Issue 2025-065

Tadashi Goto — Echoes

Martin Burns

With two previous releases reviewed on this site — 2005's Soundscape and 2008's Innervisions so it has been quite a wait for keyboardist Tadashi Goto's new album Echoes. The album is quite a monster, 25 or 26 tracks depending on which version you choose to purchase. Only two tracks reach the 4-minute mark. The album is a hommage to Tadashi-san's father, Hiroshi, who sadly passed away, and it deals with the grief that ensued but ultimately ends on a hopeful note. This is really two releases pushed together. There are the first 18 tracks of keyboard-driven prog-metal, classic rock and pop structures, with one eyebrow-raising musical left turn. Then the remaining tracks are more heartfelt piano-driven ballads before closing with a return to the opening section.

The album has a whole features some guest musicians as the drums in the main sound real, and the songs are sung by two different female vocalists (I think) on different tracks, a male vocalist also appears on a few tracks. There is some excellent guitar work too, all frustratingly uncredited. So the prog-metal tracks are variously heavy, intense and richly textured between Derek Sherinian and Jordan Rudess-style keys and shredding free metal guitars, think Arjen Anthony Lucassen.

Each track is melodic, sometimes producing pop-inflected earworms. Others with Nightwish-like symphonic metal tendencies. Tempos vary, and anything you don't really like soon moves on. The odd left turn occurs seven tracks in, as Newcastle Nights - A Bar Tale introduces piano trio lounge jazz, all walking bass and brushed drums. Another track that feels out of place is the musical theatre-ish Starlight Fever that could be an outtake from the pop-musical Six. However, in both cases the prog soon returns.

The last third of the album is where Tadashi-san lets the pathos envelope the melodies. Beginning with The Bridge Of No Return - Midnight, a female sung piano ballad of quiet intensity. It continues over the next few tracks before another odd track breaks the mood and rather spoils the section. Lost In The Groove is a disco track that fell from some late Seventies night club on to this album. The album closes with a return to a slow-build prog metal instrumental with spoken word contributions.

Tadashi Goto's Echoes contains much to enjoy depending on your perspective. The die-hard prog metal fan will enjoy a lot of this but probably ignore the piano ballads, pop and jazz contributions. More eclectic listeners will have more things to enjoy. If you get this off Bandcamp, you can always edit the playlist!

Head Spin — High Orbit

Jerry Kranitz

Head Spin is the solo project of Nottingham, UK-based musician Andy Scoffin. High Orbit is his latest and my introduction to his music. Scoffin describes Head Spin as "instrumental psychedelic/progressive space rock". To my ears it's instrumental progressive rock and jazz fusion with space rock tendencies. The space rock parts often sound like Ozric Tentacles (who are space rock with prog-jazz tendencies). But despite the analogy, Scoffin has carved out his own little niche.

Stubble sounds like a rocking Montrose instrumental with bubbly gurgly space effects. Scoffin rips off guitar solos with melodic hooks that "sing" an instrumental song. Long Shadows is more intricately composed, at times having a bit of a Jeff Beck fusion feel, but within a general prog-jazz framework plus that spacey Ozrics feel. And Scoffin navigates multiple thematic transitions but without getting too overly prog ambitious. He has a goal but has freewheeling fun achieving it.

Lenticular has a funky spaced-out jazz-fusion vibe with a little bit of Edgar Winter's Frankenstein in the keys (or is it guitar?), but also dreamily rocking jazz-fusion in space passages. Electric Nail is another heavy rocker that sounds like Montrose meets Ozric Tentacles, and includes beautifully fluid and melodic guitar soloing. Lozenge rocks out but is just a smoothly grooving and flowing prog-jazz instrumental with bits of kosmiche space. And Phase Eater bears loose resemblance to the Ozric Tentacles' track Stretchy. It's a killer blend of prog-jazz fusion and space rock and one of my favorite tracks of the set.

Overall, my experience of this album is less about individual tracks and more just grooving along with the album as a whole. There's enough variation across tracks to keep things interesting, but for me each track rolls seamlessly to the next. I sure love Scoffin's guitar! Monster technical skill but he has a lyrical style that expresses itself rather than just trying to wow the listener with flashy shredding.

The tracks are just long enough for Scoffin to stretch out, but he always maintains a healthy balance between controlled composition and freeform exploration. It's like setting out on a road trip where you have a specific destination, but configure your map to avoid the highways and take the scenic route.

Hermetic Science — Live At Innsmouth

Jan Buddenberg

Back in 2023 I ended my review on Hermetic Science's Deliria: A Chronicle of 2020 with the words: "I pray they won't wait too long to present a follow-up". Apparently prayers do sometimes come true. Because much quicker than I anticipated, they have returned with Live At Innsmouth.

Captured during their 2024 American Carnage Tour on the 15th of November at The Gilman House in Innsmouth, this release contains live performances of the complete Deliria: A Chronicle of 2020 suite, as well as a selection of songs from their albums En Route and These Fragments I Have Shored Against My Ruins. All of which staged in the line-up of founder/keyboardist Edward Macan, Jeffrey Ruiz (bass, voice) and Travis Strong (drums, percussion) who were also behind the creation of (in short) Deliria.

