Woodpecker

“Known/Learned’ is the third album from this thought provoking progressive band from Brisbane, Australia.  It’s a sprawling 2CD collection of themes and moments, captured between recurring characters. While never explicitly told in the traditional vein of the ‘concept album’, the imagery of Known/Learned depicts fragmented moments in the lives of a father and his daughter, their loss, their love, their journey. A bittersweet love song for life.Occupying a unique place in the Australian progressive music scene, Arcane’s transcendental live performances and 2009’s critically acclaimed, dark and enigmatic concept album 'Chronicles Of The Waking Dream' have earned them a inimitable reputation as one of Australia’s premier progressive rock bands.Sharing stages with artists as diverse as Anathema (UK), Soilwork (Swe), Queensryche (USA), Dead Letter Circus, Ne Obliviscaris and hundreds more, Arcane's live show, often accompanied by a backdrop of staggering visualizations, is a vast sensory experience.Arcane's immersive sound, and the vocals of Jim Grey quickly found favor throughout Australia, headlining the annual Progfest tour, providing touring support for Ne Obliviscaris, and performing to capacity crowds at Sonic Forge Festival in Melbourne. A crowd funding campaign in July, 2013 heralded the 2015 release of 'Known/Learned' a 16 track conceptual double album. Arcane blends the technicality of progressive metal with the atmospheric intensity of bands like Tool, Riverside and Anathema.  The world is about to discover what their Australian fan base already knows – that Arcane is a rising star in the world of progressive music.

"Released at the height of ‘flower power’ in 1967, We Are Ever So Clean is widely considered to be the finest popsike album ever recorded. Produced by Giorgio Gomelsky (discoverer of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds), it’s a fascinating amalgam of whimsical pop, music hall humour and acid rock. Much-bootlegged over the years, this is its first official reissue, timed to coincide with its 40th anniversary. Produced with the band’s full involvement, it’s presented with no fewer than ten bonus tracks, encompassing non-LP singles, demos, out-takes and live performances, and comes complete with a full-colour 12-page booklet incorporating many rare photographs and a comprehensive band history, as well as an introduction from the band’s leader, Brian Godding."

New reissue of the band's 1994 release features two new acoustic tracks from Jon Oliva.

"Fatal Fusion play in a prog style which remains rooted in the genre's 1970s roots (with a strong flavour of 1980s neo-prog on the side), but avoid turning themselves into a sterile nostalgia act by playing in a loose, wild style which feels like it could have blasted forth from the stage of prog venues of old. Avoiding the overprecise, fussy production which less interesting retro-prog outfits pursue in the name of sonic perfection, Fatal Fusion instead create an album whose imperfections are, in fact, part of its charm - the rest of its charm being taken up with its gloriously sincere embrace of its fantasy themes as expressed in its lyrics.This is one of those albums like Galadriel's Muttered Promises From an Ageless Pond where somehow it ends up sounding incredible even though in terms of originality and technical excellence it's nothing special - there's a magic to Fatal Fusion's compositions which drips from every second of the album. Great stuff." - ProgArchives

This is kind of a shocking release to turn up on Napalm Records. It looks as though they are joining the ranks of Nuclear Blast and Century Media in picking up progressive metal bands...and that can't really be a bad thing. Serenity hails from Austria. They've been kicking around for awhile but this is their debut release. The music is a mix of melodic and progressive metal with some power touches. Georg Neuhauser's vocals have a plaintive, emotional feel that suits the music quite well. They focus on melody but are smart enough to lure a prog head like me in with occassional instrumentals of the Dream Theater variety. Savatage, Vanden Plas, Threshold, DT - these guys have their bases covered. Solid debut. Highly recommended.

Though they were a product of the beat group age, Group 1850 were the Netherlands’ first progressive band — in every sense of that word. Constantly changing, constantly evolving, Group 1850 were musical extremists on a do-or-die mission to explode all expectations. Sparks flew, ideas flared, feedback swirled through misty nights, the dead walked, skeletons danced, flies buzzed, mountains fell, words rained fire from angry purple skies. Group 1850 raised all kinds of Hell. My god, were they good.Although the group made two deservedly revered albums, Agemo’s Trip to Mother Earth (1968) and Paradise Now (1969), some of their best work can be found on their singles, where their borderline insane hyper-creativity was focused into highly-concentrated, radically potent three-minute songs like Misty Night, Mother No-Head, Zero, We Love Live (Like We Love You), Don’t Let It Be (We Have to Do It Now), and the magnificent Have You Ever Heard. The A- and B-sides of all their singles can be found on this unique CD in their original mono mixes, mastered from the original tapes. A number of previously unreleased demos are also included. Mother No-Head: Their 45s comes packaged in a breathtaking digipack cover with rare archival photos, memorabilia and liner notes by Ugly Things’ Mike Stax.Track listing1. Misty Night 3:29 – mono 2. Look Around 2:34 – mono3. I Want More (Finger Tips) 2:03 – mono4. I Know (La Pensée) 3:11 – mono5. Mother No-Head  3:25 – mono6. Ever Ever Green 3:17 – mono7. Zero 3:28 - mono8. Frozen Mind 3:39 – mono9. We Love Live (Like We Love You) 4:28 – mono10. Little Fly 4.17 – mono11. Don’t Let It Be (We Have To Do It Now) 3:13 – mono12. Sun Is Coming (So We’re Calling You) 3:00 – mono13. Fire 2:30 – stereo14. Have You Ever Heard 3:34 – stereo15. Mother No-Head 3:29 – French version – stereo16. Mother No-Head 3:36 – instrumental – stereo17. 1.000 Years Before 2:37 - stereo18. Dream Of The Future 2:33 – stereo19. Sun Is Coming 3:06 – demo - mono20. Don’t Let It Be 3:08 – demo - mono21. Falling Mountains 3:34 - demo – stereo22. Liar 2:31 – demo - stereo23. Dream Of The Future 2:51 – demo - stereo24. 1.000 Years Before 2:39 - demo - stereoTracks 19 – 24 previously unreleasedTotal Playing Time: 77:00