Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Five brand new and diverse slices of progressive music for you to enjoy.
Well done to Swedish independent artist, multi-instrumentalist and YouTuber Johan Steensland, whose track That Man Isn't Me won last week's Tracks Of The Week, pushed all the way by Geordie prog rockers Giant Walker in second place and Norwegian avant-garde progers Ulver in third place.
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner, and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
TESSERACT - NATURAL DISASTER
UK prog metallers TesseracT have been a surging roll since the release of their fifth studio album, the epic concept album War Of Being. Having toured the album around the globe already, the band have just announced a run of further European and UK live dates for early 2025, hitting cities where. they didn't play last time round. To announce the new dates, the band have shared a new live video of them performing Natural Disaster at their sold-out show at London's The Forum in February this year.
"We're very excited to announce the second leg of the War Of Being world tour," says guitarist James Monteith about the new live dates. "We will kick this off in Europe in January, hitting many cities we didn't make it to the first time around. We're also performing in Croatia, Latvia and Estonia for the first time! We'll have a fresh new set performing more songs off War Of Being, plus more deep cuts from our back catalogue. And of course, there'll be a whole new stage show."
GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT - EMBERS
Irish post-rock quartet God Is An Astronaut have announced they will release their brand new studio album Embers through Napalm Records on September 6. The new album sees the band mixing psych and krautrock with their expected post-rock atmospherics with bothers Torsten and Niels Kinsella and drummer Lloyd Hanney joined by guest musicians including Dara O'Brien, Jo Quail and Sean Coleman. The band have just released the title track as their second single from the album.
"Our lives are like embers,“ the band comments, of the new single, which seamlessly blends elements ranging from progressive rock to black metal. "Glowing brightly for a while, then fading into the quiet dark, leaving only a faint echo of their light."
DIM GRAY - ASHES
Norwegian prog rockers Dim Gray will release a new digital live EP through their own Grim Day Records label in the Autumn which will contain live versions of songs from both Dim Gray albums to date, as well as their recent single, Murals. Each performance was recorded by front-of-house engineer Rob Aubrey at shows in England, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Norway and mixed by him to create a document that captures the band’s live sound in authentic fashion.
"‘Ashes is a dramatic piece that relies more on electronic sounds than many of our other songs, so we had to approach playing it live a little differently," explains vocalist/keyboardist Oskar Holldorff .
Guitarist Milad Amouzegar adds: "I think we managed to do the song justice live. We played it a few more times on this tour, but the energy on stage in Oslo was amazing. I don't think it sounded any better than on that night."
MATTEO MANCUSO - PAUL POSITION
Sicilian guitarist Matteo Mancuso has already drawn plaudits from such six-string legends as Al Di Meola, Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi, as well as being called "the world's hottest virtuoso" by Total Guitar magazine. The YouTube sensation released his debut album, The Journey, through The Players Club/Mascot Label Group last year. Paul Position is taken from the album and features Stefano India (bass) and Giuseppe Bruno (drums)
"I wrote it some days after receiving this wonderful Baritone Guitar from Bacci," says Mancuso "If you are wondering why it's called Paul Position, it's because I was inspired by one of my favourite players, Mr. Paul Gilbert!"
ORION - THE FALLING HEAVENS
Orion is a prog metal studio project that was launched in 2023 by multi-instrumentalist Ben Jones and who released his debut album, The End of Suffering, that same year. Not one to rest on his laurels, Jones has been busy creating a follow-up and The Lightbringers will be released on August 16 and featured cover art from Rush collaborator Hugh Syme. The first single, The Falling Heavens, is part of an epic 25-minute track on the album, entitled The Cycle Of Light.
"This is an album I never really expected to make," explains Jones. "And another thing I never thought I would do would be to work with Hugh Syme! As the world’s biggest Rush fan, I have long admired his work. To have him create the full layout for this album, plus a fully illustrated 20-page booklet, was something I could never have dreamed of!"
