Redemption - Frozen in the Moment Live in Atlanta Review

Great (four stars out of five)

Playing for the rabid crowd at the ProgPower festival in Atlanta, Redemption offered up a nine-song set lasting about an hour and giving fans a great taste of what the band has to offer. For the many fans who were not in attendance, Redemption is now offering up that show in this CD/DVD package, Frozen in the Moment - Live in Atlanta. This first live set from Redemption is a very strong one, and one that Redemption fans will definitely want to pick up.

The band plays a great setlist on this one, mostly consisting of songs from Redemption's two most recent albums, although "Nocturnal" off of the self-titled debut is also included. In all, it's a hard set list to argue with: the fan-favorite epic "Sapphire" is here in its entireity, and the band provides a good mix of songs from The Origins of Ruin and The Fullness of Time. In all, the set list should please Redemption fans universally.

The performances in this live show are strong, but they aren't without a few faults. Instrumentally, there are a few extremely minor slipups, but you'd have to be looking for them in order to notice them. While most of the instrumentation is identical to what is found on the album, some of the keyboard solos deviate from the studio recordings, and Sapphire begins with a short guitar intro that isn't found on the studio version. Vocally, Ray Alder sounds pretty good throughout the concert, but he does sound noticeably worse than on the band's studio albums. In a few places, Ray struggles to hit higher notes, especially late in the show. In addition, there's a more gravelly sound to his voice throughout the show, which isn't necessarily a negative thing--it's just a difference that fans should be aware of. Still, it's Ray Alder, so any minor quibbles are easy to avoid. Lastly, the band has a decent stage presence. Ray is very active while he sings, and Sean and Chris on bass and drums respectively are fun to watch; it's especially fun to watch all of Sean's great bass techniques that you don't get to see on a recorded album. Nick is fairly reserved, but even he moves around the stage a bit.

The sound and video quality here are both very good--very much what one would expect out of a band with a fairly limited budget. The sound is surprisingly good, especially on the DVD. I was especially impressed with the sound from the drums--the bass drum sound was absolutely punishing. It does seem that Ray's vocals are a bit too quiet at points--oddly enough, they seemed too quiet in the first few tracks, but better later on. This may be my imagination, but I did notice it on both viewings. The accompanying CD also has good sound, but you'll definitely be more impressed with the DVD. As for the video, it is definitely strong, with some good camera work. Some shots last too long, and some shots of the audience are less than interesting (one particular shot focused on a set of fans that looked somewhat bored. Yikes.), but these minor problems won't get in the way of your enjoyment of the show.

The DVD also includes some extras--most of which aren't particularly interesting. There's a photo/video diary of the band's 2007 tour with Dream Theater, which is set to an 11-minute unreleased instrumental. There are a few amusing moments in the video diary, but you'll probably find yourself focusing more on the song. In addition, there's an outtake reel that also has some funny footage (some of the same funny footage from the diary, actually). Lastly, there's a music video for "Bleed Me Dry," which is worth a look, but isn't a particularly impressive video in its own right.

Frozen in the Moment is a great package to own for Redemption fans. Sadly, there's no new material to hear from the band's upcoming new album (which should be out later this year). Nevertheless, it's great to see these guys play live, and they offer a very strong show that shows off the huge talent that this band has.

Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com

This Week's Featured Album: Mind's Eye - Walking on H2O

After 2007's release of the fantastic album A Gentleman's Hurricane, it became hard to avoid talk of Mind's Eye: a band that seemed to have perfected its sound and songwriting style. But before that came another incredible album: Walking on H2O. A decidedly softer album than A Gentleman's Hurricane, it shows a band that had managed to capture a cinematic feel in a progressive rock album in a way that hadn't been achieved before. The songs sound like their own little movies, and those movies are, of course, very good. Despite some downright laughable lyrics (the moon landing conspiracy? Really?), the music here is some of the best that 2006 had to offer.

