Anubis - Frost* - Oceans of Slumber - Opeth

A last round of CD tips for 2024. But wait, four albums 1 CD on the picture only? Meet the new me. With months abroad for the coming years I decided to buy some albums digital version on bandcamp. Spotify is still a no go for me as I love music, but sometimes I find CD's hard to get when I am around. So I tried digital and increase my library on the bandcamp app. By doing so I always have a large collection at hand.So here are the four albums I did not mention yet. The three I do not have on CD this time are bands I follow since their beginning and all their previous albums I do own on CD, so a little hurt is felt.

Anubis - The Unforgiveable

2024 was a poor year for progrock. well to me it was at least. And than my two favourite bands of this century both released a concept album of masterpiece status. Anubis from Australia formed in 2004 and released their debut album in 2009. This is their sixth studio album and back to concept album style. To me a welcome return even if Homeless' shorter songs worked well too. Anubis writes epic music, even in short songs. Beautifull guitar and keyboard melodies are the base for their distinctive multiple vocals telling a story of a young man joining and escaping a religious cult. Pity that the download does not come with lyrics, as that helps following the story. My only complaint as Anubis prove again why they are among my favourite progrock bands. Such a pity I missed them in October at Progfrog.

Frost* - Life in the Wires

That other favourite current century progrock band is Frost*. Also formed in 2004, I only saw them live after they released their sensational debut Milliontown in 2006. This is their fifth studio album, but as it is a double also number six. The story here is about AI, a radio, 1984 and total control. The lyrics are on their website and reading along, this is one beautiful story. Frost* always have been top musicians, but never these extremely serious guys, a disease that occurs in progrock. Jem Godfrey is the leader of the band and at times I do hear traces of the mighty Tinyfish of his brother Simon. John Mitchell is an absolute guitar hero, which is not recognized enough. the duo Craig Blundell / Nathan King is solid as ever and this album, might even turn out to be their best in the long term. So if you like neo-prog get this one.

Oceans of Slumber - Where Gods Fear to Speak

It was Prog Magazine that put me on track of Aetherial in 2013. That was a blast and became my album of the year 2013. Than their vocalist left and in came Cammie. Definitely one of the best female vocals in metal, with her warm and soulful vocals. The band basically became her now husband Dobber Beverly on drums and an ever changing line-up. Their first three are classic, but hereafter they became a bit samy to me. Their previous album Starlight and Ash runned the risk of getting too soft, but here the grunts are back a plenty and it still shows that finally a headlining tour through Europe would be nice. Not too soon though as first the Beverly family are expecting their first baby, so enjoy that.

Opeth - The Last Will and Testament

The new Opeth after five years and the grunts are back. Also a concept album and weird titles called paragraph 1-7 plus one song a Story Never Told. Well I can be short, I need way more time to get this album. Also the decision if I go see them live in Amsterdam next year, shall follow later (if not sold out before that, which is a decision of sorts too). So I heard the album on Youtube first. That did not work as I was doing other things. Now I read along with the lyric sheet once and yes it sounds promising. But too early to call and no place in my Top 24 of 2024 yet. Actually being this hard to get is a good sign, but do we have the time  and patience is another fact. 

Witherfall & Mystery Blue - de Boerderij Zoetermeer, 17 November 2024

Witherfall touring Europe as headliner, after releasing four fine full lenghts and one EP. I was thrilled when seeing them being announced at de Boerderij. While entering de Boerderij this autumn evening we soon found that not all that many people were as enthusiastic. Initially even scary empty it did fill up a bit, but we could hardly speak of a half full floor (nor of a half empty one). Strangely I knew of many people who went, but it was the people I don't know who were missing out. I could literally name over 50% of the people in tonight. So my early thoughts of right band wrong venue were confirmed. De Boerderij was a progrock temple, nowadays turned into a cover and tribte band venue mostly. Further they decided for reasons understood by noone to delay the start when one support band dropped out due to illness. So having your headliiner start Sunday night at 21:45 only, which easily could have been 20:45might have cost a few fans too. But enough bitching about, did we get a good evening?, after all that is what we came for.

