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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Fughu Lost Connection Review by Gary Hill This act is based in Argentina. Their sound has a lot of electronic music, techno and even heavy metal in it. For me, though, the way it's constructed lands it on the metallic end of the prog genre. I could see them landing under metal, though. Whatever your opinion on the matter, this is a potent set that never feels redundant. Most of the songs have a building sort of vibe to them, becoming far more than their origins before it's all over. I really enjoy this disc, and I bet a lot of you will, too. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2020 Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review

Peggy They waste no time, firing in with a keyboard-laden techno-based jam. The cut gets into some proggy weirdness as it continues. It is both rocking and almost operatic at times in the vocal delivery. There are some crazed shifts and changes built into this beast. This gets seriously heavy at times, leaning toward heavy metal. It also has some cool science fiction music built into it at points. This is a real powerhouse that's as cool as it is strange.

Pixel Hero There is an opening section that's a bit understated, other than the vocals. It has a real electronic vibe to it. The cut fires out from there with a smoking hot metallic section that features a rather rubbery rhythmic section. There are parts of this that lean toward epic metal further down the road. As this grinds forward there is a spoken bit a bit like a scene from a show. That earns a parental advisory. As they drive onward through that movement the cut makes me think of things like Dream Theater. This is a real powerhouse that gets back to the song proper from there. The closing movement is packed with drama and power.

Call Now This comes in seriously heavy and metallic. It eventually shifts out to more proggy zones as it continues. Although the bulk of this piece remains in that metallic, heavy zone, it shifts later to a mellower section that's more purely progressive rock (albeit electronic) zone.

Stay A piano dominated introduction bring this into being with an almost jazz-like sound. The cut grows out from there just a bit, but drops back again for the entrance of the vocals. While this does build up a bit as it continues, it remains in musical mode that's almost fusion and much less intense than the tracks that preceded it.

The Goat This comes in with a rather stripped down movement that feels electronic. The vocals have a techno kind of ferocity to them. After the first vocal section the number turns heavier and more purely techno as it drives onward. There is a drop back to an almost symphonic keyboard interlude. They bring the techno elements back as it comes out of that part of the piece. Near the end this drops to just a mellow keyboard section that holds the track for roughly its final minute.

Told You Powering in heavy and metallic, this works through like that for a time. It drops back after that section to a keyboard-based mellow movement. The vocals come in over the top of that. Another heavy, metallic section emerges for a time. It returns to the mellower zones after that, though. We get another intense metallic movement beyond that section, though. This cut is one of the most dynamic and powerful pieces of the whole set. It's also one of my favorites. I love the slow moving expressive guitar solo later in the number.

Right From the Bone A pretty intense keyboard bit opens this cut. Then it launches out to a metal meets techno kind of jam. That track is frantic and intense. It's perhaps less prog than some of the other things here, but the crazed changes are still proggy.

Martian This is a rather strange number with a lot of weirdness built into it. It's much more electronic and proggy and less metallic. It's moody and almost symphonic in some ways. There really is an alien element at play on the number.

What If More of a mix of prog and metallic elements, there is a real epic metal feeling to a lot of this cut. It has a driving energy and vibe. The energy is pretty intense, and the cut works well. It drops to just piano around the three-and-a-half minute mark and then builds back out from there. About a minute later a full prog arrangement takes over, and the cut begins growing upward again from there. There is a powerhouse jam later in the track that brings some metal edges to a decidedly symphonic prog based movement. It has some cool guitar soloing built into it, too.

Vexed Flower This does a great job of bringing the set to a rousing conclusion. It's arguably the best number here. It has a lot of the same concepts we've heard throughout the set. Yet, there is a certain building at the heart of this that takes it gradually upward more and more in terms of intensity and drama. That makes this such a powerful piece. It's part progressive rock, part epic metal and all powerhouse.

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