It’s not often that I run into a combination of black metal and shoegaze music (blackgaze), but Japan’s Isiliel is such a beast. For black metal, the vocals are rather elegant and symphonic. Interesting and well done.
A fellow expat, Christian Locke (Magicien Blanc) has come up with one of the best prog rock albums I’ve heard in a while. There are some cues from French and Italian prog bands from the 1970s and 1980s, some influence of bands of the Berlin school and Goblin, and it sounds as fresh as anything coming out of 2023. Very well done!
Vangelis has passed away in Paris at the age of 79. His reputation needs no introduction to connoisseurs of music, especially those into soundtracks. For my money, Blade Runner was the jewel in his crown. May he Rest In Peace.
KAUAN hail from Estonia and bring something extra to both progressive rock and post-rock. Long, drone-laden, repetitive music that holds one’s interest throughout. Perhaps the best way to describe this is like a very much slowed-down My Bloody Valentine with a symphonic progressive tinge to it. Unique. I quite like this.
Dzivia are a project out of Belarus specializing in a music that crosses ambient, Nordic folk music, symphonic progressive rock and regional music. They manage to do all this in one track. Impressive.
I have been a fan of Alexei Aigui’s ensemble work for at least 20 years now, going all the way back to his appearance on the excellent, though now defunct Russian label SoLyd (see the release here). He has become even more innovative, more progressive, and this latest album, Alcohol, will be appreciated by those who like chamber-rock, symphonic rock or even those into avant-progressive / Rock-In-Opposition-style music. You can purchase the album over at Apple or check it out on various streaming platforms by clicking this link.
Russian progressive rock band iamthemorning have been at the forefront of the symphonic rock scene for nearly a decade now, and a lot of the reason for the band’s success lies with their pianist, Gleb Kolyadin, whose composing style reminds me of a lot of bands from the 1970s with far better recording studio access.
This is Gleb’s solo debut record, which was released in 2018. The music is as dense as it is with iamthemorning, but there is a more varied cast of prog rock superstars participating here.
The personnel on this album are:
Gleb Kolyadin – grand piano, keyboards
Gavin Harrison – drums
Nick Beggs – bass
Theo Travis – flute, saxophones
Vlad Avy – guitars
Evan Carson – bodhran and percussion
with
Steve Hogarth
Mick Moss
Jordan Rudess
also:
Grigorii Osipov – vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel
Iliia Diakov – violin
Alexander Peresypkin – cello
Grigory Voskoboynik – double bass
Tatiana Dubovaya – vocals
Svetlana Shumkova – hang drum, spoken vocals