AVATARIUM - Girl With The Raven Mask (4:10)
Album: The Girl With The Raven Mask (2015)
Label/Distribution: Nuclear Blast/Warner
www.avatariumofficial.se
With AVATARIUM, Doom legend Leif Edling (Candlemass, Krux) has built up a fantastic new band where tough lava riffs meet seventies Hammond sounds. But above all, the incredible Jennie-Ann Smith is enthroned, whose gripping blues voice (Janis Joplin sends her regards!) gives you goose bumps. (Review: eclipsed 10/2015)
ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF - Evocation (3:02)
Album: The Miraculous (2015) (Release: 13.11.)
Label/Distribution: City Slang/Universal
www.annavonhausswolff.org
A dark, sizzling music that is far away from anything else you might associate with female singer-songwriters. The Swede brings out the dark sides of her soul and does so with an amazing variety of musical expression in the context of melancholic art rock. Album of the month!
ANTIMATTER - Black Eyed Man (6:15)
Album: The Judas Table (2015)
Label/Distribution: Prophecy/Soulfood
www.antimatteronline.com
ANTIMATTER's mastermind Mick Moss can't see out of his skin and only the bad things in the world and make them the theme of his artrock. This gives ten tracks of haunting, dark mood, which makes "The Judas Table" a homogeneous work, including excellent guitar solos. (Review: eclipsed 10/2015)
MEN FROM S.P.E.C.T.R.E. - Dive Into The Mathmos (4:38)
Album: The Claw (2015)
Label/Distribution: Stoned Karma/Cargo
www.men-from-spectre.org
A brilliant mixture from the Beat/Psych/Garage/Surf of the 60s, which the Swiss formation MEN FROM S.P.E.C.T.R.E. presents on their fourth album. Without a weak point, the band plays themselves into a frenzy of organ solos, fuzz guitars, rousing rhythms and so-what-of catchy melodies.
SUN AND THE WOLF - 87 Years (4:49)
Album: Salutations (2015)
Label/Distribution: World In Sound/Rough Trade
www.sunandthewolf.com
The SUN AND THE WOLF from New Zealand and now living in Berlin show no weaknesses on their second album. They know about their feeling for the fine melodies, which they uninhibitedly let flow into their 60s psych. But they are also not stingy with other icing on the cake. (Review: eclipsed 10/2015)
CASPIAN - Arcs Of Command (8:47)
Album: Dust And Disquiet (2015)
Label/Distribution: Big Scary Monsters/Alive
www.caspianmusic.net
The six-piece from Beverly, Massachusetts, presents himself stronger than ever after the death of bassist and CASPIAN co-founder Chris Friedrich. His fourth longplayer is simply a masterpiece of the Wall Of Sound. You enjoy exploring tensions between opposites and taking your time and the listener's time. (Review: eclipsed 10/2015)
TERAMAZE - For The Innocent (4:54)
Album: Her Halo (2015)
Label/Distribution: Music Theories/Mascot/Rough Trade
www.teramaze.com.au
TERAMAZE from Melbourne, Australia, play on "Her Halo" melodic progmetal with great epic moments and furious guitar solos that you don't hear every day. "For The Innocent" stands for the whole album, on which not a single failure can be found. Quality work from Down Under!
T - Shades Of Silver (The Art Of Double Binding, Pt. 2) (edit) (5:57)
Album: Fragmentropy (2015)
Label/Distribution: Progressive Promotion/ppr-shop.de
www.t-homeland.de
Thomas Thielen alias T is the all-rounder among the German Proggers. For the concept album "Fragmentropy", the 39-year-old recorded all the instruments and also wrote the eloquent lyrics, which reach the high quality level of Fish. "Shades Of Silver" shows Thielen from his most fragile side. (Review: eclipsed 10/2015)
EUREKA - Animated World (3:59)
Album: Great Escapes (2015) (Release: 06.11.)
Label/Distribution: Silverware/Membran
www.eureka-music.de
So far, the Hamburg multi-instrumentalist Frank Bossert alias EUREKA has excelled through his preference for Mike Oldfield and Celtic-influenced prog. With the new concept album he sets off for new shores. Rocky/proggig-dynamic has become much, the handwriting of Rush often shines through.
ECHOES - Comfortably Numb (live and acoustic) (7:59)
Album: Barefoot To The Moon - An Acoustic Tribute To Pink Floyd (2015)
Label/Distribution: Sonic 11/Pride & Joy/Edel
www.echoes.de
Pink Floyd in acoustic versions also works without pictures (the DVD of the same name, see DVD review), as the tribute band ECHOES proves on this live album. Although the CD does not contain the entire concert, it provides a fascinating insight into the creativity with which the classics have been rearranged in just under 80 minutes.
