Here's an abbreviated list of stuff I've picked up this year and a few thoughts with each one. I come from a melodic prog metal background, so keep that in mind when reading.
Cloudscape/Crimson Skies - This will be out in June and is a natural continuation of their debut, which has similarities to Royal Hunt and Last Tribe. The melodies and hooks are there, just a little more buried in the slightly more complex arrangements. If you liked the first, this is a no-brainer.
Andromeda/Chimera - This is likely the one that would be most appreciated on this board. They went back and really concentrated on the melody structures here while maintaining a healthy dose of complexity and progressiveness. This is one of the tightest guitar/keyboard duo I've heard and that keyboard sound is just so sick! Many have complained that the singer isn't suited for this material, and I was one of them. He totally redeems himself in my eyes and just slays these tunes. This is first rate, dynamic prog metal the likes of which we rarely see.
Sphere of Souls/From the Ashes - If I werre to write a mini review of this it would sound just like the above. Classy, atmospheric and dynamic prog metal with terrific interplay with guitar and keys. THe singer has much more range here and uses it to full capacity. They really have balanced out the aggressive and the tender moments quite nicely to create a very cool concept album. Awesome stuff.
Age of Nemesis/Terra Incognita - I don't think this will be out till late Summer, but it's going to be huge. THis was originally released in HUngarian years ago and has been re-recorded with English lyrics. Have no fear, though as the translations and the accents are minimalistic and barely noticeable, and I'm a stickler with accents. Talk about range. This guy jumps three octaves in the same measure and back down without losing a bit of control. This is squarely in the DT Awake era, but that's a pretty good era to be influenced by. Magna Carta(ugh)is releasing this sometime in 06.
Jadis/Photoplay - Pretty good follow up to Fanatic, though not as melodic. I found myself dozing off during parts of this. I do like Gary's vocals, I just wish he had more than a seven note range. I'll keep giving this spins.
Solid Vision/THe Hurricane - Kind of obscure Italian prog metal with very heavy DT influence since they are formerly a DT cover band. Musically, this is a very impressive piece of work. This is what DT might have sounded like had they continued down the Awake path instead of venturing into parts unknown. However, the vocals are killing this for me. THe accent and the lyrics are in broken English and is distracting. I'm warming up to it a little bit, though. When he sings f@#king tornado, which is kind of a goofy thing to say anyway even correctly pronounced, it comes out as "fawking tour-nadd-oohhh". Vocals aside, this rocks.
I've spent most of the year picking up older stuff I missed out on like the Toto catalog and all of the Triumph albums. Yeah, I missed a lot over the years and it's costing me...
Scott
Cloudscape/Crimson Skies - This will be out in June and is a natural continuation of their debut, which has similarities to Royal Hunt and Last Tribe. The melodies and hooks are there, just a little more buried in the slightly more complex arrangements. If you liked the first, this is a no-brainer.
Andromeda/Chimera - This is likely the one that would be most appreciated on this board. They went back and really concentrated on the melody structures here while maintaining a healthy dose of complexity and progressiveness. This is one of the tightest guitar/keyboard duo I've heard and that keyboard sound is just so sick! Many have complained that the singer isn't suited for this material, and I was one of them. He totally redeems himself in my eyes and just slays these tunes. This is first rate, dynamic prog metal the likes of which we rarely see.
Sphere of Souls/From the Ashes - If I werre to write a mini review of this it would sound just like the above. Classy, atmospheric and dynamic prog metal with terrific interplay with guitar and keys. THe singer has much more range here and uses it to full capacity. They really have balanced out the aggressive and the tender moments quite nicely to create a very cool concept album. Awesome stuff.
Age of Nemesis/Terra Incognita - I don't think this will be out till late Summer, but it's going to be huge. THis was originally released in HUngarian years ago and has been re-recorded with English lyrics. Have no fear, though as the translations and the accents are minimalistic and barely noticeable, and I'm a stickler with accents. Talk about range. This guy jumps three octaves in the same measure and back down without losing a bit of control. This is squarely in the DT Awake era, but that's a pretty good era to be influenced by. Magna Carta(ugh)is releasing this sometime in 06.
Jadis/Photoplay - Pretty good follow up to Fanatic, though not as melodic. I found myself dozing off during parts of this. I do like Gary's vocals, I just wish he had more than a seven note range. I'll keep giving this spins.
Solid Vision/THe Hurricane - Kind of obscure Italian prog metal with very heavy DT influence since they are formerly a DT cover band. Musically, this is a very impressive piece of work. This is what DT might have sounded like had they continued down the Awake path instead of venturing into parts unknown. However, the vocals are killing this for me. THe accent and the lyrics are in broken English and is distracting. I'm warming up to it a little bit, though. When he sings f@#king tornado, which is kind of a goofy thing to say anyway even correctly pronounced, it comes out as "fawking tour-nadd-oohhh". Vocals aside, this rocks.
I've spent most of the year picking up older stuff I missed out on like the Toto catalog and all of the Triumph albums. Yeah, I missed a lot over the years and it's costing me...
Scott
hey wood for sure 
