Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week! We've got seven new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Bit of a shock with the result of last week, with Million Moons pipping The Anchoress into second place to take the honours with their mighty fine new single, Black Sun Rising. Well done to the London post-rock quartet. The Anchoress's great new single, I Had A Baby Not A Lobotomy was a very credible second, with Prince Of Failure, the new project featuring TesseracT singer Daniel Tomkins and Chimp Spanner's Paul Ortiz in third, which bodes well for them too.
The premise is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it? The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post.
Article continues belowCouldn't be easier, could it? We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
VMBRA - A MAN WALKS IN
A recent Limelight band in Prog, Manchester quartet VMBRA (pronounced "umbra") impressed us with a scintillating performance at last year's Bloodstock festival, and we'd say they're easily one of the brightest young prog bands around at the moment, destined for greater things. The classy and confident A Man Walks in is released today and is the first single from the band's debut album, which is due out later this year.
"It tells the story of a man with anterograde amnesia, the inability to form new memories," the band reveal. "It deals with the loss of self over a long period of time, being stuck in the same moment, as the world moves on. It releases with a music video following the story of a man plagued by hauntings he can never remember once they've left his vision."
A.A. WILLIAMS - POISON
London post-rock luminary A.A. Williams will release her latest album, Solstice, through the Reigning Phoenix label on June 5, which means she's now labelmates with the likes of Opeth, Meshuggah and Amorphis. That doesn't mean she's gone all prog metal on us, even if her new single, Poison, builds into something with real bite. She's supporting A Perfect Circle in Europe this summer, as well as appearing at festivals, including an appearance at ArcTanGent here in the UK in August.
“Poison is a song of learning not to fear freedom," she says. "Restraints slowly melt away, you push yourself, you long for more. Recklessness begins to consume reason, limitations are forgotten, euphoria and self-sabotage look like one and the same. Desperate to satisfy the craving, you torch everything you’ve built. As the old world crumbles, and you rise, unafraid.“
CROWN LANDS - BLACKSTAR
Let's face it, it's not been difficult to see that Canadian prog duo Crown Lands have been heavily inspired by their nation's greatest prog export, Rush. But on their new album, Apocalypse, Cody Bowles and Kevin Comeau move forward towards developing a strong identity of their own. That's more than apparent on their latest single, Blackstar, with a stunning accompanying video, which tells another part of the concept behind the new record, out May 15 on InsideOut Music.
“Apocalypse is very much Blackstar’s story: his rise to power within the Syndicate, his violent victories over the Dragon Riders of Karagon, and the crushing loss of his family in the resulting civil war on his home planet," explains Comeau. "The song Blackstar reads like an old-western murder ballad like Marty Robbins’ Big Iron, only through a cosmic space-prog metal lens. It’s a chronicle of Blackstar sweeping through the galaxy, crushing all that lay in his path.”
KRISTOFFER GILDENLOW - THE ALMOSTS
Original Pain Of Salvation bassist, Dutch-based prog rocker Kristoffer Gildenlöw's upcoming album, [Humanised], which he releases on May 29, is very much a prog album. So don't let the fact that the first single, The Almosts, is a song built around only two chords! Using dynamic build-ups and layered melodies and details to keep the listener’s attention, Gildenlöw's lyrics empower outcasts, minorities, and others who tend to fall slightly outside the strict structures of the modern system; people who don’t fit through the square hole. People who are looked down on, frowned upon, or simply ignored and left to the waves.
“Everything has its time and place, and now was the time to write a heavier album," he says. "Some of the songs have been with me for many years, just waiting to be recorded and released… and now I was ready for it.”
TARJA - I DON'T CARE
Tarja's first single from her upcoming album Frisson Noir, the epic ten-minute At Sea, walked away with the Tracks Of The Week when it featured last month. Follow-up I Don't Care is no less impressive, but turns the amps up a bit, and some proggers may recoil at guest vocalist Dani Filth from Cradle Of Filth, who adds, er, atmospheric vocal accompaniment. But if you're a fan of Tarja's grandiose prog metal, you'll lap this up regardless.
"I always believed in my dreams, and I have never allowed anyone to direct my life choices," she says. "I don’t necessarily fit in, but I don’t care. I have always admired how Dani has created a brand and image for his band Cradle of Filth, and for himself, that stand out from the rest. I truly believe he is perfect for this song, where I praise individualism and simply don’t give a shit about what others have to say".
DEVIN TOWNSEND - HOME AT NIGHT
Devin Townsend's vocal prowess has never been in question for those who have seen the Candian prog polymath live in concert. Those that haven't would do well to watch his latest video for Home At Night, which is taken from Townsend's ambitious, orchestral-prog opus The Moth, out May 29 via InsideOutMusic. It's an album over a decade in the making, having existed in the back of Devin Townsend’s mind as his “life’s work”. And it's impressive...
“For the second song we release from The Moth, I present Home at Night," says Townsend. "One of the first pieces written for the project, it came from the difficulty of being away from home with young kids and a family. The video reflects my relationship with the more “drama student” side of my personality, with a healthy dose of the “trolololo guy” aesthetic :)
"Within the arc of The Moth, the song is sung from the point of view of the antagonist on the verge of leaving for battle. The broader story will unfold in time (if people are interested), but at its core, The Moth is a dystopian reflection on transformation—going through the fire to meet ourselves, maintaining equilibrium in difficult moments, and not letting our light fade as the old falls away and the new takes its place.”
LOST IN KYIV - ECLIPSE
French post-rock quartet Lost In Kyiv will release their latest album, We’re All Going To Be Fine, through Pelagic Records on June 19. The album sees the band beefing up their atmospheric sound, a move typified by their latest single, Eclipse, which features some dazzling guitar interplay between Dimitri Denat and Maxime Ingrand.
"Eclipse is a journey through contrasting atmospheres, shifting between light and darkness. The track moves from epic, melodic arrangements highlighted by a beautiful brass section, straight into one of the most violent moments we’ve ever composed. This contrast perfectly represents those dark phases within ourselves, the heavy & destructive thoughts that can sometimes arise within us."
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