You'll definitely want to check this one out if you've never heard Mind's Eye or are only familiar with A Gentleman's Hurricane. Samples can be found to the right.

News: Upcoming in February from Lion Music - Astra and Tony Hernando

Tony Hernando - Actual Events


Tony Hernando is a Spanish shredder guitarist back with what is being called his strongest album yet, with comparisons to greats like Yngwie Malmsteen and Vinnie Moore (the latter being my own addition). Actual Events is set to be released on February 20th, 2009. You can check out some of Tony's music at the Tony Hernando MySpace page.

Astra - From Within

More Italian progressive metal, this time from Astra, which is described as extremely catchy prog metal similar to early Dream Theater, Symphony X, and Queen. From Within is also expected on February 20th, 2009. The Astra MySpace page has all of you sample seekers covered.

This Week's Featured Album: GPS - Window to the Soul

GPS is a band formed by Asia's John Payne along with Guthrie Govan, Jay Schellen, and Spock's Beard keyboardist Ryu Okumoto. In essence, this album is the Asia album that never was. A majority of the songs were meant for an Asia album entitled "Architect of Time." However, this album was canceled after Geoff Downes reformed Asia with an earlier lineup. To make things more complicated, two distinct Asias exist today: Asia and Asia featuring John Payne, the former featuring original members and the latter, obviously, featuring John Payne.

Despite the brouhaha with Asia, GPS manages to be a compelling album with some great songs. John Payne's voice is great, but isn't what most prog rock fans may be used to. The instrumentation is strong, and there are some great melodies to be found here. As always, check out the samples to the right.

News: Derek Sherinian Makes Up Word, Records New Album

When heinous just doesn't cut it, only heinosity will do. With any luck, the music on this new album from Derek Sherinian, entitled Molecular Heinosity, will be considerably more righteous, dude.

This time around, the ex-Dream-Theater keyboardist will be teaming up with former Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde, along with a number of other guest stars and returning regulars. Sherinian promises a more straightforward progressive metal album than some of his previous releases.

The album will have the following release dates worldwide:

Japan: February 25th, 2009
Taiwan: March 1st, 2009
Germany, Austria, Switzerland: March 20th, 2009
Europe: March 23rd, 2009
North America: March 24th, 2009

To acclimate yourself to the heinosity, be sure to direct yourself toward the Derek Sherinian MySpace, which will give you a taste of some of the album's tracks.

Links and Resources

This particular page/post is devoted to relevant links across the progressive rock and metal world, encompassing band pages, label sites, similar progressive rock sites, blogs, etc. While it will take some time to compile, I would like it to become an extremely comprehensive resource, where readers can easily direct themselves to any destination in the progressive world.

If you would like your band's/site's link added to this page, please contact me either by leaving a comment on this page (down at the bottom) or my emailing me at santakauz [at] gmail (dot) com.

Please bear with me as this page begins to come together.

Bands

Ayreon/Arjen Lucassen - Official, MySpace, Forum
Circus Maximus - Official, MySpace, Forum (requires registration)
Demians - Official, MySpace
Frost* - Official, MySpace, Forum
It Bites - Official, MySpace, Forum
Karmakanic - Official (via Jonas Reingold), MySpace
Mind's Eye - Official, MySpace
Seventh Wonder - Official, MySpace, Forum
Suspyre - Official, MySpace, Forum
Unitopia - Official, MySpace

Friends of Progressive Melodies

HotMusicReleases - An interesting site that complies reviews and information about new music releases across multiple genres.
Progressive Savage - A well-written new blog with news posts, reviews, and the occasional rant about prog music.

Labels/Shops

Galelio Records - Official, MySpace, Store
InsideOut Music - Official, MySpace, Store
The Laser's Edge/Sensory Records - Official, Store
Lion Music - Official, MySpace, Store
Progress Records - Official, Store
ProgRock Records - Official, MySpace, Store, Mindawn (ProgRock Records' Digital Distribution Service)
SPV - Official, MySpace

News: Three Upcoming DVDs from InsideOut Music

Redemption - Frozen in the Moment: Live in Atlanta

This first live CD/DVD offering from Redemption was filmed/recorded at the ProgPower festival in Atlanta. The package has a few release dates depending on your region: Feb. 27th (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), March 2nd (Europe) and March 3rd (North America).

