Issue 2025-053

Agropelter — The Book of Hours

Patrick McAfee

One of the great joys of the modern prog scene is discovering a new artist or band that takes you by surprise. This debut album by Norway's Agropelter falls into that category. Taking inspiration from classic bands such as Genesis, Camel, King Crimson and Yes is hardly unique, but rarely do the results sound this electrifying. Completely instrumental, the material here doesn't simply mimic bands of the past — it breathes new life into the symphonic format.

The seven tracks which make up the album play like an adventurous long-form piece of music. It is a musical rollercoaster, complete with old school mellotron, organ flourishes, minimoog solos and towering guitar crescendos. I can't emphasize enough how fresh and cohesive this material sounds. The melodies are wholly compelling and the musical structure, completely effective.

Kay Olsen is the mastermind behind Agropelter, and he expertly performs most of the instrumentation. Amongst those who provide adept assistance are Jonas Reingold (Flower Kings, Karmakanic) on fretless bass and Mattias Olsen (White Willow, Anglagard) on percussion.

The album clocks in at a cogent forty-five-minutes and remains captivating throughout. In fact, The Book of Hours is one of the best debuts in recent memory. It is Highly Recommended.

Chlorine Dream — Not For Long

Jerry Kranitz

Chlorine Dream are a psychedelic band based in Toronto, Ontario, who have been around for 25 years. Not For Long is their eighth album and my introduction to the band. They're a quartet with guitar, bass, piano, keys, percussion, harmonica, vocals instrumentarium, with four different drummers contributing to various tracks. Their descriptions of the album as "a blistering fever hallucination" and possibly their most "deranged" album to date got my attention! The tracks range from 2 to just over 5 minutes, and there's impressive variety across the ten songs.

One Afternoon features retro 1960s soulful psychedelia with cool grooving wah guitar, keys and vocals. It's got a west coast psych flavor with a wee touch of Funkadelic. I like bands that take off and explore, but I have to give Chlorine Dream credit for doing just enough trippy jamming to fit within the confines of the song. A nice balance between giving themselves room to stretch out but still a structured song.

The title track is a somewhat Neil Young-ish acoustic tune that later introduces flute and dreamily trippy guitar, giving the music a mesmerizing folk-psych vibe. Everything Is Surreal again reminded me of Neil Young, but the electric guitar solos take it all gorgeously out into space. Part Time Lover is a blend of west coast psychedelia, Neil Young and Tom Petty, though the keys give the music a gentle atmospheric vibe.

Hairpin turning into other realms, The Lost Wisdom Of The Ages is like the Bevis Frond at their most stoner brain-fried rocking, with acidic dueling guitars that teeter into metal territory. Gratitude Adjustment is similar but even more metallic.

Showcasing the more down 'n' dirty blues-psych side of the band is 1000 Ways. I like how acoustic slide guitar and harmonica jam before inserting a stoner-blues mid-section, and then surprised me by hurtling the music into stoner-tinged dance floor swing when the piano kicks in. Through A Glass Darkly cranks out more psychedelic blues, in this case the band once again channeling their apparent penchant for metal.

In The Murk starts off as a tender acoustic guitar and piano tune, but gradually adds ambience and spacey guitar licks that shepherd the song into space. And Take Me Home is a playfully bouncy and lightly bluesy tune with multitracked vocals, making this my favorite vocal number of the set. But it also takes off into a soulfully bluesy jam that sounds like a psychedelic Derek And The Dominos.

Reading over my descriptions, the variety makes the band sound less than cohesive, but to my ears the songs flow nicely from beginning to end. If you like song-oriented psychedelia with restrained instrumental excursions and a retro edge then check these guys out.

Ellesmere — Mere! On Stage

Sergey Nikulichev

Ellesmere, a musical project from Rome, Italy, led by bass player Roberto Vitelli (also Taproban) released their second live album aptly titled Mere, On Stage!. The band has always somewhat baffled me with sheer “chameleon” qualities of the material. Debuting in 2014 with pastoral acoustic prog of Les Chateaux de la Loire Vitelli's project jumped to a more symphonic sound on II – From Sea and Beyond, then gave a wide berth in favor of darker, Goblin-eque “horror-prog” on Wyrd in 2020, the one CD I still do not quite grasp, and in 2024 coming to release a sort-of-breakthrough album Stranger Skies. The latter is graced with presence of such big names as David Jackson, Clive Nolan and Tomas Bodin, and has a distinct modern neo-prog flavor, with full-scale of drama, epicness and versatility.

