This week we ‘ave mostly been watching re-runs of The Fast Show and listening to…
EDITOR - JERRY EWING
Opeth - *Windowpane*
With the news today that both Deliverance and Damnation are to be reissued by the newly reactivated Music For Nations label makes this week’s choice pretty easy. Damnation was the first evidence of where the Swedish prog rockers might be headed, and this live version of opening track Windowpane is a masterclass of virtuosic delivery. Terrific band.
DEPUTY EDITOR - HANNAH MAY KILROY
Sabbath Assembly - *Ave Satanas*
They’ve gone from eerie hymns to proggy rocking yet haven’t lost any of their occult magic – and the fifth album from this New York/Texas five-piece is even influenced by early 80s prog!
ART EDITOR - RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER
O.R.k. - *Funfair*
If like me, despite having seen Pat Mastelotto flex his considerable muscles for King Crimson this week, you yearn for more then never fear, he has joined together with Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, Carmelo Pipitone and Colin Edwin to form a new band called O.R.k. So it’s a supergroup with members of King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Beserk!/Obake and Marta Sui Tubi which should tell you something of the joint strength and diversity promised on their debut album Inflamed Rides. This track Funfair is certainly a showstopper, a rousing roller coaster of a bass line on top of which you can see the bright lights of the whirling guitar carousel, the driving hammer blow of drums and the dark tones of voices in the shadows between the tents. Compellingly edgy as though we’ve turned up at Ray Bradbury’s carnival to meet Mr Dark or have Stephen King’s Pennywise The Clown welcome us into the Hall Of Mirrors. As with all good funfairs, best enjoyed with friends so sit them all round the speakers and hit the volume button.
NEWS EDITOR - NATASHA SCHARF
Chelsea Wolfe - Iron Moon
Chelsea Wolfe’s wonderful new album Abyss has been on constant loop for me all week - it’s out through Sargent House - and this is the lead track. It’s a gorgeous piece of post-industrial bliss that almost sounds like what would happen if Trent Reznor decided to remix Cocteau Twins. It’s quite different from anything else at the moment and I absolutely love it!
REVIEWS EDITOR - GRANT MOON
Maserati - *Rehumanizer*
Prog’s very own scribe Greg Moffitt turned me on to these Athens space rockers, and damn right we’ll be reviewing their superb album Rehumanizer in the October issue. Note the comment below the track about twentysomething Rush - now if that isn’t a recommendation…
WRITER - JONATHAN SELZER
Death Hawks - *Black Acid*
Along with the aptly named Endless Boogie, Finland’s Death Hawks use the delay pedal and repetition to accumulate so much blissful radiance that you don’t know what to do with yourself. The new album on Svart can’t come soon enough.**
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LIMELIGHT ACT
Tiger Moth Tales - *Tigers In The Butter*
The brainchild of one Pete Jones, who has been blind since the age of 15 months. Described as “flamboyant instrumentals and whimsical lyrics that explore Peter Gabriel-esque themes of fantasy and childhood” in the latest issue of Prog. This is from the excellent Cocoon album.