Now that Signum Reis had to cancel we only got Mystery Blue to warm us up. I had never heard of this band before, but just read they released their first demo in 1981 already. Eighties metal from France makes me thnk of Trust, Sortilege or Satan Jokers maybe, but not this band. They played a standard straight forward kind of Heavy Metal. Guitars were fine, but the many requests for audience participatioon, when not many seemed bothered was a bit much. Well with so many known faces in tonight, time flew by anyway.

After setting up and tuning their instruments themselves Witherfall came on and gave us Tempest. Joseph Michael confirming he is among the best voices in metal and Jake Dreyer also proving to be among the major shredders of recent years. If we than see the rest of the band also being of the top level all seemed good. Only issue for me was the sound. De Boerderij was known for an impeccable sound, well this was not the case tonight. I felt at times it sounded a bit blurry, with no clear definitions. Not in  a way that it would disturb my show and it turned bad, but it could have blown us harder away if clearer in the end. Now I saw setlists passing by on FB before, so we knew what to expect. Not really though as they changed the order and went for the Ceremony of Fire as closer. In a way especially Alex was happy with this shift. We agreed that Vintage is possibly their best song with it's beautiful and emotional ending in the Travel on My Friend part. Now he needed to get a last train home, fearing to miss this highlight, at the very end. Well Witherfall now put it at the end of the regular set before returning with Shadows and Ceremony in an encore (Sorry to inform Andy no .. And They All Blew Away) So everybody pleased and now hoping that this tour brought them some new fans. The ProgPower visitors who attended all agreed that Witherfall would fit fine. Than again those who attended were all of the generation who attended some 25/24 years ago already and like their progmetal being metal. For me seeing Witherfall for the first time full out after an acoustic first some years ago was a joy. Such a great band bringing their awesome songs to us. Still if this evening would have been in nearby   Musicon or Nobel it could have been even better and busier by regulars checking out any metal band. Now curious what colour the next album sleeve shall bring us and when they tour Europe again.

Blood Incantation - Iotunn - Kings of Mercia - Michael Schenker - Shumaun

Here some CD's you might want to ask Sinterklaas to bring for you.

Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere

If there is one album that created (Time) waves on the internet recently, it must be this one. Blood Incantation the band with that logo, never is predictable. In March 2017 I caught them touring Starspawn and I loved their mix of Death Metal with ambient clean parts. Got the album after the show and I was a fan. Hidden History of the Human Race confirmed their originality and I was still on board. This until Timewave Zero contained only ambient soundscapes. A bridge too far for me, but I bought it now for completion reasons. And than there is Absolute Elsewhere. A masterpiece in my ears, where the Death Metal is mixed with Pink Floyd and electronic parts. Two songs each split in three tablets. Their Death Metal is not tech in the fast and freaky way, but their mix with the calmer bits works great. Pity I won't be around when they play Utrecht next year, but one fine album this Absolutely is. Don't play it on the background, but only in one go with headphones, while reading along with the lyrics.

Iotunn - Kinship

Just when I thought Blood Incantation covered my death metal needs for the month, Iotunn came with Kinship. In 2021 I rated Access All Worlds #3 on my end of year list. This one runs the risk of ending even higher as I can't stop going back to this album. Opener Kinship Elegiac sets the bar crazy high bringing all that represents Iotunn. Melodic opening, catchy chorus, death metal verses, and an epic end where Jon Aldará shouts: She Left Me and you feel his pain. This 14 minute opener might be the highlight, but the level never drops really. Their songs keep on mixing the beauty and the beast and I am not talking annoying female operatic vocals here. So they might have one of the most expressive voices in the scene, but the instrumental bits are all so damn tasty too.  With Iridescent Way they even give us a ballad and over five minutes time to catch our breath. Anyone with a mild interets in metal should hear this one. Now waiting for a headline tour. Great artwork too on teh cover and in teh booklet.

