Welcome to part two of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2023. Part one can be found here. Now, let’s get back to it!
Continue reading “Best of 2023: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 2: 25-1”Best of 2023: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 2: 25-1
Tag: canterbury
Best of 2023: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26
Welcome to the first half of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2023. This article covers spots 50-26, and the top 25 will follow soon!
As a reminder: the label of “2023” is not entirely accurate. The music featured here covers December 2022 through November 2023. Trying to find new music in the month of December is a fool’s errand, as much of my time during that month is occupied with writing and editing this list.
As I always say, I’m sure there are some excellent albums not included on my list. This site is a one-man operation (in relation to reviewing, that is; my editors, Kelci and Dan, have been tremendously helpful), and I simply cannot listen to everything that gets released. I also have my personal biases against some rather popular trends in prog. (*cough* djent *cough*)
2023 wound up being an excellent year for the type of music I enjoy. While it wasn’t necessarily difficult to whittle the list down to fifty entries, some of the albums that failed to make the cut for this year’s list probably could place as high as the low thirties in weaker years. (Such acts include Loma Baja, The Ocean, Legendry, and Lil Yachty.) I contemplated expanding the list, but this already takes up a ton of my time as it is. So, let’s get to it!
Continue reading “Best of 2023: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26”Odds & Ends: December 25, 2023
Band: Frankie and the Witch Fingers | Album: Data Doom | Genre: Progressive rock, Krautrock | Bandcamp
Frankie and the Witch Fingers remind me a lot of Osees. The music is fierce, energetic, and shot-through with punk influences. But the riffs are usually weird and angular, with uncommon meters. Despite a lot of the overt, aggressive tendencies of this band, the music remains relatively accessible. There are plenty of melodic hooks and catchy riffs and themes. “Syster System” is one hell of an earworm, and “Doom Boom” has a groovy, King Gizzard-esque feel to it.
Score: 80/100
Band: Gong | Album: Unending Ascending | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Once you get outside the very big names of progressive rock (Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, etc), Gong is one of the better-known second-echelon prog acts. I’m honestly not that familiar with their output beyond their Pot Head Pixie trilogy of the early 1970s. Looking over their Wikipedia article however, they have been incredibly prolific, with numerous projects labeled “So-and-so’s Gong” also being considered part of their oeuvre. Maybe I’ll eventually do a Gong Deep Dive, but seeing all the various Gong-adjacent projects makes that a daunting prospect. I’ve also discussed Yes being a ship of Theseus, but they ain’t got nothin’ on Gong. There’s a whole damn Wikipedia article on the topic. Just look at this graphic!
Moving onto the music of Unending Ascending, it’s pretty decent. It’s psychedelic in feel, with a lot of space rock elements. The playing and compositions are complex and thoughtful. There are some weaker moments, like the sleepy and overlong “Ship of Ishtar”, but most of the record manages to be engaging and entertaining. Despite none of the current members of Gong having been in the band prior to 2007, they do a great job of maintaining the spirit of the classic Gong sound.
Score: 77/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 25, 2023”Odds & Ends: August 7, 2023
Band: Amoeba Split | Album: Quiet Euphoria | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
This instrumental release has a nice diversity of sounds on it, and the prominence given to jazz flavors works in its favor. The saxophone and keyboard parts especially call to mind early jazzy prog acts, like Frank Zappa, Magma, and Soft Machine. At points, they even veer into territory comparable to Return to Forever. The only real weak point here is the sprawling closer, which atmospherically meanders for eleven-plus minutes without saying or doing all that much. That aside, this is a really enjoyable release.
Score: 76/100
Band: Aton Five | Album: Aton Five | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
This instrumental Russian quartet plays a relatively heavy variety of prog that often treads the line between rock and metal. The riffs are flashy, complex, and weird, and the guitar and keyboard tones deployed are all great. Dashes of jazz and classical crop up throughout the record for some pleasant moments of contrast. The speed and complexity of these riffs call to mind bands like Liquid Tension Experiment. The closing 22-minute “Lethe” might be a touch long, but it still has plenty of great ideas in it that channel acts like Pink Floyd and Elder.
Score: 73/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: August 7, 2023”Album Review: Zopp – Dominion
Band: Zopp | Album: Dominion | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2023
From: Nottingham, UK | Label: Flat Circle Records
For fans of: Soft Machine, Diagonal, Caravan
I’ve discussed the Canterbury sound on this site a number of times. Its heyday–like much of progressive rock–was back in the early 1970s, but even then it was somewhat niche. Despite that, there are a few acts still keeping this sound alive, and Zopp is one of the best ones.
