National Health

"Trading Souls" was the sophomore release from Empire, the super-group project from guitarist Rolf Munkes. Alongside the German axe slingers skills we have the formidable vocal talents of Tony Martin (ex Black Sabbath), the keyboard wizardry of Don Airey (Deep Purple / ex Rainbow), whilst bass legend Neil Murray (ex Whitesnake) forms a tight rhythmic unit with drummer Gerald Kloos (Winterlong / Condition Red). There’s even a special guest in drummer Anders Johansson (Hammerfall / ex Yngwie Malmsteen) who plays on two tracks. Originally released in 2003, "Trading Souls" saw Empire return after their 2001 debut "Hypnotica" with an album full of killer songs in a classic melodic hard rock setting. These 10 tracks perfectly showcase the combined decades of experience and talent from this super group. The end result is a hard rock record brimming with catchy anthems and great ensemble playing.

With a strong Canterbury influence implanted into their sound, Egg's first album has the band looking to establish their niche as a progressive group, with Dave Stewart's sharp, effective keyboard work outlining much of the album's overall feel. Mixing jazz and progressive rock drifts, the tracks on Egg contain rhythms and meters that are never at a standstill, with ongoing instrumental action encompassing nearly every track…

Empire released their fourth album "Chasing Shadows" in November, with White handling all vocal duties. Doogie White replaced Tony Martin as the frontman of the German band Empire. This is consistent hard rock with great melodies and hooks wrapped in a hard driving performance. Mr. White appears to have been born to sing these songs.

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015) [2CD+DVD+Blu-ray] {Kscope Deluxe Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 708 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 291 Mb | Artwork (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
DVD5 -> 4.24 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | DTS, 6 ch / LPCM, 2 ch | ~ 96m | ISO Image
BLU-RAY -> 26.2 Gb | 1080p HD Widescreen 16:9 | DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 / LPCM 5.1 / LPCM 2.0 / 96kHz-24bit | ~ 140m | ISO Image
© 2015 Kscope / SW | KSCOPE512
Rock / Neo Prog / Alternative / Prog Rock

As modern progressive rock’s undisputed figurehead and chief workaholic, Steven Wilson has little to prove, and yet his fourth solo album is anything but a cosy reassertion of values. In contrast to his much-lauded Victorian ghost-stories set The Raven that Refused to Sing from 2013, Hand. Cannot. Erase. is an album rooted in sonic and spiritual modernity, largely eschewing early prog tropes in favour of an inventive blend of bleak and brooding industrial soundscapes and rugged, muscular ensemble performances from Wilson’s virtuoso henchmen.

Area's uncompromising blend of jazz-rock, ethnic folk, experimentation, and political philosophies made them a unique presence in Italy during the 1970s…

Empire is the creation of Rolf Munkes, one of the most talented German metal guitarists. Although he isn't much of a brainstorming judging by the band name, he is one hell of a string bender and song writer which he once again proves with the third Empire album. "The Raven Ride" is however lifted to an even higher level by the voice of Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath) whose experience comes in more than handy. As usual Munkes has scored an all-star line-up and Neil Murray provides his finger skills once again while André Hilgers (Axxis, Silent Force, Razorback) makes his debut behind the drums.

CARAVAN were the other half of the WILDE FLOWERS - the SOFT MACHINE being the other - that originated in Canterbury, Kent. The band itself was originally formed in early 1968 by guitarist/vocalist Pye HASTINGS, keyboardist Dave SINCLAIR, bassist/vocalist Richard SINCLAIR (later of HATFIELD & THE NORTH, NATIONAL HEALTH, etc.), and drummer Richard COUGHAN. All four members of CARAVAN were, at one time or another, in that band. They were a leading exponent of what became known as "the Canterbury sound". “In the land of Grey and Pink” is one of Caravan’s finest albums, possibly THE finest. While the centrepiece is the side long “Nine feet underground”, the complete album offers a melodic and coherent 40 minutes. A truly superb album, worthy of any music collection (prog or otherwise!).

Recorded at various European performances from the spring of 1972, this is a substantial addition to the catalog of a band that only put out two studio albums. The sound is good, and the performances almost wholly instrumental art jazz-rock, not far removed from those heard in the early 1970s by the Soft Machine, drummer/singer Robert Wyatt's previous band. It's electric pianist Bill McRae who wrote most of the material. Wyatt goes off into some wordless scats at one point, but these aren't conventional rock-songs-with-lyrics at all. There is an admirable variety of textures with some distortion and buzzing, cooked up by McRae and guitarist Phil Miller, but it doesn't boast very accessible melodic ideas, preferring to furrow into angular and at times ominous progressions. The eerie, lectronically treated vocal scatting on Wyatt's mischievously titled "Instant Pussy" is a highlight. Five of the nine songs, incidentally, do not appear on the band's studio albums.

Richie Unterberger

From the remnants of Soft Machine, electric bass guitarist Hugh Hopper and saxophonist Elton Dean formed the quartet Soft Heap to further advance their progressive jazz-fusion oriented ideas. As keyboardist Mike Ratledge, multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins, and electric guitarist Allan Holdsworth took Soft Machine into a different, louder arena, Hopper and Dean were more intrigued with the intuitive creative improvised side of the music away from their initially strict Canterbury orientation…