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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

The Von

Ei8ht

Review by Gary Hill

You might disagree with this landing in the progressive rock section. There is definitely plenty of psychedelia and seven stoner rock here. That said, there is enough prog rock here, along with the general vibe, that this lands under prog. Whether you follow that reasoning or not, though, this is a great set.

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Track by Track Review
Nothing to Fear

This powers in like some kind of ultra-heavy stoner rock. It works out from there into a cool jam with psychedelia, alternative rock and more in the mix. The instrumental section mid-track takes it into space rock and progressive rock territory. This is quite a cool cut with a lot of range and style.

The Machine
This is another with a great combination of sounds, this one landing between metal, space rock and pyschedelia. It’s a powerful piece of music. I’d say that, as strong as the opener was, this blows it away, really.
Cry of War
Another smoking hot tune, parts of this are more in that alternative rock vein. That said, mid-track it shifts to something that’s full on space meets prog. Then at the end there is a mellower instrumental movement that’s pure prog and segues it into the next number.
Love Supreme
Coming out of the previous piece, this starts with prog meets fusion sound and gets some harder rocking elements added to the mix. It does get into more mainstream territory, but really manages to maintain more of a proggy element than some of the other music. When you consider how proggy some of the rest is, that says a lot.
Atomic Sun
Although there are no huge changes here, this is more in line with psychedelic rock meeting alternative and space music. It’s another powerful rocker, and the instrumental section rocks out hard and gets proggy.
Let It Out
Another hard rocker, this one is less proggy than some of the others. Yet, there is still space rock and psychedelia built into it. It’s another powerful cut. The jam later does get proggy in a lot of ways.
Don’t Forget About Us
Here is another that’s more mainstream in a lot of ways. It’s closer to alternative rock. Still, the instrumental section and later moments bring it more into the vein of proggy jamming with even a bit of metal in the mix.
Ei8ht (Spirit & Matter)
This starts with a balladic movement that holds it for a while. It’s hard rock based, but also spacey in a lot of ways. It powers up to more of a stomping kind of arrangement. It basically kind of a space rock meets hard edged power ballad.

 

  
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