BLUES PILLS - Little Boy Preacher (3:33)
Album: Lady In Gold (2016)
Label/Distribution: Nuclear Blast/Warner
www.bluespills.eu
After the smooth introduction with the title track, the second Blues Pills-Longplayer really takes off with "Little Boy Preacher". Both on the album and on the sampler song the band from Örebro seems more soulful, subtle and mature. Elin Larsson in particular benefits from this orientation.
MONKEY3 - Crossroad (4:57)
Album: Astra Symmetry (2016)
Label/Distribution: Napalm/Universal
www.monkey3official.com
New albums of MONKEY3 are drumbeats. Her New Artrock is the epitome of the symbiosis of power and elegance. With "Astra Symmetry" they open up new dimensions by integrating singing, doom and pink Floyd. A good example of floydige Moods is the present "Crossroad". Album of the month!
OPETH - Sorceress (edit) (4:35)
Album: Sorceress (2016) (Release: 30.09.)
Label/distribution: (Nuclear Blast/Warner)
www.opeth.com
Also with "Sorceress" Opeth, just like on the two predecessors "Heritage" and "Pale Communion", undertake again inspiring expeditions into the seventies. This time also slightly jazzy, but also a bit darker than last time, which is also proven by the multi-layered title song.
NEEDLEPOINT - Why (6:08)
Album: Aimless Mary (2016)
Label/Distribution: BJK Music/Broken Silence
www.bjkmusic.no
With NEEDLEPOINT Norwegian Bjørn Klakegg fulfils his dream of returning to his teenage days, where Caravan, Gentle Giant and Camel set the prog tone. With soft vocals and ingenious, but never tricky pieces he joins the phalanx of said bands without ever looking old-fashioned.
MAIDAVALE - Dirty War (4:22)
Album: Tales Of The Wicked West (2016)
Label/Distribution: The Sign/Cargo
www.thesignrecords.bandcamp.com
This debut album is a retro rock grenade. The four MaidaVale girls, first and foremost singer Mathilda Roth, are so under heavy blues rock current on every song of their debut that without turning red they could already be called the next big Swedish band after Graveyard and the Blues Pills.
THEODORE - Do You Know How To Fall? (3:59)
Album: It Is But It's Not (2016)
Label/Distribution: United We Fly/Proper/H'Art
www.theodore-music.com
One notices on his debut album "It Is But It is Not" as on the piece "Do You Know How To Fall?" that the young Greek is a passionate cineaste. That he is a great admirer of the sounds of his fellow countryman Vangelis. Everything is shimmering, elegant, atmospheric, opulent, in short: rousing.
PG.LOST - Deserter (6:56)
Album: Versus (2016)
Label/Distribution: Pelagic/Cargo
www.pglost.com
The four musicians from Sweden prove themselves to be true masters in creating dramatic, atmospheric and multi-layered sound landscapes in which riffs and melodies develop that are so easy to get out of your head. Film mature instrumental music that immediately touches the listener.
EVAN - Into The Light (5:02)
Album: Blue Lightning (2016)
Label/Distribution: FC Metal/Alive
www.evanofficial.com
The German-Greek metal guitarist EVAN belongs to a new generation of nimble fingers who are not satisfied with just playing fast. So is the hyper-fast "Into The Light", an instrumental like most tracks on the album, but it also has a well thought-out melody.
DENNIS HORMES - I Don't Care 'bout You (3:14)
Album: Six String Therapy (2016)
Label/Distribution: A1/SPV
www.facebook.com/dennis.hormes
On the album "Six String Therapy", DENNIS HORMES demonstrates how upper league blues rock/hard rock from Germany must sound. Because Hormes is not only a talented riff inventor, but also a great soloist - which you can hear very well in "I Don't Care 'bout You", where he really pulls from the leather.
ORNAH-MENTAL - Beijing Duck Dub (4:59)
Album: Remix & Outtake (2CD) (2016)
Label/Distribution: Amygdaland/Just For Kicks
www.amygdalandmusic.de
The Ambient-World-Dub-Project Ornah-Mental takes its time for an exhibition consisting of outtakes, some new songs and remixes by colleagues like Sankt Otten, Pat Mastelotto and Harald Großkopf. "Beijing Duck Dub" is a chilly dub with Asian undertones and a pretty Krautrock attitude.