The track list looks very nice, offering the following songs:

Threads
Bleed Me Dry
Nocturnal
Memory
The Suffocating Silence
Release
Fall On You
Sapphire
The Death of Faith & Reason

In addition, the DVD offers some outtakes, video diaries, and an unreleased instrumental song recorded in 2003. With any luck, I'll be able to review this for you all before or around its release date.

Ending Themes: On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation

This new Pain of Salvation package is advertised as "a turning point in the history of Pain of Salvation." To be honest, I don't really know what this 2DVD/2CD set is. It is apparently two seasons of a TV series that was never shown on television. With Pain of Salvation, you never know if a claim like this should be taken literally (doubtful). Anyway, I'm just going to post the news from Pain of Salvation's site and let you make your own sense of it. To me, it just seems like a 90 minute documentary and a live concert disguised in a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor. As of now, the reported release date is February 3rd according to InsideOut, and February 29th according to the Pain of Salvation site. I'll update this space if I get a definite date.

DVD1: SEASON ONE
ENDING THEMES is the groundbreaking TV series that shocked a whole world (still uncertain which world) when it was first broadcasted. Thought to have been lost forever during the great war (wee bit uncertain as to which one), copies of the original tapes were found hidden under the floor boards of the Berlin Museum of Rather Contemporary Good Films after the wall came down (most likely the Iron Curtain, or possibly a Chinese one). Now, digitally restored into a massive Director’s Cut never before seen on TV or anywhere else, this monumental work of cinematic art is finally available on DVD! Back to shock the world once again, this first season tells us the haunting story of five nearly young boys (wonderfully portrayed by five unknown Swedish actors), preparing themselves for an amazing journey into the unknown on which they will meet deceit, happiness, lies, Belgium, truths, love, and ultimately themselves, in a desperate pursuit of a mutual dream called Music. And as this fragile dream clashes with harsh reality, we watch them grow into five nearly young men. But what happens to a dream, when the dreamers change? Or part…? Alas, the depths of curiosity, as we stumble aching into this classic bildungsroman that is THE FIRST DEATH OF PAIN OF SALVATION.

sixworlds / eightdays
(90 min documentary by Per Hillblom)
• EPISODE 1 / the pilot: foreword
• EPISODE 2 / one: final rehearsal
• EPISODE 3 / two: leaving entropia
• EPISODE 4 / three: should we say ”hi” first?
• EPISODE 5 / four: put a lock on your mouth
• EPISODE 6 / five: suspicious minds
• EPISODE 7 / six: stay humble
• EPISODE 8 / seven: busy with metal
• EPISODE 9 / eight: onehundredandsixteendecibel
• EPISODE 10 / epilogue: the first death of extras
• Commentary Track (time-warp commentary by Per and Daniel)
• Somewhere in Europe (tour slideshow with commentaries)
• The Non-Making of (bloopers)
• Dea Pecuniae 3D (three versions of Dea Pecunia video/audio)
• Sticky Fingers (Lars Ardarve gig slideshow)
• Easter Egg / Hidden Menu
• Sneak Preview

