Band: Arcane Atlas | Album: Constellation Plus | Genre: Progressive rock, Art rock | Bandcamp
Arcane Atlas plays a relatively light and relaxing variety of prog. Expansive atmospheres and lush textures have a calming effect, and there are some really enchanting passages here. ‘90s Rush and ‘90s Yes are the most obvious influences to my ear. This album’s instrumental moments are its best. This duo does a great job at establishing a mood and toying around with drama. Not everything here is a winner (“Sample”, in particular, was a tough listen for me), but this band’s occasional veers into soft rock are forgivable in the end. If you’re looking for something intelligent but soothing, Constellation Plus is a good choice.
Score: 76/100
Band: Bent Knee | Album: Twenty Pills Without Water | Genre: Art rock | Bandcamp
This is a welcome return to form for Bent Knee after their unimpressive last outing. Smart pop hooks are mixed in amidst creative and surprising arrangements. The textures are lush, and the vocals are strong, as usual. Parts of this record can veer into less-distinctive sorta-art-poppy-type stuff every now and then, but overall, Bent Knee does a great job at weaving together accessible and inventive elements.
Score: 79/100
Artist: Rob Harrison | Album: Explode My Head | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The debut solo record from Swansea-based multi-instrumentalist Rob Harrison is an eclectic collection of sounds spread over six sprawling tracks. Avant-garde, classical, heavy metal, and jazz influences flow freely, creating some interesting results. I like the creative vocal arrangements deployed throughout the record, too. This release suffers from the common case of occasional bloat that is endemic to progressive rock, but the underlying compositions are strong enough to carry the record.
Score: 73/100
Artist: Emilio Molina | Album: Nadador | Genre: Zeuhl | Bandcamp
The latest release from Chilean musician Emilio Molina pulls heavily from Magma’s material in the second half of the 1970s. Flavors of Üdü Ẁüdü and Attahk are evident everywhere. There are outer space marching beats mixed with funk and jazz that are hallmarks of this style, and Molina’s bass tone is even quite similar to that of Jannick Top. There are some great acoustic moments mixed in, which lend Nadador a more unique air. In the end, though, this does fall into the same trap as many other zeuhl acts; Magma’s sound is so singular, it’s hard to not sound derivative.
Score: 66/100
Band: Splet | Album: Crvena Smrt | Genre: Progressive rock, Hard rock | Bandcamp
The latest EP from this Serbian act serves up four crunchy, interstellar instrumental pieces. Guitars snarl and bite; and keyboards shine, swirl, and glimmer. The band has keen jamming instincts, with many passages containing subtle but infectious bluesy undertones. They clearly draw heavily from early ‘70s hard rock acts like Uriah Heep and Sir Lord Baltimore, but they’ve managed to weave in their own take on things. The closing “Prerani pogreb” even features moments that would feel right at home in certain grunge bands’ discographies.
Score: 78/100
Band: Super Perfundo | Album: King Korg | Genre: Progressive electronic, Krautrock | Bandcamp
Super Perfundo play a variety of electronic music that draws heavily from progressive rock and post-rock. Synth loops are layered smartly on top of one another, and the specific tones used are often charmingly froggy and harsh. King Korg contains both the hypnotic repetition of classic krautrock (and the forms of electronica which derive therefrom) and the compositional dynamism of the artsier strains of rock music.
Score: 75/100
The Elite Extremophile 