Steve Rothery - The Ghosts of Pripyat

Instrumental albums from guitar heroes. Loved them since the eighties releases of Yngwie, Marty Friedman and Jason Becker. Guitarists being allowed to take the spotlights in their bands like Michael Schenker, Jasun Tipton, Gary Moore or Jim Matheos also released some great instrumental work. One of the biggest of them all though is hidden fairly well in his band, but fans know that the live shows are built around his solo highlights. This man is Steve Rothery from Marillion. Being 35 years in Marillion he now released his first solo album "The Ghosts of Pripyat" with a little help from some other greats in Prog Steve Hackett and Steven Wilson.

For those like me, who regret that the dominating role of Steve Rotherey on recent Marillion albums has been reduced a bit, this is definitely worth a listen. We go through several styles and degrees of heaviness, but the most important highlight is that this album is obviously build around the solos of one of the man that brings emotion to the next level in his guitar playing. It is always good to start the discussion if the Fish years were Marillion's creative highlight or not (of course they were although several of the Hogarth albums are also Classics one should own). My first impressions while listening to this album are memories of the first ten Marillion years. Every song used to have a Rothery solo in it for added value and he was allowed to go heavy at times as well. As on the last Marillion albums this is no longer rule of thumb, this album is the perfect adding for those Marillion fans, who want to see Rothery being the man in the spotlight. I missed his show in de Boerderij last month, but he shall open Marillion Weekend 2015 with his band for me to make up that miss. Anyone who can stand instrumental albums, should simply not miss this one as it is not about showing off, but all about emotion. Pripyat a sad town in Ukraine, now known for one of the more beautiful albums that shall be released this year.

The Contortionist - Language

It took me some 18 months to fully appreciate their previous album Intrinsic and somewhere early 2014 I wondered why that album did not make it to my best of 2012 list. Now the Contortionist are back with Language. This one might be easier, or I am better prepared, but already after 3 listens I think this is a rather very good album. Their first album is unknown to me and seemed to be Deathcore based. During Intrinsic several progressive influences were blended in and now we get an almost fully calm album, with occassional grunts accompanying clean vocals. So from very heavy evolving to atmospheric might remind of Anathema, but for me the reference to them is Cynic. Actually I am sure they would be the perfect band to support Cynic as this album reminds me strongly of the later works of Cynic (Language I, could have been on Traced in Air and I might not have noticed this to be a different band)

Maybe a bit easier to grasp than Intrinsic I still need several listens before understanding what is going on all the time. Being one in the category "Please listen through Headphones" there is a lot of moody bits and fast guitar strumming fighting for attention. I would not really know how to describe them best, but I ran into the term ambidjent when reading about them and that might just be right. Listening on headphone again while writing this review I do realize the album is actually heavier than those who only serve for Sunday mornings slow awakenings. There is much more to explore here and I shall do so over the coming months. By the end of the year the rank in my yearlist can be decided. Due to fairly far shows with only a support slot before The Faceless and Protest theHero, I probably won't see them live when touring Holland/Belgium later this month. Intriguing album, for the daring ones and I already had them on my list for Progpower 2015 requests so let's hope.

Michael Schenker's Temple of Doom - 31 October 2014, Boerderij Zoetermeer

Friday night 31 October; while more and more people try to copy Americans (why?) by dressing up strangely, it was in Holland all about Rock. I had to choose between 5(!) shows which was reduced to two in the end. German progrockers Sylvan were the first I would not see. Than the choice was between Textures/Exivious or Osada Vida, which Textures won, until two of my heavy metal DNA bands announced to also hit Holland on 31 October: Fates Warning and MSG. In the end MSG it became due to be closer to home and the fact that I saw Fates Warning only half a year ago. Well MSG you can't really call it as Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock goes through MSG, UFO and Scorpions material nowadays.

This was the first show of their European Tour and I was pleased to see the Boerderij well filled up. Maybe not sold out, but even the balcony looked crowded. In return to the almost full house we got an animated band and a happy looking Michael Schenker. With Michael Schenker being the reason I bought my first guitar from Jim 33? years ago I was so pleased to see that he is getting in a better mood by the year. The set opened with Doctor Doctor followed by a recent MSG song. This set the tone for the evening well. Only Classics filled up with 4 newer songs, which all did not bring the level down. With the Assault Attack album being sold on T-shirts I was hoping for a lot of that album. After all we have Doogie White on vocals and he can sing songs from all vocalists Michael has worked with, without much of a problem it turned out tonight. Unfortunately we stuck at the Title track only for that album. There was a relatively large part of Scorpions material in the set, which was authenticated by band members Herman Ze German on drums and Francis Buchholz on bass. I might prefer MSG over Scorpions, but we got material from their best period in Lovedrive, Blackout, Rock you like a Hurricane.

