Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Seven brand new and diverse slices of progressive music for you to enjoy.
Last week's Tracks Of The Week was pretty much a two-horse race, swinging one way and then. back the other. In the end, Canadian post-rocker Alex Henry Foster triumphed with his proggy new single A Silent Scream, just pipping Swedish prog metallers Soen and with fellow Swedes Quantum in third place.
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner, and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE - ONE WORD THAT MEANS THE WORLD (ARKHIPOV)
Quirky, not to mention busy, UK prog duo Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate are gearing up to release their eighth studio album The Uncertainty Principle later this year. The duo have preceded that with a brand-new single, the rather wonderfully epic One Word That Means The World (Arkhipov), which is all about the Soviet Naval office Vasily Arkhipov credited with preventing WWIII during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 when he refused to launch a nuclear torpedo, an event immortalised in the 2002 film K-19: The Widowmaker starring Liam Neeson.
"The song was inspired by the refusal of Soviet naval officer Vasily Arkhipov (1926-1998) to agree to an action that could have led to nuclear war," the band explain. "During the Cuban missile crisis, Arkhipov was the chief of staff of a flotilla of diesel-powered submarines armed with nuclear torpedoes. He was stationed on the submarine B-59. The decision to launch nuclear torpedoes against the United States Navy required the agreement of all three onboard officers. Arkhipov refused to authorise the launch that had been approved by the other two officers. He was described by Thomas Blanton, director of the US National Security Archive as “the man who saved the world."
TRANSATLANTIC - LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE
Multinational prog supergroup Transatlantic have shared this new live video clip of Lay Down Your Life which was recorded at Neal. Morse's Morsfest event in 2022 which saw the band perform both The Whirlwind and The Absolute Universe over two nights with a few additional surprises thrown in. Needless to say The Whirlwind, from which of course comes Lay Down Your Life, was performed on the first night of the event and featuring a blistering vocal turn from additional musician, Spock's Beard's Ted Leonard.
"To play Morsefest 2022 was an absolute pleasure for me and gave us a natural break at the end of the North American leg of The Absolute Universe tour, where we regrouped at Neal’s to rehearse for the two shows, back where we had rehearsed for the tour some four or five weeks earlier," says bassist Pete Trewavas.
"We had three days I think it was to refresh The Whirlwind full version and learn In Held T’was In I. The festival was an absolute blast. We were all super relaxed and enjoying ourselves probably due to the little break from touring back to rehearsing.
"Neal had been wanting to get Transatlantic at MorseFest since we released Whirlwind and it never panned out for various reasons, so it felt fitting that we got it all together for The Absolute Universe tour.”
WHEEL - PORCELAIN
Anglo-Finnish prog metallers Wheel release their third album, Charismatic Leaders, through InsideOut Music on May 3, and Porcelain is the second single to be released from the forthcoming album, showing a more considered and reflective turn compared to the pounding first single, Empire. Charismatic Leaders has been recorded with engineers/co-producers, Meshuggah's Daniel Bergstrand and Fredrik Thordendal, giving the album some serious heft.
"Porcelain ended up being about social norms and how the values of the past seem abhorrent by modern standards," explains singer James Lascelles. "In turn, our current values will likely be seen as primitive, careless or even cruel in the future. I think we would all like to imagine that if we had been born long ago, we would have the same worldview that we do now but this would likely not be the case - we are all shaped by our surroundings and social conformity, probably more than we would like to admit. It was a humbling topic to dig into and the more I thought about it, the more empathy I was able to find for our ancestors."
FOUR STROKE BARON - THE WITCH
US prog metal duo Four Stroke Baron have recently been announced as one of the support acts for Australian prog rockers Caligula's Horse when they tour the UK throughout May. The Witch is the first single from Four Stroke Baron's upcoming album Data Diamond, which is released through Prosthetic Records on May 31, a curious mix of relentless prog metal with intriguing electronica. Data Diamond was originally conceived as two separate EPs (one purely electronic - Data, one heavy - Diamond) that would then meld together on one full-length release.
"When it comes to progressive music, there seems to be a fear of being too basic or digestible," the pair say. "If a song doesn’t have 20 different ideas and beat switches, it won’t make the cut. We took the opposite approach for The Witch and created a simple two-riff song. That forced us to be creative and see how we could manipulate only two ideas to form something interesting that doesn’t sound too repetitive."
"Robert has discovered something ghastly in the deserts of Reno, Nevada," they add of the accompanying video. "His business partner, William, is shocked to hear about this artifact and its implications. The Witch–an introduction to a four-part series that will unfold each month–will leave you with more questions than answers. Who is Robert? Who is William? What did they find? Why is it casting such a dark shadow over humanity? And most importantly–why is it honking?"
GIANT WALKER - MAKE ME
Geordie prog metal quartet Giant Walker are back with a brand new single, Make Me, the band's first new music since their debut LP All In Good Time was released in 2022. A rowdy mix of twisting rhythms and a catchy sense if melody, Make Me was produced by Chris Coulter (Arcane Roots, Jamie Lenman), and serves as a nice taster for an impending second full-length release
“The song is about witnessing someone that you care about making terrible decisions and the reality of your own helplessness knowing that nothing you say will influence their judgement as they can’t or won’t acknowledge that their own actions are perpetuating the problem," explains singer Steff Fish of the new single. "So, it becomes an endless cycle of delusion and bitterness."
LEON ALVARADO - DANCE OF THE PINK ELEPHANTS
Ahead of the release of a new album, prolific US prog rocker Leon Alvarado has just released a new EP, which featured a cover of Brain Damage, from Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon album, and Dance Of The Pink Elephants, a moodier, atmospheric slice of electronic prog that also features the unmistakable sound of former The Firm Tony Franklin on bass, as well as featuring Edoardo Scordo on guitars.
Dance Of The Pink Elephants explores the theme of alcohol hallucinosis, with Alavrado explaining, "I wanted to create visuals that felt like a journey through a surrealistic painting, and AI was the perfect tool to bring that vision to life. The result is truly mesmerizing, and I can't wait for fans to experience it.”
