating a bit of a buzz.

June: EDITION 246

FROGG - A Modern Age Prometheus

A female-fronted progressive metal band based in Milan who drench their music in more philosophical thoughts.

June: EDITION 246

NOTHING IN WRITING - New Lives for Rent

With Nothing in Writing, Sean Thompson (Odd Logic) has teamed up with drummer Dan Blackson for a collection of songs that showcase the lighter, more neo-prog side of his writing.

August: EDITION 248

SURRILIUM - Aila 

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. 

August: EDITION 248

ESTHESIS - Watching Worlds Collide

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. 

August: EDITION 248

WUCAN - Heretic Tongues

Groovy, flutey retro-rock with a touch of krautrock (synthesizers and theremin), classic hard rock, metal and disco. 

August: EDITION 248

SPEAKING TO STONES - (In)human Error

One of many surprises this year was the re-emergence of this American band/project after a 10-year silence. 

August: EDITION 248

A-Z - A-Z

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. 

August: EDITION 248

KING BUFFALO - Regeneration

The best heavy-psyche band on planet Earth. Buy with confidence!

September: EDITION 249

TOEHIDER - I Have Little To No Memory Of These Memories

This album consists of a single and a song lasting 47 minutes and 47 seconds. What can go wrong?

September: EDITION 249

MOURA - Alexa, espreitan

This Spanish band from the Galicia region is back with a true masterpiece full of local folk, psychedelic prog and some stoner touches. 

September: EDITION 249

TIME DWELLERS - Novum Aurora

Great surprise with this Swedish trio's debut album. Mellotron, 12-string guitars, synths and more, with that 70s vibe played under groovy rhythms and very nice guitar playing.

September: EDITION 249

MAJOR PARKINSON - Valesa – Chapter I: Velvet Prison

One of those genre-defying bands, this Bergen-based combo has delivered their fifth opus onto the music-devouring world. 

September: EDITION 249

KINGS OF MERCIA - Kings of Mercia

Fates Warning guitarist and chief song-writer Jim Matheos has teamed up with Steve Overland - the voice of UK rockers FM - for a collection of heavy blues-rock. 

September: EDITION 249

49 BURNING CONDORS - Seventh Hymnal

Looking for something a little different? In their own words, Philadelphia-based 49 Burning Condors (great name) "thrives off the myths of malefic witches, lustful gods and unholy ghosts bound to the Swamp, slithering with its snakes."

November: EDITION 250

HAVEN OF ECHOES - The Indifferent Stars

Haven of Echoes is a new collaboration between vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Paul Sadler (Spires) and Andreas Hack (ex-Frequency Drift). It's a sophisticated and emotional slice of modern progressive rock with an abundance of cinematic, folk and gothic colours.

November: EDITION 250

CHARLOTTE WESSELS – Tales From Six Feet Under, VOLS I & II

Post-Delain, Charlotte Wessels' solo journey has passed its first landmark with the completion of this two-part debut album. 

November: EDITION 250

MAGENTA - A Symphonic Trilogy

Magenta's ninth studio album sees a major change in direction from past works. This is a fully-orchestrated affair, with no drums or bass anywhere to be found.

November: EDITION 250

YESTERDAYS - Saint​-​Exup​é​ry álma

Prog-rock from Hungary inspired by Genesis and Yes. Fans of the Hammond, Mellotron, Minimoog, Yamaha CP and synthesizers will love this. There is also a flute and tambourine!

November: EDITION 250

ARENA - The Theory of Molecular Inheritance

This 30-plus-year-old band of UK neo-proggers are back with another album, their tenth and first in four years. Singer Paul Manzi is out. The omnipresent Damian Wilson is in. And what a good fit he is.

November: EDITION 250

ELDER - Innate Passage

With the wonderful King Buffalo whetting my appetite for more heavy psyche, Elder is a band that I've been told I should check out. This is their sixth album. It is delicate and heavy as the music requires.

December: EDITION 251

DREADNOUGHT - The Endless

The joys of YouTube's algorithms took me from King Buffalo to Elder to Dreadnought. This quintet from Colorado are a consistent best-seller on Bandcamp. 

December: EDITION 251

HERE ON EARTH - Nic nam się nie należy

This is the third album by this Katowize-based quintet, but the first in their own language. The music is from the borderlines of alternative and progressive rock/metal.

December: EDITION 251

FREN - All The Pretty Days

If you like your prog to be quirkily-instrumental with plenty of pianos, organs, synthesizers, and Mellotron, then this will likely be your album of the year. 

December: EDITION 251

MY SOLILOQUY - Fu3ion

This is the third album from the ex-Threshold member Pete Morten. Again the ten songs offer a more intricate style of prog-metal than his ex-bandmates.

December: EDITION 251

JUDICATOR - The Majesty of Decay

This American prog-power metal band is taking more risks here, with far more progressive leanings and less-obvious melodic hooks and riffage.  

December: EDITION 251

ETRANGE – Enigme

Enigme is a collection of wonderful sci-fi storytelling by this French instrumental duo that excels with its cinematic, progressive and dynamic style. 

December: EDITION 251

THRESHOLD - Dividing Lines

It's Threshold. So you know what you're getting. Great melodies. Guitar crunch. Accessible song-writing and great vocals.

December: EDITION 251

MILLENIUM – Tales From Imaginary Movies

This is album number 17 and despite a new singer and an interesting storyline concept, it sticks to their tried and trusted Polish neo-prog sound in the mould of Collage, Satellite, and Believe.

December: EDITION 251

EMPYRE - Relentless

Empyre is the newest signing to the Kscope label. Following the success of Molybaron's signing to the Inside Out label, I am hoping some of the major 'prog' labels are looking to strengthen their rosters with some newer, fresher progressive sounds. 

December: EDITION 251 

And did you miss any albums from 2021?

An easy guide to our 39 recommended SFTW-albums from 2021