Actually the whole set consisted of classics that I hope Tiago can sing along as well in a few years time (if not I probably failed as a father). Biggest part going to UFO which is understandable. I do think that all secondary schools should teach music and one lesson should be dedicated to the best live album ever: Strangers in the Night. It remains amazing how even without the mighty Phil Mogg on vocals these songs never stop getting to your emotions. Only the guitar solo at Rock Bottom is worth the ticket for the evening. Tonight in perfect state this was one lesson in melodic soloing which just never ends again. Another obvious highlight is the singing along to instrumental Into the Arena. So here we passed another evening in de Boerderij, realizing why these songs from 35-30 years ago made such an impact. It really never got better than this. Without any complaints I do hope next time around to get more MSG though. This show was not very dissimilar from the one we saw 18 months ago. By including so much Scorpions/UFO songs I do miss too many MSG classics (Lost Horizons to name only the most important one)
Ending with a small message to Doogie White: No Ian Gillan was not in the audience, her name is Jolanda and the confusion around the guy standing before me was pretty funny.

Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival 2014 - 18 October P60 Amstelveen

Heavy Metal Maniacs a Dutch fanclub founded in 1997 and highlight of the year is their festival. As the focus is on the best period in music: the Eighties, they presented a nice Dutch/British dive into our past again. Opening band Venator I had seen not very long ago with Night Demon and missed their first part. The last three songs I did see were sounding good and showing them to be perfect warm-ups before the past reveals. Second band Diggeth had a slightly harder time to keep audience's attention as they play slightly slower and heavier, while southern rock also seems to be an influence. This meant they had to work harder for appreciation, but they managed to convince at least some.

Hereafter the first NWOBHM band hit the stage and for me Dealer came, saw and conquered. Their first live show in a year due to the loss of their bass player they returned to Holland a year late and rocked. Technical problems or not they brought their songs with attitude, enjoying themselves and swearing the songs together with a very British accent. Highlight was the final while playing full album First Strike. Great songs all of them with to me favorites the hardly before played Choose your Weapon and epic closer Final Conflict. As I had none of their music got First Strike after the show and hope to see them in Hatfield next year. Hereafter we got the last Dutch band of the day Sad Iron. I do not really know why I missed them in the eighties, but they reminded me of another Dutch band of that era Jewel. Fast songs, lots of energy and a great guitarist. Very good set.

Next was Midnight Messiah, my main reason for joining today after their great show at Power & Glory in August. Well I can be short, just as good again. This time I knew the Elixir songs as well, so even more recognition points. While I enjoyed their show massively I did have the impression they were not as known by all. I got into them due to the present, when I bought their CD The Root of all Evil last year. Only hereafter I discovered the Elixir works. Most people in P60 today are even better aware of the past, while I did not have the impression their new songs were all that known. This is a trend we see in other genres as well. Clearest example is Thrash Metal where we speak about the Big 4. Any follower of Thrash knows that bands like Heathen, Exodus, Death Angel have released the last years much better albums than any of the big 4 have done over the past 15 years. In NWOBHM Iron Maiden and Saxon still stay close to their origins, but we love their past. Surprises come from lesser known bands like Hell or Salem and for me Midnight Messiah fits perfectly well in that list. A new album that reaches the level of the past showing their relevance today. But before drifting off too far, Midnight Messiah are just a great band and if you need a reference melodic Saxon comes closest and the Son of Odin rules!

Headliner of today were Grim Reaper. They opened Rocking us to Hell and probably closed Seeing us in Hell as well, but I had to leave before our appointment near the horned one was made. As I needed to drive with the family the next morning some 600 km, I left halfway and got home in time for some decent sleep. What I did see was fast and well fast again. Not many moments of rest they played with an urge to bang our heads. So next year I shall be back and if not travelling the next morning coming by train and drink my beers. After all the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival is about how it all used to be better in the eighties (which is soo true) and as I did not drive then, I should not do so now either. Thanks HMM hope to see many more festivals like this one, great Tee by the way.

