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The concept of the Supergroup is over one hundred years old. In jazz it was still called Allstar Band and made an institution that either big bands battle each other or the winners of the big polls are called Poll Winners Band. In rock Cream united to form the first supergroup, the Beatles mutated into the supergroup of their own members by 1968 at the latest, and countless examples followed, from Emerson, Lake & Palmer to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the Traveling Wilburys to Them Crooked Vultures.

On their new album "Hollow Bones", the four Californians once again inspire with impetuous energy, wild blues rock and a hint of 70s nostalgia. As with the predecessor, the comparison with Led Zeppelin is obvious. "We all actually hear a lot of Led Zeppelin and are often compared to them," says bassist Dave Beste, who has been with the Rival Sons since 2013. "Personally, I don't think the new album in particular sounds like this. We weren't influenced by other bands either, only by ourselves."

He explains the feeling of listening to "Hollow Bones", a blues rock/hard rock record from the seventies: "This is probably due to our way of recording, which is basically quite old-fashioned. We play the pieces together, live, so to speak. Maybe here and there something will be recorded and improved one by one, nothing more. We have about three and a half weeks for the studio recordings, and that's it. There's no such thing as tinkering with it forever afterwards."

Ray Wilson (47) has been on the road for over twenty years now, playing grunge, rock, prog and folk pop. The Scotsman has often indulged in his love of reduced sounds at his concerts. On "Song For A Friend" he reinvents himself as an introspective storyteller in the folk tradition of the seventies.

eclipsed: Your new album is very quiet and reserved. Why did you choose this folk access?

Ray Wilson: Actually Uwe Metzler, my guitarist and songwriter, and I wanted to make a new Stiltskin album, so very rocky and bombastic. When we had recorded four or five songs, we noticed that somehow it didn't work out that well. I wanted to try something quieter that reminded me of my early solo shows. And that worked.

eclipsed: In the booklet you describe the new songs as short stories set to music..

DARK SUNS - Escape With The Sun (6:12)
Album: Everchild (2016)
Label/Distribution: Prophecy/Soulfood
www.darksuns.de

At DARK SUNS you can expect exciting course changes at any time. On their fifth album "Everchild" the octet not only firmly integrates two wind instruments into the line-up, the melancholic retro-prog Phoenix of "Orange" (2011) the Leipzig-based band has now also grown jazz-decorated new art rock grand pianos. Album of the month!

With the third longplayer "Exo" the Stoner psych space band Monomyth finishes their trilogy, according to official sources. Trilogy? This has not actually been mentioned so far. Sander Evers, drummer of the Dutch instrumental formation, now puts the releases into context: "With our debut 'Monomyth' we started to explore myths and fictions on our own planet, but in the end we looked at the stars. Further' was the introduction of our spaceship, some maps and a destination we wanted to travel to. On 'Exo' we finally reach it, land on the alien planet and begin to explore it. Yes, travel and explore - that's what this trilogy is about."

The musicians of the progressive jazz metal trio Counter-World Experience are avowed science fiction fans. According to guitarist Benjamin Schwenen, who also composes for groups such as Eisbrecher and Tanzwut, "Star Wars", "Star Trek", the film "Abyss - Abyss of Death" and the soundtracks of John Williams were formative for the development of the band members.

With "Circles" Love Machines continues their journey into the infinite cosmic vastness of psychedelic music. Since the debut "A Present To The Galaxy" two years ago a lot has happened for the band from Düsseldorf/Cologne. Guitarist and synth player Felix Wursthorn sums up: "For me it feels as if in the course of the many shows we've played over the last two years we've realized where we're headed." And that's what you hear: more dynamic and explosive, less hallucinogenic. Wursthorn: "'Circles' is definitely more impulsive. This is very much due to the new possibilities as a quintet and Hendrik Siems' individual guitar style as well as the intensive live playing."

In the beginning there was this one moment, which can be decisive for the future of a band: In 2004 the musician, composer and producer Brian Reitzell, a true jack-of-all-trades, became aware of the troupe from Austin, Texas and engaged them in his function as music supervisor to write the soundtrack for the film "Friday Night Lights". So far, so good. Two years later it became a very successful TV series, in which the music of Explosions In The Sky was used again and again - the ticket to US television, because since then the songs of the band have been used there again and again. This success did not detract from their creativity, as their dynamic sound is by no means subject to commercial considerations. "It even helps us to value our songs even more," guitarist Munaf Rayani reveals. "When you put music over pictures, new levels of meaning open up for the songs I haven't seen before."