Kings of Mercia - Battle Scars

I buy anything that holds Jim Matheos in the blind. The guitarist of Fates Warning is bringing lots of different projects to us lately and Kings of Mercia is where he releases the melodic hardrocker in himself. Steve Overland of FM fame is taking care of vocals, and with Joey Vera on bass and Simon Phillips on drums the band is completed. Two years ago their self-titled debut album was a nice surprise. This one is a bit stronger I believe. This because, they are more of a band now, as I read. In that same interview the word touring was also mentioned. For those who like their hard rock melodic with enough hooks, a must see I guess. No favourite tracks for me, just one fine album to play.

Michael Schenker - My Years With UFO

I had to think for quite a while if buying this album would add anything for me. Most songs of the best live album ever (Strangers in the Night for those unaware) with a long list of guests. Problem is that for me Phil Mogg is one of the best voices in rock ever. Still after hearing a few songs and getting myself a ticket for April next year this album live on stage I decided to pick it up after all. I must admit that even while knowing all the songs from studio and live versions this one is a joy to play. The guitar work is great by Michael himslef and at times notable guests. Vocals work sometimes surprisingly well with Dee Snider, Biff and Stephan Pearcy coming to mind. In reality only Axl Rose can't hold his own during Love to Love. No surprise there. So if you want a slightly new version of all these hits we know note for note, get this album.

Shumaun - Opposing Mirrors

Shumaun are  a band I knew of, but never really heard. That was until on Youtube I saw an advance clip for this album. That sounded nice, so it became my clip of the day. Forward into the summer, I got a message from Esther, that the album was for sale on Sweden Rock, if I wanted a copy? as she remembered my post. Fast forward to Progpower and she handed me over the package of two KIT tickets and this CD. Shumaun is build around Farad Hossain (ex Iris Divine) and gives us Progmetal of the melodic yet heavy enough kind. So they are not trying to rewrite the book of progmetal here, they just give us some great songs with perfect performances. This is the kind of Progmetal that 20 years ago would be omnipresent at the Progpower line-up and now occassionally is included. One fine album this is.

  

  

Fish - Phil - Haarlem, 7 November 2024

Fish saying goodbye during one last tour Road to the Isles. Next year he shall move to Berneray and than calls it a day for touring for good. Of course I had to see this tour and Haarlem it became. So before sharing some words on the show this evening, let me explain why I could not afford missing this tour. Some 42 years ago when it was late 1982 or early 83 I started reading about Marillion in Kerrang. I was 16/17 and moved from the great hardrock bands  of the seventies more and more into metal with the rise and still rise of NWOBHM those days. Now I did not understand why a band that was compared with Genesis would make it several times to Kerrang. I had never heard  of the Gabriel years and to me Genesis were a Collins driven pop band. Still when Script got released I remember heading to Supertracks in town and give the album a listen. Well that did not take long to realize I had gold on my ears here. Picked up the album and quickly thereafter bought the Market Square Heroes EP. To my joy soon hereafter Marillion were announced opening band of Parkpop and there I was with maybe some 100 fans who already heard of the band. They blew us 100 and a few thousand unaware bypassers away that afternoon. From there Marillion became one of my absolute favorites and I did not miss any tour during the eighties. The band grew fast too and than there was the split. I read in a Marillion book that by the split they lost a part of the hardrocking fans and I saw this happening around me. Not me though as I now had two bands to love and follow closely in Marillion and Fish. I was not the only one as Aardschok, Holland's leading metal magazine still reviewed Fish albums, confirming that same soft spot for Fish that I have.
When Fish released Vigil January 1990 it turned out to be possibly the best progrock album of that decade. Well Progrock or not, he moved into other waters and basically became the storyteller over music. I loved all his albums and attended most tours still. This century I saw him in several forms either playing Misplaced in full, doing an acoustic show or a general overview of his dicography. The last highlight came in 2019. I had tickets for his show in my hometown The Hague, but could not make it and gave my ticket away to a friend. Than by chance we were in Edinburgh as Tiago visited the University Open Day the very weekend Fish played in town. Sold out I was lucky to bump into two Dutch fans, who helped me getting a ticket at original price. So seeing the big man in his hometown was another one to never forget. And then Corona struck, when with Weltschemerz his last absolute beauty was released. So no touring around after this stunner of a double album. This year the farewell tour was announced. I was in Portugal at the time and the first batch of shows sold out very quick. Slight panic took hold of me, but when more Dutch shows were announced I could skip my travelling abroad plans and got myself tickets for the Haarlem show. Josie does not join me to all shows, but she likes her some Fish. That was untill work got her on a course and Pieter took over her ticket. With Yvon and Bday boy René, we headed early to Haarlem for some warm-up drinks and a nice meal. Ready we were to look for Phil, a new venue to me in Haarlem. When the stream of people became men in their fifties and sixties and bold or grey like us, we knew we were heading in the right direction and Phil turned out to hold a beautiful large hall. Inside Pieter notced the small amount of band shirts in the audience. Well not me, as I proudly wore my Iotunn longsleeve as their new one is senstaional, but more on that next week. A sold out evening, still did not mean uncomfortably packed and we were ready in all ways for one last trip through Fish's discography, with some old Marillion to spice matters up.

