Octopus An Ocean Of Rocks

Fronted by highly assertive female vocals, this Frankfurt quintet was formed in 1973 by guitarist Pit Hensel and bassist Claus Kniemeyer; musically, they followed in the tradition of Frumpy, Ruphus, Earth & Fire. Between 1976 and 1981, they released four albums of which the first two, "The Boat of Thoughts" (1976) and "An Ocean of Rocks" (1978), are by far considered their best. The subsequent "Rubber Angel" (1979) and in particular "Hart Am Rand" (1981) which features a male singer, are unfortunately not on par with the first two.
Perhaps leaning more towards rock than prog, their music crosses over various musical lines, mixing classic prog elements such as multiple rhythm changes, and straight-ahread rock with a little bit of blues thrown in. Searing guitars dominate the mix but you'll also hear plenty of synthesizer and some fine keyboard solos…

The Boat Of Thoughts was Octopus debut album - a German band formed in Frankfurt around 1973 by guitarrist Pit Hensel and bassist Claus D. Kniemeyer - and nowadays it is often regarded as the best out of the four studio works produced by the band. Octopus was one of many bands which belonged to the second wave of progressive rock in general in Germany, lasting from mid to late 70s. It was a peculiar band not only for featuring Jennifer Hensel as vocalist but also for setting up a solid and unique identity already on their debut album, which by the way was one of the very first SKY Records products, responsable for sheltering many new progressive bands back then.

As one of the biggest names in doom metal, Candlemass release onto the world their latest LP, The Door to Doom. With their original vocalist Johan Längqvist making a return to the band, the album makes for a stellar work of ominous atmosphere and delicious riffs. Across eight songs, the Swedish doom metallers demonstrate their mastery over the doom genre…