Borknagar - 25th Anniversary (2CD)

Originally formed on Long Island, NY, Ice Age began in 1991 when the four members clicked over a mutual passion for classic and progressive rock with a penchant for heavier music undercurrents.The band was signed by the noted progressive label Magna Carta resulting in 1999’s THE GREAT DIVIDE.  This ambitious debut stands the test of time, acclaimed and sought-after by progressive rock and metal fans alike.  2001 saw the release of the band’s sophomore record LIBERATION, pushing the boundaries even further with melodic heights and metallic crunch.  The band supported the release with festival performances and tours of Europe and the USA.  At that point the band took an extended break but the members stayed in contact.Now 22 years later Ice Age is back with their third album WAVES OF LOSS AND POWER. The material that comprises the release finds the members of Ice Age wearing their varied influences confidently on their collective sleeve.  Once again the band conjures the spirits of Kansas, Genesis, Styx, fleeting shades of Queensryche, Rush, and Fates Warning.  In the true prog tradition, Ice Age continues their epic sagas begun on their first two albums.  In all respects, WAVES is a seminal masterwork of catchy, thoughtful, progressive songwriting.The album was mixed and mastered by Rich Mouser (Transatlantic, Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard).  The cover art concept and booklet design were brought to life by Killustrations, with a fresh new band logo by Thomas Ewerhard.Ice Age will see the band returning to the US festival stage by kicking off ProgPower USA XXII on September 6, 2023 in Atlanta.

"“Mirror your World through my Touch…Set me Free, oh Set me Free”These words, from the song Colours on Magenta’s new We Are Legend album, are about Vincent Van Gogh, but they could also describe the feelings engendered by this imaginative and impressive release from the premier Welsh Progressive Rock band. We Are Legend underlines Magenta’s outstanding musical credentials, but they have far more than just great technique, imbuing their songs with melodies to stir the soul and stories to fascinate the mind.In a recent interview with Peter Jones on his Progzilla Radio show, Tales from the Tiger Moth, Magenta main-man Rob Reed revealed that he wanted this Magenta album to be “different”. Since their last album, The Twenty Seven Club in 2013, Magenta have overcome some issues, including illness, but Reed revealed that he had struggled in writing a new Magenta album after the peaks he felt they had achieved. As a result he channelled himself into his own excellent Mike Oldfield inspired solo Sanctuary projects and helping Christina Booth complete her fine emotional solo album The Light. The results of this break have clearly refreshed Reed as We Are Legend projects Magenta into a new trajectory, fizzing with energy and creativity.Magenta have never made compromises in their music, ever since Rob Reed decided to stop trying to pursue mainstream success and produce exactly what he wanted to – a truly epic and distinctly ‘uncool’ double debut album Revolutions in 2001 shamelessly referencing his 1970s Prog heroes, Genesis and Yes in particular. Magenta went on to develop their own distinctive sound built around the trademark triad of the pyrotechnics of Chris Fry on electric guitars, Christina Booth’s pure, luminescent vocals and Rob Reed’s mastery of the Piano, Hammond and Moog. However, when considering the new album Reed initially felt restricted by that template and felt he did not want to re-tread old ground. Therefore, he decided to channel what he felt was ‘negativity and angst’ about the direction of the next album, similar to his frustrations prior to Revolutions, and decided to “make a record for me – I will use whatever I want on it”, leading to an album which includes distinctly ‘un-Magenta’ elements such as drum loops, sequencers, dashes of dance music rhythms and heavy guitars as Reed and the band stretch their boundaries. But long-term Magenta fans should have no fear, they are still recognisably Magenta, but noticeably reinvigorated with energy, sounds and an edge, showing a band that does not compromise and wants to move on in terms of its expression and imagination.In a break from previous albums, there is no overall ‘concept’ around this release. Magenta have chosen to present three distinct songs with separate narratives and atmospheres, but there is a cohesive feel to the whole album. In a throw back to vinyl days there is one epic ‘side long’ track and two shorter songs (both in the region of ten minutes) echoing the layout of classic Yes albums Close to the Edge and Relayer, but let’s be clear, Magenta are no ‘Prog by numbers’ clones and have produced a remarkable and vibrant progressive rock album.The epic opening track, Trojan, starts atmospherically with synths which then