From Abyss to Glory

Heavy Metal vocalists who find success in a commercially recognized band often use that safety net to branch out into their solo career, and create the art they always dreamed with enough backing support from various high places to get there. A great example of this driven fortitude comes from England-born Blaze Bayley, who originated his success with his band Wolfsbane in the early eighties, and then landed his most commonly-known role where he took on a five-year vocal lead in Iron Maiden – which brought 1995’s The X Factor and 1998’s Virtual XI into the universe.

The test of time has generally proven to be an easy pass for the high-impact, fantasy obsessed and dense symphonic landscapes of Rhapsody Of Fire, though recent shifts in this Italian symphonic powerhouse’s lineup and the ascendancy of several competitors have caused some to question if this is the same mighty band that brought such classics as Symphony Of Enchanted Lands and Power Of The Dragonflame into the world…

Saxophonist Donny McCaslin’s fiercely creative quartet chosen by David Bowie to play on Blackstar, the album that would be his swansong, after he heard them in the 55 Bar one fateful New York night in 2014. Two years and an immoderate amount of mainstream press attention later, here is the 50-year-old saxophonist’s heartfelt tribute to his erstwhile boss. McCaslin and his colleagues – keyboardist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana – were already the sort of voracious, open-minded musicians who were drawing inspiration from the creative end of rock’n’roll. But the time spent with Bowie has clearly marked them. Concise, hard-edged, dark and mysterious, Beyond Now sounds like the future of music. There could be no more fitting tribute to the man who sought them out.

Hailing from Indiana, USA, Stencil Forest was formed in 1980 and led by brothers Frank (guitars, vocals) and Rick Cassella (keyboards). Other members of the early days were Rob Nilson on guitars, Stan Swaim on drums, Doug Andresen on lead vocals and Scott Noyes on bass. Influenced by both British and US prog acts Stencil Forest managed to release the album ''Opening Act'' in 1983 on Realtime Records. Of course these were the hard years for producing quality Progressive Rock music and Stencil Forest had to add some commercial touches among the more progressive tunes to become more acceptable. These touches though did not prevent the band from falling into obscurity, however their debut is an interesting mix of Pomp Rock, AOR, Classic 70's Prog and Symphonic Rock as played today by acts like Glass Hammer or Ajalon…