ProgPower Europe - 3-5 October 2014, Baarlo

Prog Power Europe is: Coming home, Camping de Berckt, Red Plastic bags, Sjiwa downstairs bar, Sunny breaks, Rented bicycles, Milanello, Meeting old and new friends and most of all 3 days of Great Music. This year's line up was for me the usual mix of bands I love, bands I know but not that well and bands I never heard of. Opening evening Friday gave us two bands only. Votum opened earlier this year for Riverside, much to my liking. Going through almost the same set as earlier this year I would only recommend slightly more heavy songs, as the balance now was a bit too light. Friday's headliner Jolly brought some fans of their own along and I could not really place them. I do like bits and pieces, but sometimes get bored away. Also their presentation moves from sympathetic, to slicky. Maybe if I gave them a lot of time I could grow into this band, but I don't see me putting the effort in.

And then came Saturday. In my many visits for a day or full weekend Progpower I do not recall any day where I did not miss one minute and got  entertained from begin to end during six shows. This turned out to become a day to remember with lots of variety and only highlights. First on were Disperse, who I knew and lived up to expectations. I don't know what they put in the wodka in Poland, but they do make great guitarists.  Their show was lively, impressive and including two covers I never heard of varied enough as well. They wanted to return one day and I hope they do. Then came Prospekt from the UK. Their first show abroad and I think a succesfull one. With their music more etching to melodic power metal not the most surprising act of the day, but certainly well worth my attention. Next on Australias first band of this year. With Aeon of Horus we got the needed energy injection. What a blast of technical Death Metal and what fun to see a band on stage enjoying themselves even more than the audience. Very sympathetic performance and I got the CD for appreciation.
Dinner break did not allow me to queue up at any snackbar or pizza place/Chinese as next up would be Pain of Salvation playing an old set. Starting with 25 minutes of Perfect Element Part 1 not much could go wrong really. How good to see why I considered PoS the best new Progmetal band between 1996-2004. Loosing me partially with too experimental lighter works lately this was back to great form. Also great to see Daniel Gildenlow in his usual outstanding voice after the scare he passed before. Of course I could list many songs I would have loved to hear as well (Inside!!), but 70 minutes is not enough for a band with a backcatalogue like theirs, ever considered a weekend Marillion style?

With PoS being silent headliners the pressure was on for next band Aeon Zen. How to follow up a setlist most people loved to hear once again? Well they managed and soon I entered Aeon Zen mode to see a great show. I did know some songs from Prog magazine samplers, but never got a CD from them. Well that was corrected with their latest album after the show as I really appreciated their performance. Not having the easiest slot they were not intimidated and came saw and conquered Baarlo, great set. I do remember saying that with 5 out of 5 the Saturday already made an impact within PPE history. Hardly could I imagine that the best was yet to come. Through the years some bands that were not households names yet, made an impression we always remember. I can think of Riverside 2004 as clearest example, but many others can be named as well. So I missed Voyager in 2006 due to work and I saw them for the first time live. I know their debut as well as their one but last album, which honestly speaking I am not playing all that much. When they hit the stage it was party, energy, musicality and total insanity. What a blast, what a band and what fun they had. Australia ruled PPE 2014 that became clear. Great performances of their own material and a ridiculously interesteing 80's pop medley. This band deserves to become huge and than bigger. Disappontments? none apart from the sold-out XXL Tee, which I would buy if their show was great. I mean even their T-shirt was great. Definitely a band to see again if on the continent.

