In Performance

Debut solo album from Wobbler’s Lars Fredrik Frøislie! Fitting perfectly into the 70s prog-rock tradition where the keyboardist makes a solo album between the band albums, this is music Frøislie has been doing, mostly alone, during the pandemic. Had it not been for the pandemic, much of the material would probably have ended up on a new Wobbler album - but then run through the Wobbler grinder and with English lyrics. In other words, this is unpeeled and raw, as spontaneous as possible without going through too many rounds of processing. Trying to preserve the impulsive - much of what you hear is improvised, and one-takes (preferably with playing errors and piano strings that break and the like). Trying to preserve the human aspect to a large extent, avoiding click tracks, auto-tune, MIDI or too much technology. Expect lots of old analogue keyboards such as cembalo, Mellotron, MiniMoog, Yamaha CP70 and Hammond organ. Four tunes; Four stories. The first song "Rytter av dommedag" is themed around Ragnarok, when King Rakne awakens in his large burial mound outside Romerike and, together with the old gods, creates real mischief. The second song “Et sted under himmelhvelvet” is dreamy, possibly set in a Renaissance garden near Florence or Arcadia. But in principle it can be anywhere where it feels good to be. It is partly about travelling to a place and feeling that you have been there before - only to find out that you had ancestors who lived there long ago. The third song "Jærtegn" opens in a frenzy, with a horse and cart speeding through the forest. The wagon overturns at the same time as there is a solar eclipse, and the riders become eternal wanderers in the dark forest, only visible to us now and then like the northern lights, as they vainly stretch their arms towards the sun in the hope of finding their way home. The final song “Naturens Katedral” is a depiction of the Norwegian mountains in winter where the cold is bitter, and blizzards and avalanches abound. It is also a search for bygone times when life was more basic out in the wilderness.

"Swedish dark melodic metal masters Evergrey return with their 12th Album - dark and heavy, the Phoenix is rising! Gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated 12th album, Swedish progressive metal band Evergrey is at a point in their career that many of their peers can only dream about. Since the release of "Hymns For The Broken" in 2014, Evergrey has enjoyed increased notoriety and success with "The Storm Within" (2016) and "The Atlantic" (2019) - ironically, a conceptual trilogy - which is highly unusual for a veteran act. They mean to continue this tradition on February 26th, 2021 with "Escape Of The Phoenix", another heavy, melancholic and thought-provoking journey as only Evergrey can create. The result is 11 songs that embody everything Evergrey fans have to expect, albeit "a more metal version of "The Atlantic", with songs that are more direct" according to Englund and producer Jacob Hansen."

Solo album from the leader of Amarok.  This is something very different but in a way related to Amarok's music.  There are progressive elements to the music but don't expect a rock album."Finally, after a long cooking time that has lasted a 30 years, the most ambitious of all my musical projects finally sees the light. Jaume I, Musica of Fets i Llegendes. (Music of feats and legends). It is a personal vision about the life of this medieval monarch, in which I have mixed historical and legendary aspects in an undifferentiated way, and in which I have not had any problem when using the different musical resources (compositional, stylistic and instrumental) that I have deemed appropriate. In this adventure I have been accompanied by a host of extraordinary musicians who have made it rise far above what I thought possible. They are the Ensemble Spatium, the ensemble of persistence.The similarities between many of the songs of this album and the music of Amarok are evident, since they were composed at the same time, when I was working on the different Amarok albums. The music, like in Amarok records, is sung in Catalan and Spanish.The mixture of elements of contemporary and progressive folk, medieval music, classical and world music, the variety of instruments and voices from the East and the West, as well as the contribution of historical and poetic texts, make this CD (published to all luxury) a true initiation journey to this exciting time.”

1976's sophomore album finds the band continuing to explore the ethnic music of different regions from around the world.  The music predominantly has an ethnic jazz sound but when guitarist Hasse Walli lets it rip watch out.

YES, who are Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood, release their new studio album The Quest on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music on 1st October 2021. "It is simply an honour for me to have the opportunity to bring together the band members in the development of a well-refined set of songs that capture the band’s true potential,” said Steve Howe, who produced the album. He added "Much of the music was written in late 2019 with the rest in 2020. We commissioned several orchestrations to augment and enhance the overall sound of these fresh new recordings, hoping that our emphasis on melody, coupled with some expansive instrumental solo breaks, keeps up the momentum for our listeners.”   Additional percussion was provided by guest Jay Schellen who supplements YES’ live performances.Label Manager Thomas Waber said “I am delighted to welcome YES to the label and am looking forward to seeing the reaction of the band's fans to the new album. Being a long-time fan myself, I am really excited by the new material. Steve Howe managed to capture many of the important elements that we all love about YES!”For half a century YES have been the definitive band of the progressive music genre, the band by which all others are judged. Their ground-breaking albums of the 70s set the standard for the genre and influenced countless others who followed in their wake.The current line-up of YES was completed in 2015 when Billy Sherwood replaced founder member Chris Squire, at Squire’s insistence, as he bravely fought a losing battle with leukaemia. Since then, YES have concentrated on touring with their Album Series tours, each featuring a classic YES album in its entirety. During this period YES have released three live albums Topographic Drama – Live Across America (2017), Yes Live 50 (2019) and The Royal Affair Tour: Live in Las Vegas (2020).The music of YES has endured over the years and has been handed down through generations of music lovers.