The more surprising is the fact that the live show, compiling compositions from the last three LPs, turned to be very natural and the songs proved to sit well with each other on the set list. As soon as the intro Ridge fanfare is over, the band launches off to a sequence of opening tracks from Stranger Skies - Northwards and Tundra with aerial synths, groovy bass lines on Vitelli's Rickenbacker and wonderful voice of the British singer John Wilkinson, who did some fine job in studio and has equally strong, passionate voice on stage, sounding like a cross between two ex-Big Big Train vocalists - late David Longdon and Sean Filkins.

These two tracks and Runway lead listeners to a more ethereal and mesmerizing part of the show with Crystalized and Ajar graced by the saxophone playing by David Jackson and more complex, brooding harmonies of the band. Once the atonal part of the show is over, Ellesmere takes us back to the epic style of the last album on Another World, serving as a grand finale to Stranger Skies storyline, and concluding the show with Time, Life Again from the sophomore album, sounding livelier and much more powerful than its studio version. Vitelli's bass sounds tight and groovy against the steady rhythms of Diego Bertocci's drums, and the whirlwind of guitar-synths-winds serves well as a passionate finale to the evening. The release features a studio cover version of Procol Harum's Broken Barricades as a bonus, a nice but non-essential addition.

Ellesmere, while not on the same popularity level with today's leaders of RPI like Barock Project or Logos, have proven with this release, that the band climbs fast to the peak of Italian prog Vesuvius.

Lord Helmet — Take Evasive Action

Andy Read

Lord Helmet are one of those crossover prog bands that have created something a little different. Their approach is to blend classic and contemporary progressive rock influences with early 80s post-punk and 90s alternative to form a weightily modern sound of their own.

If you can imagine the intense guitars of say King Crimson with the more modern dynamic of Porcupine Tree, and then add in some of the raw energy of the Deftones, the slightly gothic electronic tendencies of Bauhaus or Joy Division and then the electronic pop tendencies of Ultravox. It shouldn't work, but Lord Helmet are now onto their third album, so the proof of the pudding is in the listening.

Their debut offering, Forget The End Of The World received favourable plaudits from my colleague Martin Burns six years ago. Then two years later I was similarly impressed by their follow-up Get Back To The Ship. I labelled it as "a powerful listen to all fans of intense, depressing, heavy-prog stuff."

Both albums offer a uniquely individual take on this style of genre-blending alt-rock. Both have some impressive compositions, especially Phased Out and Moth from their second album. Yet I sensed that this was an outfit still seeking to settle on its definitive style and method.

Thankfully, Take Evasive Action is where they have nailed it.

Everything fits together and makes perfect sense. It's not radically different in style. It's as if they now know who they are musically, and so have been able to focus on the songwriting. As a result, the riffs and melodies have been taken to another level.

I hesitated to write a review straight away on this album. Sometimes one's initial enthusiasm can wear off with repeat exposure. It leaves one looking rather silly when writing a rave review for an album that has limited shelf life.

In this case, I have not stopped playing this for two months. The hooks have evicted all other worms from my ears, and there is enough depth to the songwriting and musicianship to ensure that Take Evasive Action will still be towards the top of my playlist when I come to compiling a list of my best albums of 2025.

Lord Helmet still consists only of the multi-talented David Tomkins (vocals, bass, guitar and synths) plus the drum talents of Adam Figura. This being the third album that have created together, it appears that they have got to know how each other works perfectly.

Tomkins' voice fits the music perfectly, and he has an uncanny ear to place a melodic hook (or three) in every song. The album has an easy flow and variety. Some songs play towards more of the post-punk, others lean into the alt-pop and several take a more progressive approach. Frequent splashes of heavy-psyche and stoner tropes add to my satisfaction. This is certainly an album to listen to as a complete work. At just under 40 minutes, it always ends too quickly.

My only criticism is that I feel there needs to be more clarity in the production. The guitars, vocals and drums are always clear, but the rest can lack definition and end up as "noise" in the background.

Hopefully this duo can evolve to bring in some more musicians and create a real band set-up, as these songs would work wonderfully in a live setting. Until then you'll have to make do with just he music, although this time you can get your hands on a physical product as the album has been released on CD and vinyl (link above).

We no longer award points at DPRP, but if we did then this would be an easy nine out of ten. Highly recommended.