explode with squealing guitars over a juggernaut of bass and drums, immediately evoking a sense of science fiction. Steve Reed, lyricist and Rob’s older brother, has shared that the theme of this piece was initially suggested by the opening few minutes of the music alone, presented to him by Rob, the musical ideas helping to inspire Steve’s lyrics towards a peculiar yet interesting sci-fi story. In short, huge robots emerge from the sea and initially appear to be benign, but ultimately act as ‘Trojan horses’ to take over the world for a long forgotten and banished human species that took to living beneath the seas and have now returned to reclaim the Earth!If you think that’s bonkers then wait until you’ve heard the music which sounds like some sort of spectacular soundtrack for a Japanese Manga or Studio Ghibli cartoon. This is pulsating music. sweeping across the narrative in a range of distinct parts. Rob Reed revealed that he was influenced by Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood suite, which has the reputation for being epic in length, but is a series of linked songs. Similarly in structure but not in style, Trojan is a series of song sections over 26 minutes ‘sewn together’ (as Reed puts it), although you can hardly see the joins, such is the skill of Reed and the band.Following the opening cinematic section, Chris Fry kicks in with a heavy guitar riff and Christina Booth, over shimmering dance inflected keyboards, chants the early panic of those on land confronted with the slow, emphatic progress of these strange new conquering robots. The atmosphere changes to the gentler perspective of a little girl in Japan who thinks of the robot as a ‘Tin Man’, with imagery akin to Ted Hughes’ Iron Giant. Booth shows great vocal versatility as she switches from the softer vision of the small girl to more dramatic parts of the narrative as the story develops. The music flows descriptively – you can visualise the slow, inexorable march of the robots as Magenta interweave sinuous dance inflected keyboards, reminiscent of Faithless, with passages of fluid, dreamy blues tinged guitar at some points. Pastoral guitars underpin a peaceful passage with Booth’s soft vocals before distorted guitar breaks in, possibly to indicate that the ‘paradise’ of ease brought by the robots will be ultimately destroyed.I hope you’re keeping up!!!Don’t worry, Magenta’s imaginative music carries you along and you may not always understand (or even care!) exactly what is happening as you dive into the rich multi-layered elements that make up the epic sound and story. Steve Reed has always sought to look at subjects from unorthodox and differing perspectives, such as the ‘glutton for punishment’ angle of the classic Gluttony from Seven. Similarly, in Trojan he seemingly shifts from the fate of the land civilisation to the perspective of the long exiled species of undersea dwellers held within the Trojan Robots, looking forward to hopefully reclaiming their world. A beautiful acoustic guitar led section of hope emerges with Christina singing beautifully;“The light it fades, When you all will sleepWith love to share, Anger drifts awayAs the hurting stops, With the time to findPaths to tread in this world…I see the need inside your soulThe love that’s in your heart.”Such poetic and touching lines perfectly match the emotive music as Fry’s languid guitar flows along before ascending into a brief transcendent solo, characteristic of his more restrained performance throughout the album. It’s remarkable that amidst this science fiction complexity they can skilfully insert a song of such delicacy and feeling, underlining that for Magenta the priority is always melody and emotion, not the sterility of mere technique without feeling. Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Griffiths shows his versatile and subtle percussive skills alongside Fry’s eerie, expressive guitar as the piece sinisterly shifts towards the treachery of the robots as they turn against the land dwellers. The whole composition comes full circle as the dramatic robotic fanfare from the intro re-emerges with soaring guitars over pulsing synths and as one civilisation falls another rises from within the Trojan robots with hope:“At the break of day, As the silence roarsAnd the dust it falls, Open up the doorsWhen we’re stepping out, Walk into the light, Man’s re-birth.”Both musically and through the narrative, the opening track is quite a ride! Definitely a piece that, like most great tracks, pays repeated listenings with a strange story that reveals itself more over time.Legend is another imagined narrative song with a post-apocalyptic sci-fi feel, partly inspired by the films Omega Man and I am Legend, and the intro certainly sounds cinematic as weird sounds throb and pulse before a crunching combination of drums, bass and guitar puts us firmly in the stark post-apocalyptic setting. Dan