DVD2: SEASON TWO
In this second season of ENDING THEMES we follow Daniel (wonderfully brought to life by Daniel Gildenlow, who also played other Daniels in Meet the Flower Kings, Transatlantic and “BE”), who meets with his jolly friends to perform music in Amsterdam (filmed on actual location in Amsterdam), but they all have emotional scars to deal with, after the somewhat sore break-up with former bass player and family member, and jolly friend, Kristoffer (here played by Simon Andersson, nominated somewhere for Best Newcomer), as hinted at in season one. Meanwhile, their jolly friend Léo Margarit (beautifully portrayed by Johan Langell, who won a Granny for Best Male Actor With Sticks for his part in “BE”) is fighting his own demons, haunted by enticing visions of a mythical nirvana called Svenssonliv. This really gets to his jolly friend Johan (Hallgren, who is actually played by himself!). And how many Johans can there be in a band, or a series? And what might happen if he knew that his jolly friend Fredrik (Hermansson, who also played one of the unknown Swedish actors in season one) is secretly christened Johan too? The plot is thickening in this second season of the groundbreaking series Ending Themes, as we slowly approach THE SECOND DEATH OF PAIN OF SALVATION.

touching you harder
(live in Amsterdam)
• EPISODE 1: Scarsick
• EPISODE 2: America
• EPISODE 3: Nightmist
• EPISODE 4: ! (Foreword)
• EPISODE 5: Handful of Nothing
• EPISODE 6: New Year’s Eve
• EPISODE 7: Ashes
• EPISODE 8: Undertow
• EPISODE 9: This Heart of Mine / Song for the Innocent
• EPISODE 10: Chain Sling
• EPISODE 11: Diffidentia
• EPISODE 12: Flame to the Moth
• EPISODE 13: Disco Queen
• EPISODE 14: Hallelujah
• EPISODE 15: Cribcaged
• EPISODE 16: Used extras
Including off-key vocal harmonies and other fun stuff!

The two CDs are from "Season 2" and are apparently meant for "the seeing impaired." In reality, it's just the audio recording of the concert. Those sneaky guys.

Saga - Contact: Live in Munich

Luckily, this one's much more straightforward. This DVD was recorded at Saga's last European show with original singer Michael Sadler. The concert will be available as either a 2 DVD limited edition to be released on March 2nd in Europe and March 3rd for the US, and a 2 CD package, which will be available on January 26th for Europe and January 27th for the US.

George Bellas - Step into the Future Review

Average (two stars out of five)

An album consisting of one 76-minute track is a difficult thing to approach, even for a seasoned progressive rock listener. The barrier to entry seems almost insurmountable, and taking everything in would take weeks of constant listening. In the case of Step into the Future, the latest album from George Bellas, the end result of dozens of ideas, musical themes, advanced compositional strategies, etc. is a listening experience that simply doesn't correspond in quality to the great talent that such an album requires to make.

While all of the playing on the album is very good, there are a couple of important things missing. The first is a general sense of memorability. Within the songs, strong melodies are sacrificed in favor of technicality, whereas a balance between both would have led to a more enjoyable experience for most listeners. Thus, the overwhelming sense after listening to the album is "what did I just listen to?"

Furthermore, a track's length is, unfortunately, more of a barrier than an advantage. There's no cardinal rule of progressive rock suggesting that a 76-minute instrumental couldn't work, but in this case, the song simply drags on. This could be partially due to a number of factors. For one, the track isn't quite as dynamic as advertised. While it does offer softer passages with piano, the track often falls back into the same monotonous rhythms and unimpressive melodies. In addition, there are large portions of the track where not much is really happening. After 76 minutes, it all just becomes a bit of a bore. Coupled with some substandard production, it's really hard to get through all 76 minutes of this one.

If a 76 minute instrumental track sounds like heaven to you, then you just might enjoy Step into the Future considerably more than I did. However, it's likely that most listeners will appreciate the musicianship, yet become bored with the music.

Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com

News: Forgotten Suns Remembered on ProgRock Records

Coming soon from ProgRock Records is the third album from Forgotten Suns--its first for that label. The label promises quite a lot for this record, entitled Innergy, including "a quantum leap forward in songwriting and recording quality" and "an innovative progmetal album with a lot
of melody and solid instrumentation." The album is currently available for preorder from the ProgRock Records site, will a wider release date of March 3rd. Samples of each song are also available from the ProgRock Records site. As always, ProgRock Records discounts preorders by two dollars.