Arjen Anthony Lucassen — Songs No One Will Hear

Edwin Roosjen

The last official solo album for Arjen Anthony Lucassen was Lost In The New Real back in 2012. In between, Lucassen has released, of course, several albums, as Ayreon, Star One, The Gentle Storm, Plan Nine or Supersonic Revolution. For thirty years Lucassen has been entertaining us via a variety of projects. It has indeed been that long since the first Ayreon album The Final Experiment, released in 1995, even shortly before DPRP was founded.

On his solo projects Lucassen does most of the vocals himself, save a few guest appearances, like Songs No One Will Hear the guest vocalists are Floor Jansen, Irene Jansen, Robert Soeterbroek and Marcela Bovio. On drums we have Koen Herfst who also played on the Golden Age Of Music album. He is also the drummer for Vandenberg. Joost van den Broek is back on Hammond and we have Ben Mathot (violin), Jeroen Goossens (flute) and Jurriaan Westerveld (cello). As always, the rest on the album is played by Mr. L himself.

The concept of Songs No One Will Hear is more direct than we are used to. There is a meteorite heading towards Earth. In five months Earth will be destroyed and all life will end. This is the message that narrator Mike Mills brings in the End Of The World Show.

The lyrics from R.E.M., "It's the end of the world as we know it", are thrown into our faces and the message is we have five months before we vanish into thin air. The narration on Songs No One Will Hear is a bit more in your face than normal. For people who want to enjoy the music, this release comes with a second CD without narration. It is about four minutes shorter, and you can enjoy all the music without the talking.

The impact of the grim message of the end of the world is brought in the song The Clock Ticks Down. The music is very typical Lucassen with a lot of heavy guitars on this track, especially the fiery solo has Mr. L. written all over it. What I like in the music of Lucassen, especially on the album Golden Age Of Music, are the thick layers of Hammond sounds and the song Goddamn Conspiracy brings that oh so nice stuff. Guest appearance on this song is by Irene Jansen.

During the heavy riff the heavy guitars are supported by the flute. A bold choice, but it works. On Goddamn Conspiracy the violin is introduced and plays a small, be it somewhat frantic part. The Universe Has Other Plans has the violin more upfront. On The Universe Has Other Plans, Ben Mathot can show his violin skills on the very nice solo.

The message of the end of the world is delivered and what do you do when the world is about to end? You have a Shaggathon. Funny title for a short and very funny song. A funny song like this is rare in progressive rock. But after the Shaggathon the ominous feeling of the end of the world is creeping up again, and dark thoughts are dealt with in the song We'll Never Know. Guest appearance by Floor Jansen on vocals.

And then again another mood swing, I guess this happens when you are waiting for a meteorite to strike. On Lost In The New Real we had Pink Beatles In A Purple Zeppelin but now Dr. Slumber takes us on a blue bus. (Is that a Doors reference?) Both of these songs have a high singalong level and Dr. Slumber's Blue Bus is a very likeable song.

Another mood change with the acoustic Just Not Today with room for the violin. Our Final Song is the big one. Almost reaching fifteen minutes and divided into six acts, this is the epic song. Check out the great video below. You can see many musicians and vocalists contributing to this wonderful song.

With Songs No One Will Hear, Arjen Anthony Lucassen brings us yet another very fine release with a dark subject, although it is not the darkest album Lucassen has made. The music is as can be expected of Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Fans of his work will surely soak up this new release instantly. I am sure this will appear on many lists at the end of the year.

Michael Riesenbeck — Courage

Jan Buddenberg

Sometimes all it takes is one familiar name to pique my undivided interest towards a certain album. To be perfectly honest, it wasn't the Dutch guitarist/composer Michael Riesenbeck in this case. Because he frankly was a complete unknown to me. This despite a long list of references that since 1986 includes solo albums and band efforts (Alibi, Fanfields (a Toto tribute band), Viteffe (a Vitesse tribute band) as well as session-, engineer-, and producer work for other artists. No, it actually was the late great Tony Mills of Shy, TNT, State of Rock, and Serpentine fame whose name initiated me to have a go at Courage.