La Gazza Ladra warned us we were kicking off at 20:30. On came the band and with a calm version of Vigil we got the very first high of the evening at the very beginning. Sometimes I read reviews comparing Fish voice today with 40 years ago. As that is pointless   a train that passed decades ago I loved his performance in combination with background vocals by Elizabeth. She took especially Just Good Friends to an amazing highlight duetting with Fish, Actually the full band were top tonight. Steve Vantsis on bass and Gavin Griffiths (another Bday boy this evening)  laid the solid base, while Mickey Simmonds was great on keyboards. Robin Boult on guitar as always gave us shivers at times. The Marillion songs he adapts to a more bluesy format, but always justifying the songs and Fish' current vocal range. Fish himself was having a cold, but in good shape for his 66 years as he stated himself. The first four songs were needed to warm him up and than he started talking with the audience like only he can. If there was one downside this evening it was that because I follow some pages on FB, the setlist held no surprises to me being posted many times before. So when  Plague of Ghosts was announced, I knew it was coming. But what a version we got, with another high by Elizabeth in Are You Happy Now?. Those who did not feel the end of We Can Make It Happen sung by the crowd through their whole body, must have lost their soul long ago. What an ending of the set continuing until the encores. 

And encores we got with a beautiful Mickey Simmonds carried version of A Gentleman's Excuse me. This followed by the Misplaced Childhood singles, before the band left the stage. Already 130 minutes down Yvon was surprised they would come back for even more. Well The Company was not played yet and if there is one song representng the Fish oeuvre best it must be this shout along drinking song. That is where I lost my voice for good, halfway up halfway down. A wonderful end, to this fine evening of one last time Fish for me. The writer that sings stops singing, so now I wait for the book. When I came home Josie woke up and asked how it was. I mumbled can't speak. left me bloody voice in Haarlem (or was it the cold bicylce ride home from the station). What a way to go out for me and Fish. He does not know me, but he was 41 years very present in my life celebrating some of my highs. consoling some of my lows. So one big thank you Mr. Fish and enjoy the isle.

Xathrites, Askeesi & Gogmagore - Musicon The Hague, 22 October 2024

Musicon went exotic and black this Tuesday night. Never before did I see a band from Iraq or Georgia (the country not the US State).  That would change this evening. So where I might have been in doubt with Reb Beach playing de Boerderij with a set of Whitesnake, Winger & Dokken songs I opted for the dark and the obscure and the exotic. 

Openers were not all that exotic as these six facepainted guys are from The Netherlands. Gogmagore played Black Metal with two vocalists. The huge amount of effects over the vocals, made it at times hard to follow for me, but they opened the evening heaviest of them all.

