Welcome to Prog's Tracks Of The Week. Six new and diverse slices progressive music for you to enjoy.
A doff of the cap to German musician Harald Pontke, whose lengthy Abandoned Furnace won last weeks TOTW, followed by US yacht proggers Red32 and Devin Townsend.
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.
So get watching. And get voting at the bottom of the page.
QUEENSRYCHE - TORMENTUM
US prog metallers Queensryche have been making serious headway since their split with original singer Geoff Tate, former Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre fitting the band's polished prog metal sound like a glove over four accomplished albums since 2013 Queensrÿche reboot. Tormentum is taken from the most recent, last year's Digital Noise Alliance, and boasts a thought-provoking AI-created video.
“Driving straight into the horrors of crimes against humanity and the rules of the Geneva Convention, this storyline depicts two characters: one as the vulnerable victim in pain, and the other as the captor trying to extract information," the band explain. "The chorus leads with the powerful chant, “Lights Again”, expressing the person finally opening their eyes staring at the interrogation lights above during the dead intervals of torture. The eyes return to being closed tightly as the sessions begin again. The tale ends up highlighting this never-ending cycle of power, control, and greed.”
CHILDREN OF THE SUN - COME WITH US
Swedish retro rockers Children Of The Sün made a quite a splash with their 2022 Roots album, a heady mix of proggy psychedelia and retro rock fuelled by a dash of blues. Come With Us is the first new offering from the band since then, a bright and breezy, very catchy slice of rock that remains rooted in retro appeal.
The accompanying video was recorded at this year's Sweden Rock Festival. "Here you can get a glimpse and feeling of the moment when Children Of The Sün became the "talk of the festival"," the band say. "Find out why here..."
TEETH OF THE SEA - MEGAFRAGMA
London's artful psychedelic prog trio Teeth of The Sea will release their sixth studio album Hive through Rocket Recordings on October 6, from which comes this nine-minute long avant-epic, the pulsating Megafragma which the band made in collaboration with engineer and co-conspirator Giles Barrett.
The band describe Megafragma thus: "The track morphs form and structure in search of new epiphanies - sitting comfortably next to Stereolab/Nurse With Wound's Simple Headphone Mind and Roxy Music’s The Bogus Man."
TEMPLES ON MARS - SMILE
London based prog rockers Temples On Mars return with a brand new single, Smile, which is taken from their forthcoming studio album out later this year. Typically the quartet combine some serious rock along with one of the catchiest choruses they've come up with to date, while adding a slice of daring experimentalism in to boot.
“Existence getting you down?," the band ask. "Well what if you knew you only had one day left to live? How would you spend it? What if you didn’t have to face the consequences of tomorrow? Temples on Mars are back with this slab of grungy electro heaviness to pose these philosophical questions and offer potential ways to spend your last day along with the comforting fact that we are singularly, collectively, literally and metaphorically “going down in flames”. You might as well smile, relax, enjoy yourself, and have as good a time as possible. Smile, just fucking smile!”
SPROINGG - AND HER NAME WS JO-JO, THE DOG FACED BOY PART 2
German experimental trio Sproingg declare their music is "hard to describe", which is clear from the quirkily titled And Her Name Was Jo-Jo, The Dog Faced Boy Part 2, which is taken from the band's brand new CD Hirnkäse (English translation: Brain cheese) which reflects the humour inherent in the band and is sung in a fantasy language (Bruschmarian) the band have created.
"'Excessive eclectic minimalistic space punk prog' works because we have roots in progressive rock & avant-garde, improvise and incorporate the energy and intensity of punk and heavy rock, the band explain of their sound, adding "although some prefer 'progressive, excessive, obsessive minimalism'."
DIRTY SOUND MAGNET - MELODIES FROM DISTANT SHORES
Swiss psychedelic rock trio Dirty Sound Magnet will release their fourth studio album Dreaming In Dystopia, to be released 20th October via Australian label Wild Thing Records, from which comes opening track Melodies From Distant Shores, a song centred around vocalist and guitarist Stavros Dzodzos’ upbringing in the folklore-steeped town of Fribourg, Switzerland.
“Fribourg is an old mystical town that has many gloomy legends featuring dragons, witches, and the Devil himself,” explains Dzodzos. “With Melodies From Distant Shores I wanted to depict how I always felt like a stranger in a strange world growing up in the city, where it also doubled in cultivating this fear of the unknown as well through its mysterious history.”
