Out of This World is a new melodic rock project put together by some amazingly talented musicians led by Kee Marcello (guitar/keyboards), Tommy Heart (vocals), Ken Sandin (bass) and Darby Todd (drums) with Out Of This World being the band's self titled debut release. These musicians know a thing or two about AOR and hard..
Veonity – Elements Of Power (Scarlet Records)
A new release by Swedish power metal outfit Veonity is always a reason to celebrate with Elements of Power being the bands fifth album to date in a career which began when the band formed in 2013. All of the previous albums have been high quality power metal dealing in the usual epic fantasy themes..
FIELDS – Feeling Free: The Complete Recordings 1971-73 (Esoteric / Cherry Red)
There are no long epics among [the debut album's] ten tightly composed tracks, but that matters not to an album which is utterly bursting with good, old-fashioned Golden Age prog rock. It is, genuinely, an unsung classic. The list of worthy 1970s bands who have remained largely unsung and, worse, unheard by most people is..
Heir Apparent – Graceful Inheritance (Hammerheart Records)
Heir Apparent is an American hard rock/progressive metal band that was formed back in 1983 and appears to have had a very complicated on/off history. So much so that the band has only ever produced three albums in Graceful Inheritance in 1986, One Small Voice in 1989 and then a long wait until A View..
First Signal – Closer To The Edge (Frontiers Music)
First Signal was a project put together in 2010 by Harry Hess, the vocalist with Canadian rock band Harem Scarem whilst the band was on hold, and the bassist and producer Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Khymera, Place Vendome). The self titled debut featured Hess and Ward alongside former Harem Scarem member Darren Smith on..
HELD BY TREES – Solace (Tweed Jacket Music)
It's an odd thing, but as I have grown older, with a free bus pass tantalisingly close, my approach and attitude to ambient instrumental music has very much shifted. Time was, and not all that long ago, when - aside from a liking for a few early Tangerine Dream albums and the like - the..
Peter Bardens – Long Ago, Far Away: The Recordings 1969 – 1971 (Esoteric)
The vast landscape of lesser-known albums from the 1960s and 1970s is dotted with gems of varying degrees of brilliance. It's easy to get lost down slippery YouTube rabbit holes or dig through rows of records and CDs, combing for worthy relics to discover and add to our collections. It's even easier to have the..
Dymytry – Revolt (AFM Records)
Revolt is album number 6 by the Czech rock band Dymytry and the first to receive an international release from the intense outfit which was formed in Prague in 2003. They play what they call psy-core metal which is a heavy yet still melodic industrial grind core which is very heavy on bass and lots..
Fortune – Level Ground (Frontiers Music)
Now, a real biography of the American AOR maestros would most definitely be book length but we'll suffice with a very compact history of the band which began life back in the 1970s. Formed by the Fortune brothers, Mick on drums and Richard on guitar, they released their first and very well received self-titled album..
SLADE – Coloured Vinyl Reissues (BMG)
The 'Slayed?' album looked and sounded as if it was going to bully your other records as soon as you left the room, and this edition, with its replication of the original sleeve, looks like it will do it again. If you have the original vinyl as well, and store both together, they might do..