Next on were Askeesi, but they were not. Xathrites played first. So while I thought that I was watching a band from Georgia, Rene halfway told us that this was Xathrites. Well the banner already told us so, but that does not always mean everything. I did see the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad from 2007, which follows the hard life as band of Acrassicauda. So that alone was reason enough for me to attend. I mean metalbands in the Middle East don't have it easy. Now located elsewhere the main issue was that the band missed one founding member tonight. So a tape helped as he was stuck in a country that is not his own, they stated enigmatically. The poster said Depressive Black Metal, but I heard mostly Post-Rock. Ok the vocals were Black Metal-ish mostly. I liked their set and bought their last CD in support. Only one guy actually was from Iraq tonight, but I consider that white spot on my metal world map covered by now.

The headliner of the evening were Askeesi. They appeared in brown monk's robes, but being from Georgia they got away with that for me. No eye contact throughout, as the hoodies covered all eyes. The vocalist was female, but her grunt and scream was deep enough. Again the advert said Black Metal, while Post rock played a large part. Three guitars put a wall of sound and the songs went the distance. With the Iraqi's being handicapped, it made sense this lot finished the night. A good performance closed another fine evening in Musicon, where I knew that I would meet some known faces, but Italian Alessio being on tour forever was a nice surprise.

Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival - P60 Amstelveen, 19 October 2024

Heavy Metal Maniacs is the anual party for fans of Old Skool metal in the Netherlands. They always program some bands of my interest, but I manage to miss the festival almost always as well. This year I joined Ton on the Saturday which turned out to be a smart decision. Several countries represented with as far as Canada and Japan included. It was a long time since I've been in P60 and I did see why I liked this venue always, that is if you don't mind climbing stairs for a day.

Opening the day were Speed Queen from Belgium. I knew them already and what's more interesting they know me too, as they stayed in my HM B&B once. In August I saw them opening for Mega Colossus in Köln and now they opened for all in P60. Well again a very lively set and they do all master their instrments. Thomas speaking either in Flemish or English to us, knows how to work an audience and the day kicked off good for me. Later they told me how much they appreciated the venue and organization plus facilities. Always good to hear, when bands are pleased too.

White Coast Rebels came next. They are Anglo/Spanish and based in Benidorm (Costa Blanca get it?). Now I have been once to Benidorm, decades ago during an interrail trip. Imagine walking around town, some pints down and than bumping into this lot playing in a rock bar. I would not believe my luck. Now I saw them at a proper metal festival and I was a bit less blown away by their sleazy rock and roll. All nice enough, but not catching me really. When they started I did like their sound, but after a few songs it started to sound a bit more of the same to me. Still when in Benidorm (if) I shall look for them for sure.

What are the chances that you go to two small festivals within two months and one if not the best surprise has the same band name? End August I saw Seventh Son (UK) blowing me away at Mearfest. Now it was up to Seventh Son (Japan) to repeat that fact. And so they they did. In advance I listened to two songs on Youtube and hopes were up for a show I'd like. Well in reality their very sympathetic and enthusiastic presentation only upped the atmosphere. Seventh Son flew to Holland for this show only before returning to Japan. They were obviously enjoying themsleves too as the hall did appreciate them and reacted accordingly. No wonder as Seventh Son showed again that Japanese standard of playing metal is way up there. Calling Yasuhiro's presentation theatrical is one way of saying how he lived the music. At times he was looking for the English words to express his feelings, but faces told us enough. To me the highlight of the day and such a nice lot they were. How often does it happen that a bold vocalists asks Ton and I to take a selfie, being three boldies. CD and T-shirt bought in appreciation and now I read Brasil also holds a Seventh Son metal band. Maybe I should check them out.

After a small break for dinner Fingernails came on. This band were introduced as Italy's first metal band. I don't know if that is true, but they must be Italy's closest to Motorhead band. A trio, a raspy voice, fast rock and roll songs and a loud sound. So they were influenced by Motorhed, but they did not reach same levels really. Maybe because the bandname Fingernails sounds slightly less metal than Motorhead.

