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Review – Alex Carpani – So Close. So Far. – by Shawn Dudley
Alex Carpani – So Close, So Far Incommunicability increases distances between people, self-alienation increases the isolation of an individual from the rest of the world and technology can enable dramatic consequences to happen. However human beings have the power to avoid all these things by listening to their heart and living their real lives first.…
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Review – Knifeworld – Bottled Out Of Eden – by Shawn Dudley
I was unfamiliar with Knifeworld when the advance copy of Bottled Out Of Eden arrived in my inbox and, following my usual practice, I decided to just listen to the album prior to researching anything about the band. Going in without any preconceptions is something that’s not always easy to accomplish these days since every…
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Review – Haken – Affinity – by Shawn Dudley
I’ve been living with this new Haken album for a couple of weeks now, attempting to wrap my head around it. Each time I think I’ve got it figured out some new detail jumps out at me that requires me to reevaluate. Like the band themselves,? Affinity remains wonderfully elusive and that just makes me…
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Review – N.y.X – The News – by Shawn Dudley
and now for something completely different.? One of the primary criticisms of the modern Prog movement is how few bands are truly experimenting and pushing boundaries and moving the music into uncharted waters. While I don’t personally subscribe to that (very subjective) viewpoint, I can understand how listeners that lean more toward experimental and avant-garde…
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Review – Witchcraft – Nucleus – by Shawn Dudley
Meditation is a very slow and painful process.? It is indeed the practice of death yet a celebration of life. – Ronald P. Vincent, 1947 This quote is printed on the inside gatefold of Nucleus and is, essentially, the mission statement singer/guitarist/songwriter Magnus Pelander follows for the fifth Witchcraft album. It’s a heavy, hypnotic, trippy…
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Review – The Mute Gods – Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me – By Shawn Dudley
One of the many benefits of living within the era of Steven Wilson is in addition to his seemingly bottomless pit of musical projects and his excellent remixing work he also has quite a knack for surrounding himself with top-drawer musicians. The multi-talented Nick Beggs immediately made his presence felt in Steven’s solo band, not…
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Combination review – Panzerballet – Breaking Brain & Special Providence – Essence of Change by Shawn Dudley
fusion (noun) – a merging of diverse, distinct, or separate elements into a unified whole. When venturing into conversations about experimental or hard-to-define musical styles I often find it beneficial to go back to the original literal definition of the genre name. Fusion (the musical style) conjures a particular sound and a particular era, mostly…
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Review – Opeth – Deliverance and Damnation (remixed) – by Shawn Dudley
2015 has been a retrospective year for Opeth. Their 25th anniversary tour was celebrated by adding a full performance of the 2005 album Ghost Reveries in addition to their regular Pale Communion set and the year closes out with a deluxe remixed reissue of their classic albums Deliverance and Damnation. Two albums that were recorded…
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Review – Earthside – A Dream In Static – by Shawn Dudley
If they gave out awards for most ambitious debut albums of the year then Earthside would be the clear winner for 2015. ?A Dream In Static, the audacious debut of this Connecticut prog metal quartet was recorded over a two and a half year period, on three different continents. To ensure they attained the production…
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Review – Abigail’s Ghost – Black Plastic Sun – by Shawn Dudley
