Winter Prey

Judas Priest's METALOGY, an impressive four-CD behemoth of a box set that also includes a bonus DVD, proved a fitting tribute to a band celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2004. Kudos to the creative team whose use of studded trim and faux leather texture in the packaging is fitting for a group whose visual legacy is inextricably linked to their own S&M/biker apparel. As impressive as the outside of this package is, the music contained within is more important, especially when you consider that this Birmingham outfit laid down many of heavy metal's stylistic touchstones…

ProgPower USA is a progressive, power metal, and progressive rock festival held annually in the United States since 2001…

Herd of Instinct’s fifth album, Incantation, is the band’s most dynamic and radical release yet. The music explores the band’s progressive rock vocabulary mixed with excursions into densely layered post-rock compositions and hybrid orchestral styles. Incantation moves through pieces that fit neatly with the band’s previous work. The band also travels into new areas that take their music into new directions. It’s this “otherness" that makes this collection such a unique and challenging album. The minimal orchestral piece Myth and Ritual is a homage to avant-auteur Scott Walker, written a short time after his death, that references his stark and brutal compositional style. The two-part title track is a trip into avant-prog featuring a superstar list of players who help produce one of HOI’s most adventurous pieces. This is also the first album that features vocals since their self-titled debut release, back in 2011.

Fauns are a German progressive folk rock band that dates to the mid-nineties. The group's lineup has evolved over that time but remains centered around the trio of brothers Jan-Peer, Falk and Nils Hartmann, along with more recent members Jan Hecker-Stampehl and Kirsten Middeke. The band's sound combines folk influences with rock-based arrangements as well as moody, sometimes melancholy instrumental passages and themes ranging from folktales to fantasy to nature. The group melds acoustic and electric instruments seamlessly, yielding a blend that is inspiring and strong, yet introspective at times.