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micky Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

this is an easy album to review. If you are reading this you are probably familiar with the music and language of Magma. If not.. get acclainted with a copy of Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh. This album is an 'official' bootleg recorded in Brussels at Theater 140 the 12th of November 1971. The date is significant for a couple of reasons. First off this was the first public performance of Mekanik Kommandoh which of course became the basis for their landmark (and essential album of prog) Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh. Secondly as a huge fan of the fusionairy debut album Kobaia, I wanted to hear live versions of songs from that album. On both counts the album left me completely satisfied. Being a offficial 'bootleg' I feel a word about the quality of the album should be said. It is a released bootleg so don't expect 100% perfect sound quality. This album is for probably for Magma fans only. That said the quality was never a hinderance to my enjoyment of the album. Now on to the album itself The album contains three songs off of Kobaia. Stoah, Kobaia, and Aina. The whole of the 1001 degrees Centigrade album, and two works in the formative phases at that point. The aforementioned Mekanik Kommandoh, and Sowiloi which would turn up later on the outakes album Inedits. The one thing that really stood out between this album and the previous versions of songs I noticed, was the Rhodes Piano and it's central place in the live Magma sound. Many accoustic parts in Kobaia were played instead by the Rhodes. That took a bit of getting use to for me since part of my love of Kobaia was the great accoustic piano playing. The highlights for me... Stoah. Those opening vocals are impressive. Even more so in the live environment. The vocals are so massive on this album. Must have been an incredible live show. Iss Lansei Doia. My least favorite song off of 1001 is transformed here into a favorite by a simple shift in instruments. The menacing intro riff instead of being played on the bass is instead played on the accoustic piano. Adds a whole new darker vibe to it. Mekanik Kommandoh a showcase for Blasquiz's vocal improvisations. A fascinating listen. 18 minutes of total musical freedom. Magma is not for everyone so I'm torn in trying to rate the album. Much like my ELO album earlier today, my personal score will be several stars higher than I actually rate it. For myself 4 stars. In general for the prog community. Magma/Zeuhl completionists only but that is no reflection on the incredible quality of this music. micky micky | 2/5 | 2006-4-6

It should be natural for listeners like me to love prog-metal. I enjoy prog, and love metal. Yet for some reason the mixture of the two just never really connected. I had long thought I had simply been missing a group or album that connected with me. I think a large part of it was continually having Dream Theater pushed upon me as the 'gateway' band and finding that group was for myself, and likely many others, exhibit A why prog-metal inspires such negative feelings. While the musicianship was stellar, the songwriting was not on par with the abilities of the musicians. The sum of the parts can often exceed the sum of the groups work. The vocalist was also a HUGE turn-off for me. Some years ago I reviewed their 'masterpiece' and, while I hated the album, I still rated it quite highly as it was regarded a masterpiece of the genre - and who am I to disagree. I did often long to hear a consensus masterpiece of the genre that I really enjoyed. Well? I finally found one? this album.

Why does this album connect to me whereas others have not? That begins with the incredible vocalist of Symphony X, Russell Allen. Allen's singing is powerful, clearly inspired by one of the greatest of all metal vocalists, the late great Ronnie James Dio. Vocals pleasing to the ears and so full of color, and nuance. In this band I found a vocalist who is a vital component of a group's sound, not a distraction to that sound, or a mere deliverer of lyrics. Musically this album is prog-metal, but what does that really mean? As it is a metal album, you want to hear great riffage, and it is the riffs themselves that often separate great metal from the not so great. The riffs are driving and brutal in their intensity and often drive me to fits of insane headbanging. It is music full of intensity, and life, one of the main things I and many others love so much about metal. If this was just a metal album, however, I wouldn't be reviewing it. As a prog fan, I want to hear great musicians playing their asses off and with some sort of nod to what made prog, prog: the merging of 'high art' and music. Prog for many has come to be a password for long compositions, and outstanding technical ability. That is especially true, in my opinion, in classic prog metal and shown not in an ensemble context but through the soloists. The album has plenty of great solos, mandatory I suppose for prog-metal albums, but what I love about this album is the relative lack of emphasis on the soloists, thus the album has less a feel of 'look at me' and there is more an emphasis on group playing and the songs themselves. Yes, there are solos galore but - unlike some albums I've heard - I thought the solos fit well within the music itself and were tastefully done rather than jarring departures from the original song itself.

Prog to me is so much more than about technical ability. Otherwise we'd be reviewing bluegrass and country albums. Prog is about, and art-rock was based upon, highly educated musicians merging classical music and classical literature and creating a thinking man's music. This is what appeals most to me about this album. The album has direct inspirations and quotations from classic literature and classical music. Songwriting is not an easy task, especially in prog, with its penchant for extended song lengths and albums based on themes. Many have tried, and most have failed to deliver unique concepts that can hold a listener's interest throughout the course of a full album. What I perhaps love most about this album is it is NOT some original kitschy concept, but a album whose musical centerpiece, the nearly 21 minute title track, is musically grounded in one of the great classical pieces immediately recognizable to music lovers. It is an album a music lover, especially a prog fan, can immediately gravitate to. One special bit of praise, and what in the end make this a masterpiece and worthy of recommendation to those like me unable to make progress into the world of classic prog-metal, is the overall length. Many modern albums simply drag on FAR too long and would be best served by trimming the least effective tracks and making stronger overall albums. At 65 minutes it is only slightly longer than traditional long play albums and does not approach the excess of many bands that use the CD format to expand albums out to nearly 80 minutes in length. It is tightly packed and it never overstays its welcome.