Nelson, long time live bassist, has now fully joined the band and with new member Griffiths’ fine rhythmic work on drums they underpin this album with precision and power, particularly on the leviathan that is Legend. Christina Booth sings powerfully as this driving song describes the fate of one of the last men on Earth, before Reed’s synths and Fry’s weird distorted guitars intertwine in a nightmare musical depiction of the vampiric state into which humanity descends. A strange but captivating song, it concludes almost elegiacally with the last human trying to hang on to the final vestiges of his humanity as the vampires hunt down the weak and vulnerable, even amongst themselves. Perhaps it’s a comment on the self-consuming and self-destructive nature of much of our society… or just a dramatic but depressing story about zombies and vampires!! Who knows, but the journey is compelling.Colours is another remarkable song about the tortured and tragic soul of an artist. It starts with a beguiling musical box intro before erupting into an intense passage with staccato and textured sounds underlying Booth’s manic vocals. The evocative and multi-layered music conveys images of the artist, on the edge of sanity, passionately and frantically applying his paint to the canvas. Apparently Rob Reed presented the music to lyricist Steve by simply saying “It’s about Van Gogh”, but he had no words, making it remarkable that Rob was able to so fully evoke the musical images of a complex and tortured individual obsessively daubing paint onto canvas to try and express his innermost thoughts and feelings. Flute-like melodies move through to subtle blues inflected guitar, a short fluid Hammond Organ passage followed by a soaring guitar vignette by Fry, with Nelson in fine form, constantly changing the colours of Magenta’s musical palette. Van Gogh perceived everything in swirling vibrant colours, mirrored by the music as the impetus picks up with insistent synthesiser, orchestral keyboards and driving guitars, Steve Reed adding one of his best lyrics to reflect the power of the music and convey the artist’s sad decline in a maelstrom of creativity which he cannot sustain. The music and lyrics combine so well in this remarkable offering, building darkly to an intense finale with Rob Reed excelling, culminating in intensely sung and chilling lines:“Save me, love me, Gun in your hand and I’m waiting to dieSky bright, sun shineField like the sea, I’m wanting the endDarkness, silence, Near to the end TheoPlease set me free, set me free.”The ending is rather enigmatic, but there is a suggestion that Van Gogh’s brother Theo shoots him to put an end to his suffering in an act of mercy. Whether fact or not, it is certainly an evocative and emotive song which displays the combined talents of Magenta. A real showcase for the band, particularly Booth, as the song builds to its dramatic ending, it has already become rather a live favourite, no wonder as it combines the music and lyrics so well.In We are Legend Magenta have created one of the best albums of their career by daring to stretch and express themselves with great integrity and dazzling imagination. This will be regarded as one of THE progressive rock albums of 2017 – Magenta have definitely added to their own ‘Legend’." - The Progressive Aspect

"BORKNAGAR might’ve been born at the backend of black metal’s second wave in the mid-90s, but the course they’ve set sail on over nearly three decades and 12 albums travels further than the genre’s rigid confines. If 2016’s Winter Thrice was the blueprint, and 2019’s True North the prototype, 12th album Fall is the unveiling of their progressive black metal masterpiece.Soundtracking the human struggle and survival against nature, Fall is a multi-dimensional journey through the mountainscapes of Norway. Opener Summits is a sweeping cinematic shot of mountain regions unfolding in your eardrums; espresso-sized wailing howls and harmonic cleans drizzle off into heaping honeypots of thickly-woven dissonance. That’s about as traditional black metal as Fall gets, and it’s all the better for going off the beaten track. Nordic Anthem’s tribal percussion and hypnotic harmonies see you descend into the mysterious depths of the mountains, echoing the nomadic desert blues of TINARIWEN. Rather than explode like fireworks in the night, Nordic Anthem lives and breathes like the Northern Lights’ swirling rivers of light; its quiet, sombre moments erupt into a chorus so anthemic you’d see it sung in stadiums, showcasing the sheer depth that ICS Vortex and Lazare’s dual-vocals have given BORKNAGAR visionary Øystein G. Brun to play with.Afar is your moment to feel out the mountainous regions you’re making home in, as the experimental fierceness of BATHORY bleeds into the silky, synthy hinterlands DREAM THEATER create; Moon’s double-bass drums and dissonant riffs flood your eardrums like a wildfire spreading through the forests before Brun and Jostein Thomassen cool the burning blasts with solos straight from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal playbook.Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow’s blast beats are supernovas colliding in the night sky as ICS Vortex sets the Stars Ablaze, before Unraveling does just that to their tapestry of sounds, symbolising how nature adapts and evolves to counter humanity by commandingly straddling both MASTODON’s Crack The Skye and Hushed & Grim eras simultaneously. The Wild Lingers does just that; plucking strings conducted operatically as if a living, breathing forest speaks to your soul, before the nearly-10 minute closer Northward is a kaleidoscope of sharp dissonance, blistering blast beats and howling vocals, as if the elements are at war.By the time its nearly hour-long runtime wraps up, you’re fully submerged in nature’s grasp. Your mind is left lingering on the many food-for-thought lyrics Fall offers long after it ends. At once, this album is deliciously dark yet hauntingly hopeful, summarised emphatically on Nordic Anthem: “The north wind whispers in our ears / Old tales of hardship, of hopes and fears / We fought to forge our own destiny / Now we stand strong for the world to see” — the question you’re left battling with though is who’s left standing strong, humanity or nature?Fall is the masterful culmination of nearly three decades of work, a testament to the dedication of Brun and BORKNAGAR at large to pushing black metal’s envelopes beyond its cavernous boundaries. Now, where will they take us next?" - Distorted Sound

"Greetings and god Fredag. This is a journey into sound. And sounds. And time, and shifting perceptions, and journeys (journeys of journeys), and our relationship to all of these things, but mostly to sounds. And mostly to the sounds of Heimdal, the 16th full length album by the legendary Enslaved. Let’s begin by setting the stage with some blanketing statements, both of which can be true:Heimdal is handily the best album Enslaved has released in over a decade, since at least 2012’s Riitiir.It still probably won’t replace your favorites.We’ll get into the first statement in greater detail below, but first let’s tackle the latter. First of all, it’s okay for a new album to not eclipse the peaks. Have you heard Isa? It’s incredible! Have you heard Below the Lights? It’s splendiferous! The number of metal bands that have recorded albums of that quality can be counted with your combined hands and feet.Perhaps more important is your personal relationship with this band. Enslaved’s career has long been marked by eras, even if the exact time when each begins or ends is often blurred by their evolution and progression. As music fans, we go through our own eras, with any number of our innumerable experiences shaping how we perceive and appreciate things. This can be extra true for a band with as dramatic an arc as that of Enslaved’s first 15 years, where we might not appreciate a particular album, phase, or sound until our personal circumstances are just right, and even then the ones that made the biggest impression on us at that key moment in time may always be our favorites.Basically, Enslaved has an extremely high Get Out What You Bring With You factor, and while that doesn’t mean it’s completely based on circumstance, those factors can and of course will influence how much a very good new record like Heimdal will leave you ensorcelled. Enslaved is also a big Patience Will Be Rewarded band, and even for them Heimdal is a fairly deep and diverse album. In other words, your weapons (snap judgments), you will not need them.But what if you’re the type that really misses that constant Enslaved evolution? How much did you believe the statements from the band that Ivar Bjørnson was more inspired as a songwriter this time around? Here are a couple more points about Heimdal that can both be true:It does indeed sound more inspired than recent efforts, and is undeniably darker, more intense, and relatively weirder than the last few albums.Inspired is one thing, and evolution is another, and the album’s shifts are minute compared to the rapid changes the band used to exhibit from album to album.Basically, if you’re okay with Enslaved not shapeshifting faster than a T1000 dipping its little piggies in lava, you’ll be way on board, because again, this is the best set of tunes they’ve penned in a good while. After a three-album run in which they seemed to be in a holding pattern, it’s great to hear that extra touch of fire and focus on an album that features an organic but obviously well thought out flow (it feels nearly as “concept album” in structure as Isa). They might not be rapidly and restlessly moving about, but they definitely sound like they’re starting to stir from what has felt a bit like a decade-long chill sesh on the couch. Let’s dive