July 18, 2025

Witch Blade ~ Sweden


Heavy metal; NWOBHM styled

Facebook

No official band sample page, but their albums are available to hear via the labels that released them.

Latest: Månsken (2022)

No activity since the above album was released. Building page since they'll probably pop up again at some point.

UMR review page for Witch Blade

7/18/25 (new entry)


July 15, 2025

Red Sand ~ Canada ~ Quebec


Neo prog

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Bandcamp

Latest: The Sound of Silence (2025). To be released Sep 15.

UMR review page for Red Sand

6/18/24 (new entry)

Crypt Sermon ~ USA ~ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Epic metal; Doom metal

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Bandcamp

Latest: Saturnian Appendices EP (2025). To be release August 8.

UMR review page for Crypt Sermon

6/1/24 (new entry)

Wucan ~ Germany


Progressive rock; Krautrock

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Bandcamp

Latest: Axioms (2025). To be released August 29.

UMR review page for Wucan

6/16/23 (new entry)

Discipline ~ USA ~ Detroit, Michigan


Progressive rock

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Bandcamp

Latest: Breadcrumbs (2025). To be released August 1

UMR review page for Discipline

7/15/25 (new entry)

Presto Ballet ~ USA ~ Seattle, Washington


AOR; Hard rock; Progressive rock

Facebook 


Latest: Dreamentia (2025)


11/22/18 (new entry)

May 6, 2025

The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus ~ England


Krautrock styled; Neo Gothic Progressive

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Bandcamp (new)

Bandcamp (old)

Latest: Devotion to a Noble Idea (2025) EP

Beauty Will Save the World (2015)

The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus' debut Gift of Tears sounded like Popol Vuh and Emtidi met head on with Harmonia - with a big dose of intense spirituality a la Dead Can Dance. The EP Le Liturgie Pour le Fin du Temps sounded like a Krautrock Delerium. Other albums left a big WTF behind. And here we are with their first new album in 20 years. RYM gives it the genre of Avant Folk, the same as Moondog and Catherine Ribeiro (shakes head. Huh?). Anyway, forget it, the band defies categorization. Are they even from here? Earth, that is...

---12/5/15

Other albums I own and still need to review: The Gift of Tears (1987); Mirror (1991); Le Liturgie Pour le Fin du Temps (1993); Paradis (1995)

12/5/15 (new entry)

The Budos Band ~ USA ~ Brooklyn, New York


Jazz funk; Heavy psych

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Bandcamp

Latest: Budos Band VII (2025). To be released May 29.

UMR review page for The Budos Band

3/6/19 (new entry)

April 28, 2025

Paatos ~ Sweden


Progressive rock; Post rock

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YouTube

Latest: Ligament (2025) To be released May 14.

First new album in 13 years!

10/26/18 (new entry)

April 20, 2025

Mother Black Cap ~ England


Progressive rock

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Bandcamp

Latest: Caveman TV (2023)

Mother Black Cap are still playing live and promise gigs throughout this year and into 2026.

The English Way. 2009 Cyclops. To be honest I didn't get too much out of this release. Mostly I heard broad stroke Pink Floyd styled art rock. Post Animals style. Which isn't really my brand of progressive rock. For their part the band points their references to the melodic 70s classics such as Camel and Focus. And they like the "twiddly prog bits". All of which I heard very little of. The primary exception being track 4. Up for hearing more from this lot, and they're still active. This wasn't my album though.

4/20/25 (new entry)

Overworld Dreams ~ USA ~ New Jersey


Progressive rock

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Bandcamp

Latest: Geography (2024). Latest FB post suggests a 4th album is very much in the works.

Voyage (2018)

Overworld Dreams are a contemporary progressive rock band who self-describe as "New Jersey-based Prog rockers bringing old school sensibilities to modern Progressive Rock." Sounds like my kind of group!

Where to start? I always like to go to the beginning of the discography and work my way forward over time. Unless there's a strong reason not to do that, which is not the case here. As I hear these new bands releasing quality albums such as Voyage to a very small audience, I feel a sense of gratitude is much needed. From a listening perspective, what if I had discovered a tape from the 80s that sounded like this? I'd be over the moon. Such is the luxury of today and the sheer amount of product that is available to us. 

ProgArchives for their part has Overworld Dreams labeled as neo prog, as does RYM. At first I wasn't so sure of either the 70's reflections nor the neo prog tag. But as the music penetrates, both of these reveal themselves. The keyboard interludes suggest an interest in 70s electronic music as well. Like many modern prog bands, the music can be a bit broad stroked, and lacks the jazzy rhythms that brings the instrumental sections to life. In this way, the term art rock comes forward. It misses the retro prog train due to a lack of analog gear, though 70's sensibilities is not the same thing as 70s's emulation, which I figure Overworld Dreams is well aware of. Nice guest appearance from guitarist Scott McGill, most known for being an integral part of Finneus Gauge, a band that was relatively well known in the late 90s. His solos provide a much needed edge.

As for best tracks, an old schooler like me gravitated immediately to 'The Puzzle'. Tracks 1, 5, & 8 are others I really enjoyed along with the electronic interludes. Good stuff all around. I'll be sure to circle back at some point and capture their next album and beyond.

4/20/25 (new entry)

April 18, 2025

Vespero ~ Russia


Krautrock styled; Space rock

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Bandcamp

Latest: Lost Stories of Kilgore Trout (2025). To be released May 2.

UMR review page for Vespero

8/10/17 (new entry)

April 5, 2025

Great Wide Nothing ~ USA ~ Atlanta, Georgia


Progressive rock; Neo Prog

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Bandcamp

Latest: A Shout Into The Void (2025). 5/2

The View From Olympus (2019)

Great Wide Nothing are from Atlanta and clearly embrace progressive rock at its early 70s UK major group peak. Classic Yes and Genesis seem to be front and center and the vocals have that distinctive Fish neo prog edge to them. I like the woody bass sound, something that should be required for any up and coming prog group. Piano, organ, and analog synthesizers are also part of the recipe. And some fake mellotron. This is one of those oxymoronic retro / neo prog type acts. The standard bearer for such a phenomena would be Cliffhanger, that most wonderful Dutch band that largely went unnoticed.

11/24/24 (review)

11/24/24 (new entry)

March 12, 2025

Hokr ~ Czech Republic


Retro prog; Progressive rock

Website (they have a Facebook page but it hasn't been updated since 2013)

Bandcamp

YouTube

Latest: Meandrea (2025)

UMR review page for Hokr

4/28/11 (new entry)

Hex A.D. ~ Norway

Retro Hard Rock; Progressive rock Facebook Bandcamp Latest: Surgical Cuts in the Cosmos (2026). May 22. Astro Tongue in the Electric Garden ...