This quickly brings me to the curious confusing aspects of the package. Because although played 100% live, there is, in correspondence to the striking artwork, absolutely no audience to be heard on these recordings. Simultaneously, the also pictured police line seems to symbolically screams "Move along; there's nothing to see here!". This is fully true in light of the album's contents, as only the audio part of the show is included, and no visuals. However, moving along is not to be taken as a recommendation, for Live At Innsmouth has a criminal amount of exceptional musicality on display that is certainly worth hearing.

At the same time, this amazing exhibition of interplay is also the CD's Achilles heel. Especially when it comes down to the Deliria suite. This fine piece of music is so meticulously recreated in terms of feel, atmosphere, suspense, arrangements and musical interpretations, that even after numerous listening sessions I am still left with the overall impression that Hermetic Science did use some sort of magical copying during their performance.

The visual close-ups as revealed on YouTube clearly show otherwise. Yet without them, I do find it extremely hard to hear and detect any fundamental differences between the two Deliria versions that I now know. This makes it very easy to gather my overall thoughts for this first half, as these are an exact replica of my thoughts for the original album. The stunningly accurate recreation does make me wonder about the added value of Live in Innsmouth though, if I'm honest.

This doubting perspective on my part is mostly out of the picture for the seven additional songs that occupy the second CD, as these are all new to me.

Brilliantly executed in precisely the same captivating manner, this begins with four consecutive Against The Grain parts. Dark and moody with jazzy refinement and restrained classical performances, these broodingly diverse cinematic songs are again loaded with countless moments of suspense and theatrical drama which animated in melodic intensity evoke impressions of Colosseum, Ekseption and Argent. Ruiz occasionally accompanies this with demonic zeuhl gutturals. He playfully glides through movements of Canterbury and passages of ghoulish horror with elegant ease as meanwhile virtuoso keyboard wizardry by Macan summons grandeur of The Nice, Trace, Triumvirat and Greenslade.

Overall, the funk and the 70s-inspired prog rock is, as before, challengingly rewarding. I especially enjoy the full satisfying completion of the vivaciously complex fourth part which makes miniature E.L.P. armadillo tanks roll into view. That is about the best comparison I can give for the whole of monumental song-beast, really. Yet again, I start to question whether these live versions bring anything new to the table. In view of the fact that Hermetic Science, in celebration of their 30th anniversary, plan to re-release their first three albums Science (1997), Prophesies (1999), and En Route (2001) in 2026, I hope to answer this decisively in the next year.

My conclusion is a confused dilemma. If one still hasn't discovered Hermetic Science, then Live In Innsmouth is the perfect place to start and as such comes heartily advised if the names referenced above prog your boat. However, for those fortunate unfortunate ones who already own These Fragments... and / or Deleria, this buying choice proves to be less interesting. As previously mentioned and fully exposed on YouTube, the overall musicality is massively impressive, instrumentally sublime, and thoroughly enjoyable. But why then make the decision to not include a DVD that perfectly showcases this? Perhaps a missed opportunity.

Sam Ospovat — Blight Music

Owen Davies

Well folks, where do I begin? How can I describe this release?

If you're expecting foot-tapping jazz fusion, this album almost definitely won't fit the bill. If you like classic prog and bands such as Genesis and Yes, it is very likely that this album will be unpalatable. Blight Music is intense, it is challenging, and it is certainly an experience.

The album dips its whole body, not merely a limb or a toe, into the unpredictable bobbing and swelling currents of free jazz. There are, of course, occasions when melody overcomes experimentation and structure triumphs over exuberant improvisation, but for the most part these moments fade to grey against the multi-coloured backdrop of honking-horns, fuzz-bubbled-bass, clattering drums, punchy piano fills, and discordant guitar drapes.

Even when the tunes in this release are at their most accessible, the music quivers with interesting unpredictability. What is frequently created is somewhat akin to what a hallucinogenic Buddy Rich band might have, or what the Keith Tippett band might have played, if they had wanted structure and form to be secondary to chaos and energy. When this succeeds, as it does in parts of The Sower, Blight Music and American Talent, the results are exhilarating and intriguing.

Blight Music, is the third album by drummer and composer Sam Ospovat. Ospovat's crisp drumming is one of the consistent highlights of the album. The ensemble playing in the longer pieces is also extremely well executed and is characterised by a raw infectious approach and an adventurous intensity.

It is not perhaps surprising given its title, that Salvador Dali is an avant-garde freeform piece. Its wall of noise, sax cheek puffing, discordant droning and expulsions of sound are certainly an acquired taste. However, the melodic tension created by this off-piste piece and the impenetrable interlude noise-swirl of Bison compared to the relatively structured pieces such as Schu – Schu is interesting to take in and experience.

