Joe Deninzon - Adventures in the Stratospheerius Review by Gary Hill Released under the name of Joe Deninzon, this album is by the same group who also record under the band name Stratospheerius. That group is composed of Deninzon, Scott Chasolen, Grisha Alexiev, Rufus Philpot, DJ Big Wiz, and guitarist Alex Skolnick (Attention Deficit, Testament).
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Moody and ambient music creates the format for these sedate soundscapes. There aren’t huge variants here, and everything moves very slowly, but it never feels redundant or samey either.
Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake Review by Mike Korn The last few years have seen the rise of a new generation of American metal bands. The new blood has included Shadows Fall, God Forbid and without a doubt the most vicious of the bunch, Lamb of God.
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Attention Deficit - Attention Deficit Review by Gary Hill Described as "mad scientist rock", this album contains very intriguing instrumental music. With strong leanings toward modern King Crimson, the album covers progressive territory in a dark, gritty and somewhat chaotic manner. More...
This instrumental set is intriguing and powerful. It's got plenty of King Crimson-like sound built into it, but there are also hints of space music, fusion, jam band stuff and more here.
Various Artists - Drum Nation Vol. 2 Review by Gary Hill The concept is simple but unique: put together a number of tracks from various artists showcasing influential and potent drummers. This was the concept for Magna Carta's first drum nation CD, and they continue it here - why mess up a good thing?
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Alex Skolnick Trio - Last Day in Paradise Review by Gary Hill This new album by Alex Skolnick Trio is more than just a continuation. Sure there's a lot of great jazz trio music with elements of rock – the reason I put this under prog.
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Whenever I see one of these sets – they have the Wacken Festival every year and always release it for video later – I am amazed at the range of sounds presented.
Testament - Live In London DVD Review by Josh Turner It's the classic line-up in a trouble-free DVD. Drenched in blood red and decorated with gold trim, this simple gatefold booklet contains nothing more than a single disc.
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Various Artists - Magna Carta Guitar Greats – Volume I Review by Gary Hill These Magna Carta sampler discs serve as a great way for people to sample a number of their releases without having to shell out the cash for each and every one of them. I'd have to say that as these things go, this is one of the better ones – and they are all quite good.
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Brand X - Missing Period Review by Gary Hill Associated with the prog musical style both because of their imaginative and virtuosic fusion approach to music and the sometime presence of Genesis man Phil Collins, Brand X have always been a great largely unknown musical treasure. More...
PAKT is an amazing group of musicians. The band is made up of Percy Jones (bass and samples), Alex Skolnick (guitars), Kenny Grohowski (drums) and Tim Motzer (guitars and electronics).
Markus Reuter in combinations with various musicians has created quite a catalog of intriguing instrumental progressive rock. This new collection with Tim Motzer and Kenny Grohowski is no exception.
Vapourspace - Sonic Residue from Vapourspace Review by Steve Alspach Here's an interesting concept - take songs from various releases from a progressive rock record label and let the music be transformed by a techno mix until it's nearly unrecognizable from the original source.
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Various Artists - Subdivisions - A Tribute To Rush Review by Gary Hill Subdivisions is a new Tribute album devoted to the music of Rush from Magna Carta Records. Those paying close attention and with a good memory, may be saying now; "didn't they do one before?"
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Testament - The Formation of Damnation Review by Gary Hill This CD represents Alex Skolnick’s studio return to the world of Testament. What they have produced is an album that takes no prisoners.
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Attention Deficit - The Idiot King Review by Gary Hill Attention Deficit's second album, this one continues their trend of fusion oriented instrumental music. The album should appeal to fans of bands like King Crimson, Djam Karet and Frank Zappa.
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Alex Skolnick Trio - Transformation Review by Gary Hill Alex Skolnick is a true artist, not content to sit still in one musical genre. Certainly he is probably best known as the guitarist for the metal band Testament, his first professional gig.
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Brand X - Unorthodox Behaviour Review by Steve Alspach Those fans of progressive music who stick their fingers down their throat at the mention of the name "Phil Collins" may not be familiar with this piece of work. If they were, they may think that Phil may deserve a bit of redemption before being cast to purgatory. More...
