Prog rock

[rids57]

Love by The Flower Kings - Just dropped today and any day with a new Flower Kings album is a good day. 24/96 version on Qobuz and it sounds pretty amazing and I expect the other streamers will follow suit.

 

[dacwizard]

Love by The Flower Kings - Just dropped today and any day with a new Flower Kings album is a good day. 24/96 version on Qobuz and it sounds pretty amazing and I expect the other streamers will follow suit.

I will give this a listen tonight…..however, I’ve never managed to love The Flower Kings. I don’t know what it is, they should be right in my wheelhouse, their albums are often just too long IMO, they always have some great ideas and sections but something just stops me wanting to keep playing them in the way I might, for example, with a new IQ record. I did get to them late and had a lot to catch up on, so maybe I was just overwhelmed with the amount of material. I prefer Roine Stolt in Transatlanic. Anyway fingers crossed for this one.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

I will give this a listen tonight…..however, I’ve never managed to love The Flower Kings. I don’t know what it is, they should be right in my wheelhouse, their albums are often just too long IMO, they always have some great ideas and sections but something just stops me wanting to keep playing them in the way I might, for example, with a new IQ record. I did get to them late and had a lot to catch up on, so maybe I was just overwhelmed with the amount of material. I prefer Roine Stolt in Transatlanic. Anyway fingers crossed for this one.

FWIW, FK are a band I definitely have to be in a particular mood to listen to. Sometimes I put them on and they don't click with me at all. When I'm in the right mood they can be quite enjoyable, though. Point being, it doesn't surprise me at all that FK may not sit right with everyone. The times I put them on and don't enjoy them it's mostly the vocals that don't work for me.

 

[rids57]

FWIW, FK are a band I definitely have to be in a particular mood to listen to. Sometimes I put them on and they don't click with me at all. When I'm in the right mood they can be quite enjoyable, though. Point being, it doesn't surprise me at all that FK may not sit right with everyone. The times I put them on and don't enjoy them it's mostly the vocals that don't work for me.

Yeah, I agree, Hasse Fröberg is a bit of a marmite singer, he doesn't have a particularly strong voice for a lead vocalist. Luckily for me I approach the band more from the direction of Stolt's writing and guitar playing, although on this occasion it all comes together very well - I really enjoyed the album, specially the closing track.

 

[Hiker816]

New single from Syncatto!

 

[JAnonymous5150]

I came across a prog outfit from Finland that is pretty killer. They've only got the one album as far as I can see, but it's a good one.

Self-Titled (rel. 2017) by Hadal Sherpa

 

[Designsfx]

I came across a prog outfit from Finland that is pretty killer. They've only got the one album as far as I can see, but it's a good one.

Self-Titled (rel. 2017) by Hadal Sherpa

I like these guys- had lost track of them. Thanks for putting this out there!

 

[JAnonymous5150]

I like these guys- had lost track of them. Thanks for putting this out there!

Happy to be of service, my friend. It's kinda crazy to think about the fact that there's such a vast quantity of awesome music out there to be explored and enjoyed that we can find a great album or band by pure chance and lose track of them again just as quickly without even really noticing untim a chance encounter brings things full circle once again.

To keep things topical I've got a great instrumental prog-metal album for you guys I'm listening to this one right now and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Who knew Indiana was home to such awesome prog-metal?

Sentinel (Instrumental, rel. 2023) by Koronus

 

[rids57]

I came across a prog outfit from Finland that is pretty killer. They've only got the one album as far as I can see, but it's a good one.

Self-Titled (rel. 2017) by Hadal Sherpa

Playing this for the umpteenth time - I love it! The mish-mash of styles really works in this instance, you never know what's coming next and I like that

 

[dacwizard]

Love by The Flower Kings - Just dropped today and any day with a new Flower Kings album is a good day. 24/96 version on Qobuz and it sounds pretty amazing and I expect the other streamers will follow suit.

This is pretty standard fair for Flower kings, I enjoyed it but little really stood out. I did however quite like the last track, in particular the section 7:45-9:15 which was very reminiscent of ‘Awaken’ (in my top 3 prog tracks of all time) and prompted me to listen to that afterwards (never a bad thing), if you are going to ape anyone then it might as well be the best.

Added the Hadal Sherpa album for later- sounds like fun.

 

[rids57]

This is pretty standard fair for Flower kings, I enjoyed it but little really stood out. I did however quite like the last track, in particular the section 7:45-9:15 which was very reminiscent of ‘Awaken’ (in my top 3 prog tracks of all time) and prompted me to listen to that afterwards (never a bad thing), if you are going to ape anyone then it might as well be the best.

Added the Hadal Sherpa album for later- sounds like fun.

much the same here, I did enjoy the whole album but the last track really stood out head and shoulders above the rest

Friday also saw the release of Roland Buhlmann's new album. It's a blend of instrumental prog and fusion, with Mr. Buhlmann playing everything (rather well). Available on Qobuz so should be on the other streamers too - well worth a listen....

GAPVIS by Roland Buhlmann

Camel (2025) by Brass Camel - A Canadian band out of Vancouver and described by Fantastic Negrito as "funky Rush" and I wouldn't necessarily disagree. Six tracks, forty minutes and bookended by two excellent eleven minute prog epics. Listening on Qobuz so I expect it's on the others too.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Playing this for the umpteenth time - I love it! The mish-mash of styles really works in this instance, you never know what's coming next and I like that

You know, I couldn't quite put my finger on why I was enjoying the track order so much and I think you just nailed it. Initially I was thinking that it was because they did a good job contrasting styles, tempos, themes, etc, but after reading that I think it's really because you get this sense of anticipation as each track ends because you're not entirely sure what's coming next. That anticipation coupled with the contrast makes things really entertaining.

Anyways, I'm glad you liked it! Now if they'd just release some more material.

GAPVIS by Roland Buhlmann

Okay, so I follow this dude on Bandcamp and have an album in my local library (not sure why just one), but upon listening to this album this is not who I thought it was and I don't remember having heard this guy at all. His music is great to relax and just let yourself kind vibe with. Thanks for the rec!

On the topical side of things, some of you may recall the Norwegian prog/fusion band, Soft Ffog I mentioned a while back when I posted the singles they released in advance of their new album. Well, the full album released a little over a week ago and it's freakin' killer!

Focus (rel. 2025) by Soft Ffog

 

[Designsfx]

Friday also saw the release of Roland Buhlmann's new album. It's a blend of instrumental prog and fusion, with Mr. Buhlmann playing everything (rather well). Available on Qobuz so should be on the other streamers too - well worth a listen....

Nice one rids! I hadn’t heard Roland before but it’s pretty trippy stuff- I’ll definitely have to check out more of these titles

Of course I will be carving out time for Camel as well!


Edit:
Just finishing up on Brass Camel and I love this stuff! Really good grooves on this one!

 

[rids57]

Trichotomy (2025) by Moon Halo - Third album from the UK band made up of members from Riversea and Mostly Autumn. Their music is melodic rock with a twist of prog and is written and played beautifully - I'm besotted and just went to Bandcamp and bought all three of their albums. It's available on Qobuz and almost certainly the other streamers should anyone fancy a listen.

 

[ThorstenJunker907]

Totally! If you're into that mix, check out Haken, Leprous, Soen, and Caligula’s Horse. Also The Dear Hunter for a more cinematic vibe. Prog never ends, and that’s the best part