Album Review: Phantom Spell – Heather & Hearth

Band: Phantom Spell | Album: Heather & Hearth | Genre: Progressive rock, Hard rock, Heavy metal | Year: 2025

From: Murcia, Spain | Label: Wizard Tower

For fans of: Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep, Queensryche

Bandcamp

Phantom Spell is the solo project of Kyle McNeill, a guitarist for the power metal band Seven Sisters. There are certainly throughlines between these two acts, but Phantom Spell takes a decidedly 1970s-influenced path in their music. Things are highly melodic, with solos aplenty and dramatic vocals throughout.

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Album Review: WEEED’s final three releases

Band: WEEED | Albums: Green Roses Vol. II, Mushroom, WEEED | Genre: Psychedelic rock, Psychedelic folk, Krautrock | Year: 2025

From: Portland, USA | Label: Photon Records

For fans of: King Gizzard, Mondo Drag, Weedpecker

Bandcamp (Green Roses Vol. II) | Bandcamp (Mushroom) | Bandcamp (WEEED)

WEEED, a favorite local band of mine, recently decided to call it quits. I’d featured them on this site at least three times before, with two of those reviews being quite positive. Originally based on Bainbridge Island, I saw them play in and around Seattle a number of times, and they always put on a killer show, blending smart psych rock with improvisational freak-outs. They relocated to Portland a few years ago, and they’d been largely quiet since the pandemic.

In announcing their dissolution, they also announced a farewell show (which I sadly missed, due to a scheduling conflict) and a trio of records they’d been sitting on. I’m going to take this opportunity to cover these three releases as a send-off to this band. This won’t be quite as in-depth as my full-length reviews, but it will cover more than a typical Odds & Ends.

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Album Review: Tropical Fuck Storm – Fairyland Codex

Band: Tropical Fuck Storm | Album: Fairyland Codex | Genre: Art punk, Experimental rock | Year: 2025

From: Melbourne, Australia | Label: Fire Records

For fans of: Squid, black midi, Cardiacs, Fuzz

Bandcamp

Tropical Fuck Storm is an Australian quartet that has been around since 2017, but I ran across them only recently. Their style is a little tough to define, but I think the genre tags I used above are pretty accurate. Maybe I could have tossed in “noise rock,” but I think that gets the point across. While not particularly “proggy” in the sense that they don’t ape the sounds of the 1970s or perform extended suites, their style is innovative and forward-thinking. They’re a genuine breath of fresh air in the rock world.

Fairyland Codex is the band’s fourth full-length release, and it might just be their best yet. The sound palette is diverse yet unified, and the band is able to weave in earworm melodies amidst supremely chaotic passages.

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Odds & Ends: September 1, 2025

Band: Jordsjø & Breidablik | Album: Kontraster | Genre: Progressive rock, Progressive folk, Krautrock | Bandcamp

Norwegian bands Jordsjø and Breidablik team up on this album to each deliver one epic apiece, fittingly titled “Kontraster” (“Contrasts”). Jordsjø’s composition is some of their best music in a long time, featuring a thrilling mix of classic prog that filters the influences of Genesis and King Crimson through their Norse folk-tinged lens. This work is balanced against many pretty acoustic moments that feel like they’re rooted in scenic fjords, but still with a foot in the modern prog-rock movement. Breidablik’s offering is much more electronic. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, and other early prog-electronic acts are their obvious inspiration. Hints of their homeland still peek through, though. Airy flutes and twinkling guitars shine against the backing of looping synths.

Score: 91/100

Band: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Album: Phantom Island | Genre: Progressive pop | Bandcamp

King Gizzard’s latest album is a bit borderline for this site, but I enjoyed it overall. On this release, the band has incorporated a full orchestra into their music, and it’s a successful experiment. The lush soundscapes complement and elevate the band’s smart, Southern-inflected art rock, and it pushes the album from “fine” to “pretty good.” Their previous record didn’t really resonate with me; this is in a similar vein, but the freshness of all the strings and winds helps the band better realize their ideas.