in, yes?Opener “Behind the Mirror,” almost crucially, does not unload all the album’s intensity from the get-go, but instead begins things with a slower, slightly doomy prog riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on many a King Crimson album (that almost cheeky menace at which Fripp so excels is present). The clean vocal passages are rather communal and understated, which provides a great contrast to Grutle Kjellson’s somehow never better growl. It’s a very good, not quite amazing track, but what makes it work so well as an opener is it introduces the kind of on-the-move, traveling, journeying vibe that permeates the record, which is amplified much more on later tracks.It also sets the stage by being a bit of a stylistic deke before the band goes nuts on “Congelia,” a tune that is almost shockingly heavy and urgent, especially considering the type of material you’d expect of them these days. It spends several minutes hammering the listener with a choppy-chunky riff, Iver Sandøy’s relentless drum pattern, Grutle’s growl, and some positively killer organ warble and spaced out key parts from Håkon Vinje (who really stars throughout). All the intensity is eventually rewarded with a wicked, triumphant swell of group clean vocals in one of the album’s biggest moments, of course punctuated by a smooth and deeply narrative Ice Dale solo (the man is a marvel). It ought to be an instant Enslaved classic.The journey continues with “Forest Dweller,” which again shifts the mood into something more classically prog, with serene-but-eerie vocal melodies, simulated flute sounds, and plenty of sections that feel like blackened Deep Purple and/or later Opeth peppered with harsh rasps. It’s another track that doesn’t so much shift a paradigm as it refines the model in glorious fashion. It’s also a great diversion between the beastly track that precedes it and the wild, fun, and riffy “Kingdom,” which is fairly irresistible all the way through with its techy harmonies and spaced out keys, but really reaches another level when it pairs some serious bombast with a nice sassy hook.The journeying vibe reaches its peak with “The Eternal Sea” and “Caravans to the Outer Worlds.” The former begins with sounds of being lost at sea, framing the dominant catchy drive and clean vocal melodies with sorrow, almost a lament. It’s beautiful, simultaneously distant and immediate, and perhaps the biggest grower track of the bunch. The latter flips that feeling of trekking across great distances into something resembling a battle, with its punchy keys, twitchy riffs, and a fittingly less smooth Ice Dale solo. The track, despite being introduced through its titular EP in 2021, feels even more at home here, fitting in perfectly with the overall arc of Heimdal.Since the days of “Miðgarðs Eldar,” Enslaved has spliced their speed with slowness, and that touch of doom really helps Heimdal’s closing title track set the scene for the end. The main riff pattern of its initial passages is like a meaner and slower inversion of the riff that opens the album, and ‒ because of a somewhat unbalanced prog setting ‒ feels the tiniest bit drunk (oddball keys and Grutle’s vocals help the unsettling vibe). And then, almost out of nowhere, it suddenly becomes a completely different song, infectiously pushing forward as if driving away from destruction without a worry in mind, as if the only goal is to keep chasing the sunset.It admittedly comes off as a strange choice the first few times you hear it, but everything comes together when you remember a great truth about this band: Enslaved is best when they’re at least a little weird. Heimdal is probably only a little weird (at least to seasoned ears), but it’s certainly weirder than In Times, E, and Utgard. It isn’t just weirdness for the sake of weirdness, however, it’s the sound of a creative band feeling looser and more at home both within their songs and with each other. Heimdal is the first time that this “newer” Enslaved lineup sounds fully gelled, with all five guys turning in excellent performances that add just the right touches (and then some) to these tunes.It’s admittedly a comforting feeling to be excited about an Enslaved album again. It’s a somewhat tempered excitement, sure, but that might be less about the record (which is great and has the potential to keep growing in stature) than me, us, I, we. We ‒ meaning fans and band both ‒ are older, a little less excitable, and generally stiffer in our joints when the barometric pressure acts up. And to reiterate a big point, this band has released 16 (SIXTEEN!!!) albums! That’s a lot of records!!! And the worst you can say about their output is that a few albums feel a mite superfluous, because none are nearly bad. That they can emerge from the type of rut that is really only a rut for a band of their caliber and climb at least halfway back up their own colossal mountain of standards