It would be dishonest if I said that I thoroughly enjoyed this release. I found it disconcerting and fascinating in equal measures. Nevertheless, I have huge respect for the abilities of the players and applaud their artistic intention to present something that frequently cuts through the norms of structure and form.

If you dare to check Blight Music out; who knows, it may just appeal!

Overture — A mezz'aria sul tempo

Thomas Otten

A classic RPI band I have never heard of: bring it on, that is what I thought when I discovered this release on our pipeline list. A mezz'aria sul tempo, which roughly translates to Half-Way Through Time or also Suspended In Time, is the band's sophomore album, following their self-titled debut from 2018. The band itself, hailing from Cagliari in Sardinia, is active since 2010, and, on this release, consists of Pier Mauro Marras (lead vocals), the only new member compared to the first album, Fiorella Piras (flute, bassoon, vocals), the brothers Samuele (electric, classical, acoustic guitars), and Simone Desogus (drums, percussion, vocals), Simone Meli (keyboards, vocals), and Stefano Sanna (electric, fretless, double bass). Two albums in 15 years and seven years between albums one and two is not a blazingly fast release sequence. With A mezz'aria sul tempo, Overture seems to have followed the "Haste makes waste" principle, and indeed, to anticipate this, it was worth the long wait.

From a general perspective, A mezz'aria sul tempo is an album that maintains a calm and solemn tone throughout. Only two or three of the eight songs (Coscienza cibernetica, Re dei topi, and partially Il canto di nessuno, i.e. the longer tracks), show a more powerful and dynamic sound. This restraint, partially also with respect to the vocals, and the sparing use of transitions between dynamic and quieter passages is perhaps the only thing that could be held against this album. However, this does not provide for A mezz'aria sul tempo to sound boring, because the variety takes place within the quiet and melodic passages and the harder ones themselves. In this respect, Overture manages to combine sophisticated and relaxing music.

Looking at the music a bit more in detail, the short instrumental opener Agapan is an excellent cross-section of what we can expect to hear on this album: subtle melodies, fluid and crisp bass playing, the flute as a melody-leading instrument, complex rhythms, solemn guitar soloing, wall of sound-keyboards. Appetite-whetting! Coscienza cibernetica with its dynamics, its rhythmically demanding synthesizer hook played repetitively throughout the song, and a roaring organ sound, provides a strong contrast. This is all the more evident given the fact that with Bagliori, we have another quiet, melancholic, and melodic song on the album, the lyric character of which with its dreamy piano reminds me of some of the work by Italian peers RanestRane.

The title track is Overture's version of a well-known Italian lullaby, which has probably been sung to countless children there (and elsewhere). For me, it falls slightly short of the other tracks. Especially because with Cosa pensi, which follows, we have another highlight of the album, again a quiet piece of music with great synthesizer work, hymn-like vocals and a strong theatrical vibe. Not too far from film music, for my perception. The long track Re dei topi probably is the most dramatic, powerful, heavy and dark song of the album. Strong keyboards (especially organ and synthesizer - great solos), alterations of louder and softer parts.

Again, a nice contrast with the song ALi neri following delicately and softly with acoustic guitar, solemn strings, and a short melodic Camel-esque guitar solo. Il canto di nessuno closes a strong album with a song full of sorrow, melancholic vocals and flute, again a melodic guitar solo in the Camel vein in the first part, dissonant soundscapes at the beginning of part two evolving into another fierce guitar solo and a reprise of Pier Mauro's dramatic singing.

Overture are an RPI band. As such, influences by the icons of that style, notably PFM, and Banco to some extent, cannot be denied. I also hear some similarities with the beautiful melodies of Loccanda delle Fate and the dynamism of Museo Rosenbach. Whilst having their roots in traditional 70s Italian prog, Overture by no means do sound outdated or old-fashioned. It is music from yesterday in a contemporary guise. Hence, their sound is comparable to that of other peers from nowadays such as Il Tempio Delle Clessidre, LogoS, Sfaratthons, Hora Prima, Il Bacio Della Medusa, Melting Clock, Panther & Co., Conqueror, and La Maschera Di Cera, to name a few.

I very much like RPI, not only for the music itself, but also for the fact that, with a band that adorns itself with this label, you always know exactly what to expect and what not to expect. Concerning A mezz'aria sul tempo, this assumption perfectly holds true, and that is why this album is a serious contender for my "top 10 albums of the year 2025" list. Complicatedness, gallery play, l'art-pour-l'art, uniformity, banality, boredom: no such thing! Variety, non-standard song structures, emphasis on strong melodies and lyrical beauty, drama, rich textures, melancholy, lush keyboards, goosebumps-producing guitar soloing: that's it! Seen in this light, Overture's music is pleasantly predictable. They definitely do not redefine their musical style but are a worthy representative of it. Recommended not only to aficionados of RPI, but to every music lover, looking for varied, melodic, complex yet accessible music with that 'mediterranean touch'. Ben fatto, ragazzi e ragazze! Please do us listeners a favour, and don't let us have wait another seven years for album number three.

Barry Palmer & Rob Reed — Fly Away

Patrick McAfee