Miosis - Albedo Adaptation Review

Good (three stars out of five)

It's always a bit hard to review records from bands that so closely emulate other groups that the resemblance becomes uncanny. A large part of me wants to simply ignore this fact and consider the music independently of anything else in the music world. However, in reality, these similarities are hard to ignore, and practically speaking, they do indeed play a part in a person's enjoyment of a band's music.

In the case of Albedo Adaptation, the first full length album from Sweden's Miosis, the comparisons to Tool are easy to make. The band has the same focus on the bass and, indeed, nearly the same bass sound. In some cases, the songwriting style is also very similar. Thus, thinking of Tool every time you listen to Miosis is difficult to avoid. Despite this, Miosis offers an enjoyable album, but the band's sound needs to be refined and personalized in order to offer some truly great music.

In general, the band's sound stays within the framework set by Tool, but there are a few moments on the album where Miosis is able to step out of that formula. For example, the album's penultimate song, "The Lucid," is definitely one of the album's more enjoyable tracks. In fact, in some ways, it doesn't even sound like the same band. While the song's verses could easily be compared to Tool, the chorus is a completely different world, with an instrumental focus on the guitar and a completely different vocal style reminiscent of some of today's modern rock bands--most specifically, the lead singer from the band Ra.

In fact, the band's (now former) vocalist, Erik Skoglund, offers quite the variety on this disc. At times, he sounds like the above vocalist, at others Chris Cornell from Soundgarden, at others Ozzy, and during the softer passages, perhaps like Thom Yorke from Radiohead. It's a very diverse performance, but it fails to give the listener a strong sense of Skoglund's style. Since the album's creation, Skoglund has left to spend more time with his family, so we'll have to see how the band's new vocalist is able to fill Skoglund's shoes.

While Miosis hasn't fully developed its own sound on Albedo Adaptation, it has offered some good music to please fans of Tool and its bretheren. Progressive rock and metal fans in general should find something to like here, but without a personality to call its own, Miosis won't become a fast favorite.

Find samples for Albedo Adaptation on the Miosis MySpace Page.

Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com

This Week's Featured Album: Erik Mongrain - Fates

Occasionally, I want to feature something a little bit different here on Progressive Melodies. Today, the featured album is from Canadian fingerstyle guitarist Erik Mongrain. Well, perhaps calling him a fingerstyle guitarist isn't entirely accurate--he plays largely with the guitar in his lap, using a two-handed tapping technique mixed with some percussive elements as well as some more traditional fingerstyle. Many people have compared him to Michael Hedges.

But where Mongrain really shines is in the perfect balance he achieves between good songwriting and technical ability. It's amazing to see him play (in fact, you can see Mongrain perform PercusienFa here), but it's just as great to put one of his albums on and enjoy the music.

His technical skill will certainly be of interest to progressive music fans, and his songwriting should appeal to listeners of all kinds. Check out samples in the sidebar to the right.

News: Inside Out to Offer Pendragon's Pure in March

Fans of the long-running band Pendragon will be pleased to hear that Inside Out will release the band's latest album, Pure, in March. No specific release date has been made public yet, and the only information currently available states that the album will be available in both a standard edition and a "special limited edition with bonus DVD housed in a lavish digibook." Who can pass up a lavish digibook?

Fans should note that Pendragon released the album on Toff Records in 2008, and is currently available from the Pendragon Website.

One sample is currently available at the Pendragon MySpace page.

It Bites - The Tall Ships Review

Great (four stars out of five)

When it comes to simplicity in progressive rock music, it's a general rule that it leads to boredom. However, the "supergroup" Kino proved in 2005 that relative simplicity (which we have to distinguish from the simplicity of, say, a band like Nickelback, which makes It Bites look like the Mahavishnu Orchestra) has a definite place in the hearts of progressive rock listeners. The next major John Mitchell project, It Bites - The Tall Ships, can be thought of as Kino 2 (since Kino itself consisted of two of the members from modern It Bites). The Tall Ships once again proves that the songwriting simplicity often found in pop music can indeed have a place in progressive rock music--that is, if the music is still written intelligently. Luckily, that's exactly the case with The Tall Ships. The album offers some wonderful songs that are put together masterfully, and despite their simplicity, they simply don't get old.

