Canadian duo Megan James and Corin Roddick released their debut album ‘Shrines’ eight years ago, and their cohesive vision was striking from the start. Melding uneasy, fidgety beats with creepy imagery, it was an eerie, skittering creation composed back-and-forth over email. Lyrically, it depicted dissected bodies (‘Fineshrine’) and fairytale-ish evil grandmothers drilling little holes into eyelids. Purity Ring in six words: macabre imagery enveloped in hypnotic electronica.
Derek Scott, born 1950, Birmingham, has an international reputation as a leading historian of the British music hall and other forms of light entertainment but he is an outstanding composer in his own right, his music treading a fine line between a very English whimsy and a profoundly felt and natural response to his (often Celtic) subject matter. These works reveal a master, who finds deep feeling behind the levity.
Edge Of Forever has never been so active since the 2019 reunion, returning to the scene with two strong albums: "Native Soul" and the critically acclaimed "Seminole" (2022). The new line-up - consisting of Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Sweet Oblivion) on guitars, Nik Mazzucconi (Labyrinth, Sunstorm) on bass, and Marco Di Salvia (Hardline) on drums, and rounded up by singer, keyboardist, and founder Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Jorn, Revolution Saints) - has become a true force of nature after the numerous tours and headlining shows that brought the band to successfully open for the likes of Skid Row (Belgium, The Netherlands), FM (Italy, Switzerland, Germany), Eclipse (UK), Mike Tramp (Spain) and many more. They brought their music to thousands of people and multiple stages across Europe in the 16 months and 30 plus concerts supporting "Seminole".
Ritual's third album came out in 2003 and marked a turning point for the band. Since 2000's Superb Birth, lead singer Patrik Lundström had raised his international profile thanks to his association with Kaipa's comeback. The group's signing to InsideOut Music also meant more money for the recording sessions, and it shows. Think Like a Mountain is very much in your face, drums leaping and guitars shredding. The music also bends toward the InsideOut sound, dropping the more complex elements of Ritual's music to focus on shorter, more accessible rock anthems. It means that the music loses part of its Scandinavian prog atmosphere and comes closer to, say, Spock's Beard, but Ritual manages to make the transformation convincing…