Back catalogue: Progressive Rock

Review: Dutch gothic doom metal turned shoegazing prog collective The Gathering are one of those artists of two consequential halves. Superheat; their live album released at the dawn of the new millennium and recorded primarily in the classic Amsterdam Paradiso, sonically deposits the group half a year before the release of their seminal sixth full-length If Then Else, by which time they had made the full transition to alternative auteurs. Here the material is a complimentary myriad of cuts from their acclaimed opus How to Measure A Planet?, interspliced with material from their darker, heftier albums such as Mandylion and Nighttime Birds.

Review: Prog rock - even in its most shiny 80s pop incarnation - doesn't do thing by halves and so we shouldn't be surprised this double album is only one of two sprawling releases containing the 1986 LA gig by Genesis. This is the threesome in their Invisible Touch era, so there's plenty from that album here - yes, even their often overlooked electro-styled instrumental 'The Brazilian' - plus highlights from its eponymous predecessor (the Grandmaster Flash-referencing 'Mama', 'That's All') and other back catalogue big hitters such as 'Follow You, Follow Me' and 'Abacab'.

Review: Erlend Viken's first outing as Giant Sky - 2021's self-titled debut - was part epic prog rock overture and part major statement about the state of the music business. Only available in physical album format, for some time just a single track was doing the rounds on streaming services, which wasn't really a track at all, but instead a message about the evils of major streaming platforms and their role in ruining the artistic economy. Second time around, and the music itself is no less powerful. Moving from 'Origin Of The Species' and its floating-through-the-cosmos atmosphere, to the rousing call-to-unity of 'The Pensieve' and the industrial-noise-cum-delicate pop on 'Imposter', the vision and scope are incredible, new ideas seemingly presenting themselves at every twist and turn on this 13-strong track list.

Review: Suspiria, one of Dario Argento's defining horror masterpieces, wasn't the first time Goblin had worked with the controversial-yet-acclaimed Italian director. The progressive rockers had, two years previous, delivered the incredible score to Profondo Rosso, and won plaudits at the time for their work - once people knew it was them. It was originally intended to be soundtracked by jazz pianist and composer Giorgio Gaslini, but disagreements on his output left just three of his themes in, but the credits were never updated, leaving Goblin listed incorrectly as "performers" as oppose to writers of the music. While this would have left a bad taste in the mouths of many, evidently that wasn't the case here. Two years later, the band were back with Argento and making this insane collection of sounds, half tracks, atmospheric noises, and cacophonous arrangements. A truly visceral experience, it's an immersive assault on the senses touching on experimental electronics, contemporary classical, gothic, and plain weirdo.