Score: 78/100

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Album Review: Changeling – Changeling

Band: Changeling | Album: Changeling | Genre: Progressive death metal | Year: 2025

From: Berlin, Germany | Label: Season of Mist

For fans of: Opeth, Death, Cynic, Between the Buried and Me

Bandcamp

Changeling is a quartet made up of people with deep experience in the death metal world. Bandleader Tom Geldschläger has played with Obscura and Belphegor, among others, and the other three members have ties to acts such as Fear Factory, Virvum, and Dark Fortress. Backing up this supergroup is a slew of guest musicians, including a choir and small orchestra.

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Album Review: Liquid Pennies – Fore

Band: Liquid Pennies | Album: Fore | Genre: Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Year: 2025

From: Saint Petersburg, USA | Label: Threat Collection Records

For fans of: Zechs Marquise, WEEED, Osees

Bandcamp

Liquid Pennies is a Floridian psych-rock trio that dabbles in many genres. Their sound incorporates elements of progressive rock, electronica, post-punk, and more. This multifaceted approach lends their records a varied, exciting quality where the listener is never quite certain what’s coming next. Fore, their latest album, sees them expand upon their sound in inventive ways.

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Album Review: Fer de Lance – Fires on the Mountainside

Band: Fer de Lance | Album: Fires on the Mountainside | Genre: Progressive metal, Power metal | Year: 2025

From: Chicago, USA | Label: Cruz del Sur Music

For fans of: Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Wytch Hazel, Rainbow

Bandcamp

Power metal and classic heavy metal are styles of music that show up on my site every now and then, but never with a ton of frequency. Fer de Lance is a Chicagoan quartet that uses those genres as the basis for some very big, very epic-sounding metal. They pull in influences from farther afield, too, including various veins of folk music and black metal.

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Odds & Ends: August 4, 2025

Band: Alburnus | Album: Alburnus III | Genre: Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp

This Finnish band’s latest album is a groovy, retro-influenced slab of prog and psych. The instrumental passages are peppy, surprisingly catchy, and thoroughly enjoyable. The band shows a knack for melody and hooks, and their playing is flashy without being excessively technical. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s fun.

Score: 72/100

Band: Echolyn | Album: TimeSilentRadio II | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp

Echolyn put out two albums this March, and this is the stronger of the two. Consisting of just two massive tracks, TSRII sees the band utilize their usual sound in an effective manner. ‘90s prog is not my favorite flavor of the genre, but Echolyn pulls it off pretty well. It’s often sunny and relatively accessible, but the underlying songwriting is complex and intelligent. Some parts can be a bit on the cheesy side for me, but overall, their blend of classic prog, pop-rock, and jazzy flourishes works very well. The 29-minute “Water in Our Hands” is especially memorable.

Score: 80/100

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Album Review: Snooze – I Know How You Will Die

Band: Snooze | Album: I Know How You Will Die | Genre: Math rock, Progressive metal | Year: 2025

From: Chicago, USA | Label: Choke Artist

For fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Tera Melos, And So I Watch You From Afar, Emberside

Bandcamp

I’ve been pretty open about my general distaste for subgenres that end in “-core.” And that goes double for most things classifiable as djent. So, had I not had this album specifically recommended to me, I probably would have skipped it had I found it on my own on Bandcamp. “Mathcore” and “djent” are usually good signs I’ll find a record tedious and repetitious. There are outliers, of course, but I do do some prioritization of stuff to listen to in looking for records for this site.

I am very happy I had this album recommended to me. Snooze is a Chicago-based quartet that plays a pretty heavy variety of math rock. I Know How You Will Die is their third full-length release and their first in six years. It’s also their heaviest by a significant margin. The band’s roots in math rock and Midwest emo are evident, especially in the vocal lines, but everything comes together in an incredibly satisfying way.

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Album Review: Lars Fredrik Frøislie – Gamle Mester

Artist: Lars Fredrik Frøislie | Album: Gamle Mester | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2025

From: Oslo, Norway | Label: Karisma Records

For fans of: Yes, Camel, Jethro Tull, Tusmørke

Bandcamp

Wobbler’s keyboard player is back with his second solo album. Lars Fredrik Frøislie’s solo debut, 2023’s Fire Fortellinger, was a pretty solid release. It didn’t break any new ground, but I enjoyed it a fair bit. I do like Wobbler, and Frøislie’s solo stuff is very much in the same vein. Gamle Mester (Eng.: Old Master) continues in the same general style, but it demonstrates some continued growth and development in his songwriting, which I like a lot.

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