Zopp’s 2020 self-titled debut wound up being one of my top albums for the year, though I never reviewed it before my year-end best-of list. It wasn’t some late-in-the-year surprise for me; I just never got around to covering it. But I don’t want to have that be the case again. The two pre-release singles for Dominion had both been great, so I went into this record with pretty high hopes. On their Bandcamp, the band describes this album as being closer to Yes or Marillion than any Canterbury act, but I have to disagree. If I’m looking for good comparisons, I’m still going to cite Soft Machine, Gong, and (especially) Caravan.
Continue reading “Album Review: Zopp – Dominion”Odds & Ends: December 14, 2022
Band: Ahleuchatistas | Album: Expansion | Genre: Math rock, RIO | Bandcamp
Ahleuchatistas are something of an outlier when it comes to bands I like. I’m often not a fan of improv-heavy acts that sound like they’re constantly on the verge of falling apart, but this trio always manages to thread the needle of tight, complex riffs and wonky, off-kilter meters with loose improv. Expansion feels a bit more composed than some of their past work, and that pays dividends here. The riffs are weird and wild and wiry, and the songs have an odd, shambolic energy to them. This is a bizarre and rewarding album.
Score: 81/100
Band: Fren | Album: All the Pretty Days | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Had I known Wiosna was a single off an upcoming album and not an EP, I wouldn’t have reviewed it. But alas! All the Pretty Days is Fren’s second full-length album. Much like their debut, it’s melodic and dramatic instrumental prog. The songs are engaging and attention grabbing, and despite their length, there is very little bloat here. This reminds me of Änglagård’s best work while also being distinct. Hints of jazz pop in from certain piano lines, giving flashes of Magma’s lighter moments.
Score: 78/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 14, 2022”Album Review: Regal Worm – Worm!
Band: Regal Worm | Album:Worm! | Genre: Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp
From: Sheffield, UK | Label: Quatermass
For fans of: Caravan, Diagonal, Egg, Perilymph
Jarrod Gosling (also known by the alias of Varrod Goblink) is back with another album under the Regal Worm moniker. Last year’s The Hideous Goblink was a wonderful piece of buzzy, progressive psychedelia with a clear sonic throughline.
On Worm!, Regal Worm’s fifth full-length release, the sound palette is a bit more diverse, but this pays dividends. While the songs don’t flow together seamlessly like on the last Worm release, there’s still a unique energy to Gosling’s music. The overall feel of Worm! Is lighter and more playful than its predecessor; there’s no 19-minute opus called “The Satan” on this one.
Continue reading “Album Review: Regal Worm – Worm!”Odds & Ends: July 11, 2022
Band: Artificial Brain | Album:Artificial Brain | Genre: Technical death metal, progressive death metal | Bandcamp
I remember there being a lot of hype around this band’s last album–2017’s Infrared Horizon–but it just never quite clicked with me. Their new self-titled album, though, is great. The riffs are blistering, dizzying, and mind-bendingly dissonant. The songs are well-built and feature some wonderful hairpin turns. Amid the mucky morass of gurgling vocals and growling guitars, lead guitar lines are often surprisingly melodic.
Score: 78/100
Band: Bess of Bedlam | Album: Dance until the Crimes End | Genre: Psychedelic folk, Canterbury sound | Bandcamp
This album varies between idyllic folk with psychedelic tinges and some Canterbury-leaning prog-pop. There’s a lot of good music here, but unfortunately, there’s also a fair amount of unspectacular indie-folk-pop. The weak moments are never bad, per se–just dull. And it’s usually quickly counteracted with a good song. If you’re looking for something arty but light, this isn’t a bad option.
Score: 68/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: July 11, 2022”Top 50 Prog Albums of 2021, Part 2: 25-1
Welcome to Part 2 of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2021. In case you missed Part 1, it can be found here.
Continue reading “Top 50 Prog Albums of 2021, Part 2: 25-1”Album Review: Diagonal – 4
Band: Diagonal | Album: 4 | Genre: Progressive rock, Space rock | Year: 2021
From: Brighton, UK | Label: Cobblers Records
For fans of: The Soft Machine, Gong, Hawkwind
Diagonal had a quick turnaround between this album and their previous release, 2019’s Arc. Compare that timeline to the five-year gap between their self-titled debut and their sophomore album, or to the seven-year hiatus following that. Needless to say, I’m glad they’re putting out music at a brisker pace than they have in the past
I’m also glad that 4 is an improvement over Arc. Arc wasn’t bad by any means, but good chunks of it felt unfocused or needlessly drawn-out. On this new release, the band sounds energized and full of new ideas, and that musical vigor shines through in the five compositions present here.
Continue reading “Album Review: Diagonal – 4”
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