"Since returning to music from an eight year hiatus in 2013, Kari Rueslåtten is definitely making up for lost time. 2014 saw the release of Time to Tell, her finest solo album to date, with the soft wintry melodies and her beautiful voice making it one of the highlights of the 2014- and later in the year she teamed up with Anneke Van Giersbergen and Liv Kristine to tour as The Sirens – playing a range of material from her previous band The 3rd and the Mortal and her solo career. And only 18 months after Time to Tell she’s already back with her sixth solo album To to North, another beautiful album with a lovely atmosphere, sounding new while hearkening back to previous efforts, and now we’re in December I can confidently say is my album of the year.As usual with Kari, the album is centred around her beautiful voice – her soft ethereal vocals with a Nordic trill areas lovely as ever throughout To the North, a constant on a rather varied album. The sound throughout is crystalline, the production really accentuates her voice, and each of the instruments is clear as can be. The first track Battle Forevermore begins as a soft piano led ballad, with a beautifully sullen voice recounting the story of a love gone sour, with the swell of guitar in the middle building an electric, almost intense atmosphere. The electric guitar throughout To the North was almost absent in the former album Time to Tell, and it adds a lot throughout the album – as on the following rockier piece Mary’s Song – the guitar melodies and subtle synths creating a modern sounding track reminiscent somewhat of the Mesmerized album, with touches of Spindelsinn.The next handful of tracks, show her folkier side, one she’s shined at since her career first began in The 3rd and the Mortal days. The acoustic guitar, wind instruments and subtle percussion on Three Roses In My Hands make for a sombre piece of Nordic sounding folk, while the electric guitar comes in with a soft reverb-y wash in Dance With The King, a more mordern piece but another where her folk side is exemplary in the lyrics and her soft voice.Letting Go sees a return to the flirtations with electronic elements as explored on Pilot, drum loops and a slight effect on the vocals over a supremely catchy guitar riff drenched in delay see a small return to that experimentalism, with tremolo picked guitars and clashing drums coming in at the track’s great climax. Arrow in My Heart is the highlight of the album, the soft guitar creates such a lovely atmosphere, carried along by simple, but perfectly placed drums  serving to create a perfect backdrop to Kari’s voice which is as beautiful as it’s ever been in her whole career – her intonation on each line is perfect, especially the high notes near the end of the song. The bittersweet lyrics are lovely, and with the emotion in each one, this is the one you’ll be playing on repeat after the album ends.The last two tracks create a dark, brooding atmosphere that’s almost tangible. The penultimate, Turn, Turn, Turn is a cover of The Byrds track, but inverted from it’s upbeat pop to dark, folky moroseness. The crackle of distortion from the guitar creates a sombre fog, exemplified by a darker side to her voice and the plod of the piano that make it an intospective sullen, brooding piece. The closer To the North is the most atmospheric of the bunch, the otherworldly synths and slow brooding guitars create a thick icy atmosphere akin to being lost in a snowstorm. Her voice takes on a folky Nordic tone once again, and with the layering of synth and guitar it’s the closest in sound to Tears Laid in Earth than anything she’s done in the intervening years since leaving The 3rd and the Mortal. The guitar solo near the end is electrifying, and  it’s a cold, wintry closer that more than lives up to it’s name, true Nordic beauty.With such a short gap since Time to Tell, one could have been forgiven for anticipating a continuation of that album, but she’s pushed her sound once again. She takes elements of her previous albums, and even her time from The 3rd and the Mortal, but adds new elements and a crystalline modern production to create a fresh and brilliant release. Overall the album seems more sullen than Time to Tell, an upbeat album in places, but with a brooding atmosphere, more variation and that great production it’s a worthy follow up. And with hauntingly beautiful tracks such as Battle Forevermore, Arrow in My Heart and the title track in particular, it’s easy to fall in love with To the North, so much so that it’s certainly my album of the year." - Swirls Of Noise