So Sunday had to follow up all this. I noticed I was hyped on Saturday, tired after already two days standing and drinking and not as fresh this was always going to be an uphill battle for the Sunday bands. Cartographer were this year's only Dutch band, instrumental and slowly building up to heavy climaxes, nice enough. Tenebris from Poland did not manage to catch my attention. The grunt was there, the instrumental bits as well, but I missed the dynamics. Time for a pizza, the first served in Baarlo that day avoiding dinner break queues. But Sunday of course also had it's highlights. Brightest one came in the form of Vulture Industries. This was a show, filled up with great music and all attention towards the crazy eyes of the vocalist.l Never imagined I would witness a polonaise at Progpower, but it was all part of this crazy yet beautiful show. Chimpspanner were next and second instrumental band of the day. Very good musicians, but a bit too similar for the full 60 minutes.
Agent Fresco followed and being for me maybe the right band, but at the wrong time. I decided to have a beer downstairs and prepare myself for a grand finale as PoS would play Remedy Lane from Of Two Beginnings until Beyond the Pale. This being one of the best Progmetal albums ever, the Sjiwa was more than a bit looking forward. And we got what we wanted, live is always more of an impact. With the full album played we were afraid that a great weekend would be closed with one of the saddest jokes in Progmetal: Disco Queen. Now only hidden in a medley and instrumental we agreed this was their message to kill the bitch for good and we hope she never returns. Pain of Salvation was a perfect closing act for a very succesfull Progpower Edition. I was afraid that with the relative lack of famous names this might be a not so busy PPE, but quite the opposite was true. A big thanks to the organisation and promising us Abnormal Thought Patterns for 2015 the tickets shall be purchased when available.

Blokhut Live - Baroeg Rotterdam, 6 September 2014

Blokhut live: 4 bands with a hint to the past in the Baroeg. Great set-up, decent crowd and a return promised for next year. First off were last-minute stand-ins Martyr. A very lively show with good songs and a vocalist in the audience or the audience on stage. Entertaining and I am already curious how this will go down in Hatfield next year. Hereafter we got Torikini (?I think?) a local coverband, playing good, but not the right songs for me.

Third band was something special Deo! a Dutch Dio coverband. This is a very brave thing to do, since in order to be succesfull you need: A solid rhythm section, A keyboardist for the atmospheres, a guitarist who goes through the works of Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi and Vivian Campbell, plus a vocalist who should be able to come at least close to the greatest voice in music that ever walked the earth. Well to my delight, surprise, astonishment and excitement Deo did tick all the boxes and some more. What a setlist, what a band and what a voice. Highlights: the full show. Well the vocalist deserves a special mention for Catch the Rainbow. When they were forced to stop, the audience was not a bit pleased and started singing Long Live Rock 'n' Roll without the band. Never did I see such a great cover band, of course helped by the classics only repertoire. And how did I miss Sergio to be with us, as he would have loved the show as much as we did. Only later Magchiel checked the site and found members are already known and vocalist is the Dutch voice of Praying Mantis. Definitely need to see them soon (Hey Deano how about P&G2?).

After this absolute highlight noone expected anyone could follow this up. Well Vandale could. Not the same high class repertoire, but winning points for nostalgy. Vandale were a Dutch NWOBHM alike band who sung in dutch releasing two LP's in 1981/1982 At the time we played their music over and over and now most lyrics came back fast. Also good entertainment factor you saw many smiling faces shouting along. To give our foreign readers a feeling of the fun we had their highlight was definitely: Geitenwollensokkenrockers! Blokhut 2015 noted down in the agenda.

   

Super Massive Black Holes - Calculations of the Ancients

This one I have been playing for some two months now, which is a good thing since less then ten listens give you no clue what this is all about. The first song is called (sub-molecular) transmogrification of the oriphy, which looses all non-native english readers like me on the lyrical front. Then again, the mainly grunted vocals are also not ones you can really understand without the lyrics in front of you anyway. During the second song The Dyatlov Pass Incident their interest in Jazz comes out clearly. So far it all seems very intelllectual, while at the same time heavy as a really heavy thing. During the CD not too many verse-chorus-verse-chorus come at you and singing along would only be possible after at least another hundred spins. A short acustic instrumental piece is followed by even heavier Distance to the Great Attractor. Suddenly a slow banging of the head seems possible. And so we go on for this 35 minutes of different metal with loads of difficult words, textures and rhythms and all that jazz. The last song with the longest lyrics have them read out distorted over a slowly upbuilding atmospheric piece of music.

And still I love this album. Don't really know what attracts me so much in it, but I guess it is a welcome change from the more direct Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, or Neo Prog I listen to. Actually it is the extreme spectrum of progmetal, where Dream Theater alikes do not dare to go. Unaccessable, putting you on the wrong foot and changing styles all over the place I must confess that Mathematics of Emotions, does get under the skin indeed. This CD does challenge, annoy and intrigue me at times and has in Ghosts of Bhopal as a bonus one of the best songs I heard this year on it. Strange and beautiful these calculations.