If you're already familiar with Kino, then you'll know what to expect from this album. They don't stray far from the sound that Kino crafted, but the songwriting seems stronger in many places on this album. The melodies are catchier, the songs are more well organized, and John Mitchell's vocal performance is stronger.

For those not familiar with Kino or It Bites, it can be difficult to describe the band's sound. John Mitchell has a midrange, soulful voice, and he's also one of the best vocalists in progressive rock at using his falsetto voice tastefully. The instrumentation is very guitar driven with some great keyboard parts taking the lead occasionally. You won't hear extended solos or sweep arpeggios, but you will get some strong instrumentation that mostly serves to create a sound to bolster the vocals.

As for the songs themselves, they do offer a different experience than what most progressive rock offers. Whereas most prog rock albums are very focused on the album's experience, this is a very song driven record, without any tracks really transitioning into one another, and without offering any sort of concept or leitmotif. Luckily, the songs are all so strong that the entire experience of the album is still quite enjoyable, and you won't find yourself needing to skip tracks.

You might, however, find yourself playing the same tracks over and over again. Many of the songs are incredibly infectious. For example, one of the first tracks that the band pushed on the It Bites MySpace page was "Great Disasters" (which is still available to sample). I can truly say that I've never heard a track quite like it in the progressive rock world; the best way I can find to describe it is a mix between the Lion King and a modern rock song. The track starts with an extended vocalization that repeats throughout the track, and by my best estimation, it was influenced by traditional African music. Whatever it may be, it's catchy as hell, and it sets up one of the most memorable tracks on the album, and one of the biggest risks in recent memory with one of the biggest payoffs. Other standout tracks are The Tall Ships, which is a slower song with some lovely lyrics and a great progression throughout, as well as Fahrenheit, which has one of the catchiest choruses on the album.

As much as I wanted to give this album five stars, there are a couple of things holding it back from being incredible; oddly enough, those moments come both at the beginning and end of the album. The album's first track, "Oh My God," is a fantastic track aside from the beginning, which begins with a vocalization that is a bit too repetitive for its own good. The album ends with "This is England," which doesn't quite match the quality of the rest of the songs. The track is about thirteen minutes long, so it stands as the album's "epic" song. It starts with an incredible slow intro that really sets the listener up for something great. However, by about the five minute mark, the song just seems to lose momentum. It lacks the strong melodies of the previous ten tracks, and in some ways, just doesn't fit with the rest of the album. While the incredible melodies had been in full force during the rest of the album, it feels a bit flat to end it in this way. It's still a good track--the problem is that it is preceded by ten stellar tracks.

Despite the album's minor problems, I can fully recommend this album to about any listener. If your tastes are firmly set in metal, you might not get much enjoyment out of this record. However, for just about anyone else, the strength of the songwriting and the relative simplicity should allow this album to grip you quickly. Best of all, these tracks will stick with you for a long, long time.

Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com

This Week's Featured Album: Pain of Salvation - 12:5

If you're not keen on most live albums, I don't blame you. In general, live albums offer an experience that's either too close to a band's studio albums, or so far in quality from those studio albums that it's nigh unlistenable.

Neither of these is the case with 12:5, the first live album from Pain of Salvation. The album is made up of live acoustic versions of some of the band's most highly regarded songs. While the band does focus on some of its softer tracks for this album, the acoustic versions of songs such as "Winning a War" are equally interesting. In addition, aside from some strangeness with the vocal harmonies, the performances here are great.

Even if you're not a Pain of Salvation fan, this album is definitely worth a listen. Check out the widget at the right to hear some samples.