KEV ROWLAND

Kev Rowland

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SPECIAL COLLABORATOR: Prog Reviewer / Special Collaborator

Member since: 11/18/2005 • Forum posts: 2055 • Last visit: 12/20/2024 9:48:30 PM EST
Location: New Zealand

Progressive Biography

From 1990 - 2006 I ran Feedback fanzine in the UK, writing about bands that were rarely covered in the mainstream press, many of whom were in the underground scene. I built close ties with many British Progressive groups in particular, including writing the newsletter for Freewill, getting gigs for Credo and writing the introduction to Galahad's OCMDII compilation. I reviewed literally thousands of cassettes and then CDs from bands from throughout the world, and was lucky enough to interview many of them. During this period I also contributed to the French progzine Acid Dragon, wrote for the music newspaper Rock 'n' Reel and was also involved with the Ghostland website.

In 2006 I moved to NZ, and stopped running Feedback (which was then renamed Amplified after I left, at my request) having produced over 80 editions with more than 11,000 pages of print and heaven knows how many reviews and interviews.

Although I stopped writing and reviewing when I came over to NZ, I was gradually brought back into the scene (initially kicking and screaming until I accepted my fate) and started contributing to many different sites and magazines. I was heavily involved with the Crossover sub-genre team on PA, wrote the booklets for the Red Jasper reissues, and generally tried to be as involved as I had some 20 years previously. However, I stopped this in 2014 to start work on a book containing all of my progressive reviews from Feedback, which in all took five years to be completed. With more than than half a million words (larger than Lord of the Rings), plus all album artwork, in colour, it has been published in three volumes by Gonzo Media.

The Progressive Underground Volume 1 is available at all good online outlets!! Reviews A-H
The Progressive Underground Volume 2 is available at all good online outlets!! Reviews I-S
The Progressive Underground Volume 3 is available at all good online outlets!! Reviews T-Z, DVD/Video reviews, short reviews, interviews and gig reviews

Described by Record Collector and others as "the Bible", this is the essential collection of progressive reviews in book form which focuses on progressive rock material outside the Sixties and Seventies.

Between 2017 and 2021 I wrote more than 3000 reviews on music ranging from acoustic and jazz through all types of progressive rock, melodic rock and hard rock, through to the most extreme metal and out there avant garde and noise that people can imagine.

All my reviews appear in the hard copy UK fanzine Amplified (still going after 35 years), and are also submitted to the weekly e-magazine Gonzo, the French progzine Acid Dragon, plus www.mlwz.pl, the mighty PowerofProg.com, Rezonatz.com, HouseofProg.com, Progressor.net and others. If the band is listed then it will appear on ProgArchives and all metal on Metalmusicarchives. Phew! I also wrote pieces for Galahad and Mystery booklets, was interviewed for a TDW DVD, and had small roles in releases by both Phoen1x and Written By Wolves.

From 2020 to 2023 my main focus was providing reviews for muzic.net.nz, the most important music site in New Zealand. I also wrote press releases for AAA Records and other local bands, and completed The Progressive Underground Volume 4, focusing on my reviews from 2008-2013.

The Progressive Underground Volume 4 is available at all good online outlets!!

2023 saw me switch my focus back to a wider range of music, working on my backlog and also completing the fifth book in the series which covers 2014 to 2018.

The Progressive Underground Volume 5 is available at all good online outlets!!

Over the last 35+ years I have written literally millions of words on music, but am not stopping yet and often feel busier now more than I was back when I started, as somehow I still manage more than 250,000 words annually. So much music, so little time, but I am always interested in hearing and writing about "new" music so if you have something which needs reviewing please get in touch.

Reviews distribution by sub-genre

	Sub-genre	Nb of reviews	Avg rating
1	Crossover Prog	570	3.70
2	Neo-Prog	413	3.99
3	Symphonic Prog	204	3.93
4	Progressive Metal	196	3.83
5	Eclectic Prog	162	3.92
6	RIO/Avant-Prog	141	3.87
7	Heavy Prog	126	3.72
8	Jazz Rock/Fusion	118	3.89
9	Psychedelic/Space Rock	110	3.51
10	Prog Folk	74	4.08
11	Tech/Extreme Prog Metal	55	3.78
12	Prog Related	49	3.67
13	Experimental/Post Metal	46	3.65
14	Post Rock/Math rock	35	4.03
15	Rock Progressivo Italiano	33	3.79
16	Canterbury Scene	26	4.15
17	Progressive Electronic	17	3.71
18	Various Genres	7	3.86
19	Zeuhl	4	3.50
20	Krautrock	2	3.50
21	Proto-Prog	1	3.00

Reviews and Ratings

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