Mills, who unfortunately passed away on the 18th of September 2019, isn't the only guest of stature featured on Reisenbeck's third solo album Courage. For next to many talented musicians that I hadn't heard of until recently, the guest list also includes renowned faces like Robert Soeterboek (Ayreon, Vengeance), Julian Driessen (Timelock, The Last Detail, For Absent Friends), and Phil Vincent (Forest Field). The mere mention of his name however instantly awakened my inquisitive nature. And thank prog for that. Because Courage is an outstanding body of work by Riesenbeck that firmly stimulates my melodic rock / AOR heart.

As it turns out, Mills powerful charismatic voice is only heard on the Eric Ragno / Riesenbeck-penned composition Changing Ways. But what a wonderful treat it is! Originally appearing on China Blue's Twilight of Destiny from 2018, this newly recorded version has everything a melodic rock fan basically craves for; excellent soloing segments from both guitar and synths, a highly dynamic rhythm section, an epic bridge, meticulously crafted arrangements, melodic diversity, heavenly harmonies, outstanding all-round vocal performances from both Mills and the other lead vocalists Holly Mills, Tony O'Hara and Gui Oliver. You name it and this composition delivers it in spades.

This also takes place in impressive opener Uphill Battle. Completed by a fabulous production that fully brings the energetic music to life, this song sets up the album perfectly with tight riffs, melodic hooks and strong driving play in combustible Journey spirit. And embellished with symphonic arrangements, expert transitions, and contagious melodies has one singing along to its catchy chorus and Shotgun Symphony melodies in no time. In other words; if one likes pompous melodic AOR and musical structures that always go for a song, then this is as good as it gets.

It must be said that it is not just pure melodic rock gold that shines bright on Courage. A Fools Lullaby is a gently rippling instrumental which subdued in performance beautifully showcases Riesenbeck's softer engaging bluesy side. The heavy and mellow-paced Unfinished Business foremost leans towards Dio-styled hard rock. A view strengthened by Ruben Dukker's solid vocal resemblance. While a song like Courage offers easily approachable rock and pop-solid melodic structures which in combination with Soeterboek's strong vocal performance somehow manages to provoke thoughts of Bon Jovi.

However, in light of tracks like Hold On and Running, which thanks to Phil Vincent's vocal contribution sounds like the spitting image of Forest Field, it's abundantly clear where Riesenbeck primarily draws his inspiration from. Namely, the hugely entertaining melodic rock/AOR realm that spawned such greats as Giant, Survivor, April Wine, Strangeways, Loverboy, Harem Scarem, White Sister and Night Ranger. To name but a few that came to mind along the way.

Warm Hammond sounds, textbook Toto transitions, and dazzling synth and guitar escapades, it is the infectiously melodic Fighting Chance that testifies Reisenbeck doesn't like to hide his love for Toto. An appreciation he also respectfully repeats in Heaven's End through a divine uplifting mixture of Mecca AOR and mid-80s Journey highlighted by a pompous symphonic prog-momentum. The brass section of Thomas Heikoop (trumpet), Huub de Jong (trombone) and Jose Cervera Minguez (sax) manages to retrieve memories of the grossly underrated Michael Stanley Band.

Amidst all this Lost & Found is the anticipated ballad that comes along with a delicious emotive twist. Following up on his performance in Uphill Battle, Lars Edvall again delivers some strong lead and backing harmonies here. As does Peter Vinken instrumentally on the wonderful violin which gives this composition an enchanting Kansas feel, until Riesenbeck finally takes hold of the melodies with an captivating guitar solo that could have lasted me for hours on end.

This brings me to the final two proggiest songs on offer. Pulling out all the stops, this at first involves the outstanding Hard2Desire. A magnificent and highly attractive hard and heavy pomp-rock instrumental. Driven by a thriving rhythm section with great guitar work, it predominantly brings visions of Uriah Heep and Prophet. If one doesn't take the surprising rock 'n roll piano parts by Raymond van Melzen into account, that is.

Highway Muse brings fully charged heavy melodic rock injected with pompous synth outbursts. Lyrics and song structures within this song tend to be slightly predictable. However, it is all delivered with outstanding virtuosity, strong vocals, and lots of creative prog-influenced soloing. So there's no complaining on my part!

Despite having a host of different vocalists, the perfectly flowing Courage sounds marvellously balanced and harmonious. It is a great album that's easily on par with its peers. Musically, it might not teach anything new, but I definitely learned to keep an eye out for Riesenbeck's name in the future. This all adds up to the short conclusion that Courage is, I dare say, a highly recommended melodic rock/AOR jewel I encourage everyone to have a serious encounter with!