It is 2024 and Hitten are from Murcia, Spain. That might be so, but they think it is 1987 and they are from Los Angeles. Well that is 80% of the band, as one guitaris in white sneakers, black pants and jeans cut-off thought he was from the Bay Area in 1987. And that is exactly what we got: Hair metal but a bit faster and heavier. Ratt or Dokken came to mind at times, also since the two guitars were awesome. Vocals fitted the sound and this band was very energetic running around the stage. In the end they were to me another highlight of the day. I don't hear that often Hair Metal live nowadays and when it is brought with this pace all was good to me, even if the bassist outfit was eyeblinding.

Headliners tonight were Anvil and we all know the story of... Anvil won't surprise us anymore, but that is also not necessary at a festival like this. So we get their classics March of the Crabs, 666, Forged in Fire Winged Assasins till obvioulsy Metal on Metal. At the same time some of their songs I don't care that much about like Badass Rock and Roll or Legal at Last. While watching their straight forward metal, you almost tend to forget that the playing is flawless including Chris Robertson on bass who is already ten years with the band. So a fitting headliner of HMM they were. Thanks go out to those who organized this fine day and as I got several comments on my Tröjan shirt this day I hope to see them in P60 next year.

Anciients - Category 7 - Piah Mater - Solitary

Here's some tips in the heavier end of progmetal and some thrash

Anciients - Beyond the Reach of the Sun

What to long term fans meant a return after an 8 year silence, to me meant a new discovery. This year the list of bands mixing progmetal with extremer sorts of metal resulted already in several beauties (Eternal Storm, Sgaile & The Moor, with Opeth still coming and Blood Incantation somewhere in the mail). Anciients is with Beyond the Reach of the Sun giving me another album that should end really high on my end of year list. This album is a near perfect mix of heavier progmetal, with some grunts to spice matters up. Starting on a high with Forbidden Sanctuary Anciients manage to never drop the level until In the Absence of Wisdom closes the album. Anyone into this kind of progmetal simply should get the album. And Progpower should seriously consider putting them on the line-up of the 25th edition.

 Category 7 - Category 7

When this band was announced I was already jumping of joy. John Bush lending his voice to a band with Thrash royalty can only result in something good. The advance clips released only confirmed these hopes. So the only disappointment to me was that the album was not easy to get for me. This is strange as the album is released on Metal Blade. Anyway when I got the album finally I quickly found that this is for anyone with an interest in thrash, but also Heavy Metal fans should love this. I am suspect as John Bush can do no wrong to me when singing. But the songs and the playing of all is of similar high level. So what we basically get is an uptempo Armored Saint. Love this album to bits and read that next year they start touring. Netherlands please when I am around.

 

Piah Mater - Under the Shadow of a Foreign Sun

Next year I am planning to spend some 4-5 months under the shadow of a foreign sun. In my case a Brazilian sun. Piah Mater are from Brasil and even better Rio de Janeiro. So if they do play live, chances are I am watching with an ice cold chopp in hand. After Maestrick and Papangu recently showed that Brazil has lots on offer in metal, Piah Mater fall in a category not miles away from Anciients. Major difference is that they go wider in blending of styles. So the music goes from ProgDeath to almost MPB in closing track Canicula. Luckily the majority is progdeath and I can always push stop, when not feeling like some MPB. Piah Mater are a duo with hired guns on bass and drums. I do hope they play live too, but their FB page does not even have an events tag. For now the CD does just fine for me. 

 Solitary - Embrace the Darkness

My friends from Solitary releasing their fifth full lenght with Embrace the Darkness. This album brings us ten songs and lasts just over 33 minutes. Solitary always keeps their albums between the 30-40 minute mark, which is best when the music is this intense. On their previous two albums a longer song (by their standards) would reduce the speed a bit with Anthem of Regret and Hommage to the Broken. Usually I loved these songs more than the band themselves. Maybe I just need more time to catch a breath at my age. So this time there is no space for slow(ish) and heavy. Still the album flies by and several songs should go  down fine live in Musicon, where I hope to see them again in 2025.  No anthem for me to request this time, but Settle Scores the Old Way should be a bloody party live.