Arc Light

1976's Straosfear clearly defined the band's heavily sequenced sound.  It was highly melodic - all the experimentalism of the early 70s was gone.  Dark and a bit intimidating, its one of their best.New edition remastered from the original master tapes.  Includes two bonus tracks.

Withem is an up and coming Norwegian progressive metal band, inspired by the likes of Symphony X, Pagan’s Mind, Dream Theater and Circus Maximus.The band started to take shape in 2011 when Øyvind Voldmo Larsen (guitars) and Ketil Ronold (keyboards) met the gifted drummer Frank Nordeng Røe. Soon they were joined by the vocal talents of Ole Aleksander Wagenius and bass duties were taken care of by the special guest Andreas Blomqvist from Seventh Wonder.Withem’s debut offers varied sonic landscapes for the listener to explore, ranging from guilty-pleasure choruses permeated with memorable vocal hooks, to symphonic epic themes.  The unique vocal range of Ole Aleksander Wagenius gives the band a distinctive touch to tackle the overcrowded progressive metal scene.The passion and dedication put into the album is emphasized by the countless hours spent in studio perfecting each individual performance and making sure that the end result is a world class blend of progressive, symphonic and power metal.The Point Of You was mastered by Markus Teske (Vanden Plas, Saga, Spock's Beard)

Ninth album from this Swedish band.  Katatonia's music shares a kindred spirit with that of Opeth and Tool.  Very much emotion driven with a dark vibe through out.  It doesn't come more melancholy than this one... "Despite being into their third decade, gloomy Swedish progressive metallers Katatonia are still producing fine work. 2009’s Night Is the New Day was heralded as the band’s finest ever album, and with prog’s increasing influence evident across the more facile end of the metal spectrum, this band is doing better than ever. Dead End Kings marks another progression for this outfit – in terms of album structure, anyway. While their previous effort was a sumptuous effort with a sum greater than its parts, this ninth album is a collection of fantastic, searching songs that stand alone as well as they do together. It’s still completely and utterly miserable, though… so very, very miserable. The cellos in opening track The Parting add solemn layers to music that is already laden with sorrow and introspection. It’s a multifarious affair from then on in. The slightly sinister Hypnone adds strength before the album succumbs to the mellow, emotive The Racing Heart. Buildings is the most resolutely metal track here. Its humungous riffs are positioned at exactly the moment where the listener may have been lulled into a false sense of security, bludgeoning guitars swelling the song’s belly with a fiercely charged beauty. There are other moments of grandiose, majestic beauty breaking up the murkiness, but Buildings is the only piece of metal you’re going to get.Dead Letters is massively reminiscent of Tool – and while the American prog-grungers remain at work on their overdue fifth LP, it’s a very welcome sound. It doesn’t last though. As with everything Katatonia do, the song wanders off into another direction, atmospheric moments splintering into sparse orchestration, Jonas Renkse’s murmured voice flying across the top throughout. <br><br>The closer is certainly the finest standalone song here, bringing Dead End Kings to a glorious and complex end. There’s no grand climax. It just fades to dust, allowing you to reflect upon yet another excellent album from Katatonia." - BBC

Raise The Curtain is the latest effort from the former Savatage mastermind.  Its quite different from the Jon Oliva's Pain project and in a surprising way.  The music has a strong 70s vibe blending elements of progressive rock, AOR, and metal.  Oliva plays all the instruments but he collaborated on the songwriting with Dan Fasciano.  From the opening roaring organ sounds you know you are in for something a bit different.  You can tell this is Jon Oliva - there are parts that will remind you a bit of Savatage but you will also think in terms of Kansas, ELP, Alice Cooper.  A mash up of styles for sure but quite well done.  A friend who heard an advance copy summed it up perfectly: "A fun album".  This is the first pressing that has one bonus track.  Grab it while we got 'em.

From time to time over their career Tangerine Dream would release a live album - most of them are pretty good.  This one is pretty phenomenal.  It was recorded in the US on their 1977 tour in support of Stratosfear.  It consists of 4 epic length tunes.  If you are into electronic music this is a must own.

New vinyl pressing of the band's magnificent second album.