Latest articles by Phil Weller
“Grooves that are musically optimistic, but lyrically pessimistic… touches of nuance, beauty and snarl make their turmoil worth it”: The Pineapple Thief’s It Leads To This
Modern prog mainstays return with a sombre yet impressive album that cements the advances they’ve made since Gavin Harrison joined the band
“Having suffered something of an identity crisis, minor blemishes don’t stop it being their best album in decades”: Pallas’ The Messenger
The return of singer Alan Reed – who rebuffed a previous invitation – is an indicator of its quality
“I took my in-ear monitors out and the whole theatre was deathly silent. It was a proper goosebumps moment”: How IO Earth learned to shut up and trust their audience
The return of vocalist Linda Odinsen revitalised co-leaders Dave Cureton and Adam Gough, and latest symphonic prog album Sanctuary is the result
Meet the Mavon Safia, the Finnish proggers uniting talent and taste through guitar-driven instrumentals
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Genre-hopping guitarist Markus Venehsalo has introduced himself to the prog world with a vivid and varied record that chooses accessibility over virtuosity.
“Signature absurdities, from a local criminal to sentient grease, neglect all pop sensibilities”: The prog nature of Everything Everything’s Re-Animator
Manchester band’s 2020 album demonstrated they’d never really lived inside the indie rock community
“That sense of struggle permeates every moment”: TesseracT’s War Of Being
Their heaviest album to date sees vocalist Daniel Tompkins revealing a new secret weapon
He’s a YouTube sensation who’s made an album inspired by Toto, Michael Jackson and 80s Genesis. “Now I get to find out whether I’ve gotten away with it or not,” says Martin Miller
Meet the much-loved YouTube guitarist who’s given in to his prog temptations
Animals As Leaders and the story of Parrhesia
"We do fit relatively neatly into the progressive metal genre," agrees guitarist Tosin Abasi as we discuss Animals As Leaders' latest album Parrhesia
"The Wake was so well received because we went down a prog rock path with that album, so with the new album we continued down that path.” Voivod and the making of Synchro Anarchy
Canadian prog metal pioneers Voivod released their fifteenth studio album Synchro Anarchy in 2022. This is the story...
Five new prog acts you must hear this month
Check out Polyphia, Exist Immortal, D_Drive, Hekla and Ghost Toast, five great new up and coming prog artists
How Ihsahn ended up covering A-ha and Portishead on his Pharos EP
On Pharos, the follow-up to Ihahn's Telemark EP, the Norwegian prog metaller displayed a softer experimental side
Muse - Will of The People: "hardly short on flamboyant outlandishness"
Not yet ratedMatt Bellamy and co edge towards the strange on album nine
Between The Buried And Me and the making of Colors II
In 2021 the North Carolina prog metallers Between The Buried And Me decided to record the follow-up to their 2007 album Colors
How Protest The Hero got their groove back with Palimpsest
Canadian prog metallers Protest The Hero tackled vocal torment to release the splendid Palimpsest
“They are always adventurous and challenging. And like Yes and Genesis, they still have great songs at the heart of it.” It's Radiohead's proggiest moments
From grungy indie to avant-garde rock, Radiohead have always been restlessly creative. Here's their proggiest tracks
The Tangent reveal new "mega prog" album Songs From The Hard Shoulder
The Tangent mark their 20th anniversary with their 12th studio album - listen to a single edit of lead track The Changes
Haken's Charlie Griffiths announces Tiktaalika – "the world’s first palaeontology-based progressive metal album!"
Listen to Charlie Griffiths' new single Arctic Cemetery, featuring Between The Buried And Me singer Tommy Rogers
Voyager's technicolour A Voyage Through Time live stream review
Australian electro-proggers Voyager celebrate 20 years with a fan picked set list covering their vibrant and varied back catalogue
"We never thought we would be releasing Virus during a pandemic!" Haken revisit the Cockroach King on their boldest album yet
The Cockroach King made them, now they’re breaking him. Prog catches up with Haken to learn all about their ambitious album, Virus, which concludes the prog metal titans’ definitive decade
Karnivool's live stream of Sound Awake reviewed
Australian progressive rock band Karnivool celebrate a decade of Sound Awake in style
Ihsahn - Telemark & Pharos live premiere review
Norwegian prog metaller Ihsahn premieres his recent Telemark and Pharos EPs in last night's live stream
Introducing Prospekt: "We have the right twists and turns at the right times"
Oxford prog metallers Prospekt are reborn and reshaped with new line-up and second album
Limelight: Orsome Welles introduce their metallic prog from Australia
Metallic and melodic prog making waves from Down Under
