Jerry Godman Jan Hammer

German heavy metal/power metal unit Hammer King are back with a brand-new bombastic full-length full of true headbanger hits! The new offering, entitled König und Kaiser, continues the storyline of the band paying homage to the mighty Hammer King, and is set for release on March 22, 2024 via Napalm Records.
Hammer King, led by ex-Ross The Boss vocalist Titan Fox, was formed in 2015 and has captured the scene with their five previous offerings and live performances, among others at Summer Breeze Open Air following their last album, the massive 2022 release Kingdemonium…

Progressive-rock at its finest! First came Dreaming City (2021), followed by Skallagrim – Into the Breach (2022). Now Glass Hammer returns to the cursed realm of Andorath with Part III of their Skallagrim trilogy, AT THE GATE. The album’s narrative concludes the sword and sorcery-inspired tale of the thief with the screaming sword, a “desperate man” who lost his lover and his memory. Lead vocalist, Hannah Pryor, joins Steve Babb, Fred Schendel, and Aaron Raulston. Singer John Beagley and former Glass Hammer vocalist Jon Davison (now of YES) make guest appearances. “At this point in the tale, our protagonist has searched a thousand years to find his lost love,” comments Glass Hammer’s Steve Babb.

Francesco Bartolomeo Conti (1682-1732) left his hometown Florence, in which he had already been a lute player under Kardinals Francesco Maria de Medici in his teens, with 19 he applied to the royal palace of Austria. He also worked in Bernlin, where he met Giovanni Bononcini, and London. 1708 Conti became royal theorbe player in Vienna, from 1713 he was royal composer, writing operas, oratories, cantatas, Musicae sacrae, and a few instrumental pieces. Both as a instrumentalist and composer Conti was able to succeed. Sadly today he still is one of the big unresearched composers.

Glass Hammer's tenth album, Three Cheers for the Broken-Hearted is a rather agressive departure from their traditional sound, characterized by lengthy symphonic pieces highly inspired by Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Kansas with numerous vocalists, complex instrumentation and normally upbeat and somewhat optimistic feeling, to a simpler, more band driven and darker sound, inspired by the 60's psychedelic and barroque pop bands (in the like of bands such as late Beach Boys, The Zombies and The Beatles), electronic music and striaght to the point rock'n'roll.
The vocal department was also reduced considerably, with singer Susie Bogdanowicz being in the charge of singing duties for most fo the album, unlike previous releases, where, as mentioned before, a considerable number of people would partake the singuing duties…

Seeing as Spock's Beard, Echolyn, and the Flower Kings have all recently released grandiose concept albums to critical and fan acclaim, it would have taken a monumental work of art for this fine prog-rock band to keep up the pace. Well, Lex Rex is that damn good, and a throwback to the great prog recordings from the early 70's from bands like Yes, ELP, Genesis, and Gentle Giant. While Glass Hammer never proclaimed to be the most original band on the planet (something the critics always harped on for some reason), their old-school brand of classic, keyboard soaked prog pays homage to the greats, and is delivered in such a professional manner that is both striking and exhilerating for the listener.

Here is another pure example of the symphonic prog style of the 70's, mainly Yes influenced, because of the vocals and the bass work. As for the keyboards, it has some ELP and Genesis influences, and is the dominant instrument on any Glass Hammer's cd. But on this cd the keyboards are not as bombastic as some previous cd's. The vocals have never been so present, and Jon Davidson was the missing piece to give the band all the sparks they need to perfect their compositions.
We can find a lot of very nice arrangements in the music that are quiet refreshing to hear from the band. There is some beautiful vocals parts, beautiful and delicate passages with acoustic guitars and piano…

This offering from the band from Tennessee is a different animal altogether from Lex Rex (2002), it has that signature Glass Hammer sound, and it's deeply rooted in 70's styled classic prog. But the band sounds energized here, and the songs are a bit more upbeat, more melodic, yet in no way have they sacrificed all that makes a great prog record.

The 2005 released "The Inconsolable Secret" wasn't the best, but it was the most ambitious album of the two US-Retroproggers Steve Babb and Fred Schendel. The double CD was a monumental concept album, on which for the first time Fiauch used a real drummer. In the past, the two multi-instrumentalists had "drummed" or programmed corresponding machines themselves. They also put no less than fifteen guest musicians at the service of this epic work, including a four-piece "Girls Choir", a soprano and a tenor as well as various strings. The album was sold out for a long time - and is now coming back on the market in a deluxe edition. But what's special is probably CD 3, which contains "The Morning She Woke" as well as the four longest tracks of the original work in remix versions…