In summation this is, I believe, an album that those who are not fans of prog-metal but enjoy both root forms can like, even love. An easy album to grade, 5 stars in my book, and for the site I agree it deserves the classic prog-metal album status it has. It is a prog-metal album that non- prog-metal fans might really enjoy.

As a member of ProgArchives for many years I decided to write my first review, overcoming my panic because of my poor English language skills.

The first band I chose is Differences, because in my opinion they created one of the best albums of the 80s and which unfortunately was unknown, I guess because it was promoted by a small label (Frizzbee) and then was reissued by SI Music that broke the mid-90 `.

Differences have strong influence of bands like Camel (I recommend listening to the third track of this album, "True or False") also can recognize the influence of bands like Genesis of the era of "Wind and Wuthering" and Novalis.

The structure of the songs is not very complex, but has very good arrangements, typical of bands like Amenophis, Osiris, Rousseau, Coda and Arkus.

The jewel of this album is the penultimate song called "The Melody", a song full of nuances, very melodic guitars and many layers of keyboards.

Recommended as it represents a transition between the symphonic rock of the late 70s and early neoprog 80.

Solid 4 star (8/10)

Cheers

Rodrigo

Opening track 'Into the Blue' might be my most favorite thing from this band, it is absolutely majestic and memorable, it has some genius vocal harmonies by Neal Morse and the performance of all the other members is top notch. 'Shine' is a nice ballad-type band effort that was released as a single, if I am not wrong, with everyone in the band taking the spotlight on different parts of the song. 'Black as the Sky' is a punchy and proggy track with great vocal harmonies and an in-your-face chorus, much in the spirit of some of their 70s favorites like Tull or Focus. 'Beyond the Sun' is a little Neal solo piece leading up to the 32-minute title track ' which I feel is not as strong as 'Into the Blue' but quite spectacular as well. The instrumental sections on this one are the least to say impressive, and the chemistry between the players is enviable!

Excellent music, another really good release from Transatlantic, and a great addition to symphonic prog lovers' (and not only) collection.

My latest review concerns Beardfish's 'The Void' from 2012, and was posted just some minutes ago!

Beardfish's heaviest fantasies come to life on their mighty seventh album, 'The Void' - an exploration of existential dread and fear, cloaked in the romantic drapery of hopeless romanticism and wishful expectation.

The Swedes are certainly one of the trailblazers of 21st century progressive rock, handily but confusingly labeled symphonic/retro prog, they never stopped reinventing themselves, thus supplying the mythical creature that Beardfish has managed to become, with loads of dedicated fans, despite the lack of overly commercial success. This album is no exception to the typical Beardfish approach to music - ever-changing and gripping, full of memorable melodies and punchy instrumental passages, with intelligent and adventurous lyrics.

An album that sometimes gets neglected or overlooked due to the fact that their well-known keyboard-centered sound is put at the back seat, in favor of a much heavier, distorted and headbanging sonic body, it should not be left unmentioned that is an excellent symphonic prog album at its very core, it is just skillfully masked in the almighty riffs and gnarly bass sections.

A sore spoken word introduction by The Tangent's Andy Tillison serves as the entrance to 'The Void', a place that Rikard Sjöblom successfully paints as dark and uninviting, allowing the listener to embark on an emotive journey through his mind. From then on, the acrobatic main riff of 'Voluntary Slavery' crushes every expectation that one could have had for this album. The band is aggressive but certainly well-behaved, while Rikard throws in some guttural shrieks just to keep the listener alert. 'Turn to Gravel' is another heavy piece that seems to sounds nothing like your usual Beardfish, the lyrics are enduring and reflective, the tone is menacing and unsettling. 'They Whisper' is the piece that finally gives off the impression that the ambitious new direction of this band will come to a very satisfactory result, given the shockingly blissful mixture of heavy guitar riffs and memorable, resonating melodies. 'This Matter of Mine' might be a bit more laid back than the cannonade of heavy songs coming before it, yet it still finds Rikard screaming at the top of his lungs once!

'Seventeen Again' is a beautiful instrumental that begins with a very stripped-down piano progression, unfolding into a very Wakeman or Emerson-esque pastiche, craftily performed by the band's leader. Spiraling through the excellent love song 'Ludvig & Sverker' and the jazzier 'He Already Lives in You', the band reach the apex of the album with the nearly 16-minute epic 'Note', just to finish off on a high (or rather low) note on the cerebral 'Where the Lights Are Low'.

All in all, 'The Void' is a fantastic exercise in beautifully-ornamented and rich songwriting, penetrated by the bombastic nature of the riffs; something that hardly let the listener disregard this album as anything less than excellent. This album proves that no matter how many times the mighty Beardfish reinvents itself, it always remains one of modern progressive rock's finest exponents.