ought to bring a smile to many a fan’s face.Enslaved is even celebrating the record with a release event called Heimhug, which yes, translates to “homesickness” (at least according to Google), but these world travelers surely knew that putting “hug” into the name would make it seem rather affectionate to non-Norwegian-speakers. Regardless, it’s a fun thing for these joyous old vets to do with their fans, and just the latest in a great recent stretch of events and live streams and other little things that make them so relatable. They clearly want their fans to be part of their journey, and Heimdal not only feels like a big part of their story, but one of their destination albums. Give them and this great record a good squeeze, you will." - Last Rites

"Enslaved are back with their 13th studio album, In Times, marking their first album in three years. The gap between discs ties their longest since the span between Frost and Eld. A lot has changed since then as the band has been blending their fondness for ’70s progressive rock with lengthy black metal songs remaining at the core since the dawn of the new millennium.At first glance, six songs may not seem like much for a new album by the modern standard, but the Norwegians echo the sentiment of quality over quantity. Five of the six songs clock in between the eight and nine minute mark with the title track being the lone exception at nearly 11 minutes in length.The opening track “Thurisaz Dreaming” tricks the listener by fading in with a sound that seems to be setting the tone for a lengthy and progressive introduction. Instead, Enslaved go for the throat as Grutle Kjellson shreds his in a matter of seconds with shrieks that alleviate any doubts that the band has strayed far from their black metal foundation. As quickly as Grutle presents himself, he sits back resigned to his bass, content letting the soothing clean vocals take over for a bit as the band embark on another journey revering the sacred runes.With each passing album, keyboardist Herbrand Larsen has become a more integral part of the band utilizing his soothing clean vocals to contrast and compliment Grutle’s uncompromising rasp. This is true again on In Times as the duo continue to vie for center vocal spot, creating a playful atmosphere where the listener can feel fully absorbed by both the progressive and black metal facets of Enslaved.The best demonstration of this can be heard on the masterful “One Thousand Years of Rain.” A true conquest among the entirety of the band’s catalog, this song sees each member of the band contribute a performance that transcends their individual duties. This is also where Cato Bekkevold’s drumming starts to truly stand out as the kick drum anchors In Times, often stitching together the disharmony.“Nauthir Bleeding” continues the experiment of clean vocals intersecting with the blackened side of the band and vice versa with astonishing results. This ambidextrous-like quality rounds out their most progressive aspect, allowing them to excel and innovate in both genres independently.With successive listens it becomes quite evident that In Times is written to be listened to as a whole. Each song flows into the next so seamlessly that it can be easy to forget where one song ends and another begins. Certain songs will always stand out more than others, but that isn’t what this album is about. The ever-consistent Enslaved have churned out another album to cement their legendary status in a style the continue to call their own." - Loud Wire

Legendary rock guitarist Steve Hackett will release his new studio album “The Circus And The Nightwhale” on 16th February 2024 via InsideOut Music. A rite-of-passage concept album with a young character called Travla at the centre of it, “The Circus And The Nightwhale”s 13 tracks have an autobiographical angle for the musician who says about his 30th solo release: “I love this album. It says the things I’ve been wanting to say for a very long time.” Recorded between tours in 2022 and 2023 at Siren studio in the UK – with guest parts beamed in from Sweden, Austria, the US, Azerbaijan and Denmark, the line-up for “The Circus And The Nightwhale” includes some familiar faces alongside Steve on electric and acoustic guitars, 12-string, mandolin, harmonica, percussion, bass and vocals. Roger King (keyboards, programming and orchestral arrangements), Rob Townsend (sax), Jonas Reingold (bass), Nad Sylvan (vocals), Craig Blundell (drums) and Amanda Lehmann on vocals. Nick D’Virgilio and Hugo Degenhardt return as guests on the drumstool, engineer extraordinaire Benedict Fenner appears on keyboards and Malik Mansurov is back with the tar. Finally, Steve’s brother John Hackett is present once more on flute. Summing up “The Circus And The Nightwhale”, Steve says: “It’s a lovely journey that starts dirty, scratchy and smoky and becomes heavenly and divine. How can you resist it?”