Music
Prog
IN MEMORY OF JOHN LODGE
As long-serving co-vocalist and bassist with The Moody Blues, John Lodge helped keep the Moodies' flame burning even after the band had stopped touring. His distinctive falsetto harmonies and bass-playing helped shape the band's iconic sound and cement their status. In addition to gigging right up to his unexpected death in October at the age of 82, he also released a handful of solo albums, including his 2023 updated version of Days Of Future Passed, which was praised by critics and fans alike.
7 min |
Issue 165
Prog
JAMES KENT
Perturbator's James Kent discovered Vangelis through his pioneering movie soundtracks - and the composer's music continues to inspire him.
2 min |
Issue 165
Prog
AURI
As the moonlight pierces through the stained glass windows of the Union Chapel with the stage illuminated by lanterns, Johanna Kurkela takes to the stage in a dazzling ballgown, opening the show with Those We Don’t Speak Of before the rest of Auri join her on this autumnal night.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
JHB GUITARIST DELVES DEEP
Nick Fletcher's fifth album, Mask of Sanity, is inspired by the psychologist Carl Jung.
1 min |
Issue 164
Prog
PELAGIC FEST
Once a record label showcase held now and again in Berlin, Pelagic Fest has flourished into a bona fide annual getaway for progressive music fans. For the second year in a row, it's taking up two days at Muziekgieterij, a club in the sleepy Dutch city of Maastricht renowned for its sound quality and state-of-the-art light shows. The bill is dominated, as ever, by artists signed to the Pelagic roster, but with This Will Destroy You and Ihsahn headlining, this is by far the biggest and most diverse lineup to date.
3 min |
Issue 164
Prog
PETE LAMBROU (VLMV)
The great and good of progressive music give us a glimpse into their prog worlds. As told to Grant Moon.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
JO QUAIL
There's no pomposity to the opening with the release of Jo Quail's seventh studio album, Notan. Even though her music is elegant and refined, the cellist has no airs or graces - she's seen soundchecking herself and chatting with the audience pre-show, a white hoodie slung over her long black dress.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
SYMPHONY X
During the encore of Symphony X's LA concert, vocalist Russell Allen - a California native - tells the sold-out crowd why he left his home state 35 years ago. After finishing high school, he says, he began working as a knight on horseback at a local medieval-themed dinner theatre. When the company opened a sister location across the country, Allen was one of the employees sent east to help get the new business up and running. It was supposed to be a six-month deployment, he explains, but while he was there he “met a Jersey girl” and never returned.
1 min |
Issue 164
Prog
PENDRAGON
According to Pendragon's Nick is Barrett, \"The reason we've survived is because we've never been that popular.\"
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
A SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER
We're off to Balham in south London for the sixth annual A Sunday In September, a 'boutique' all-dayer in the delightful music room of The Bedford.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
SOEN ANNOUNCE HEAVY NEW ALBUM RELIANCE
Upcoming release is previewed by emotive single Primal.
1 min |
Issue 164
Prog
SPOCK'S BEARD REUNITE FOR NEW LP
Prog veterans channel their post-tour energy into writing and recording.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
PEARL HANDLED REVOLVER
Whether it’s the post-punk band causing chaos on Camden Lock or the Wooten-esque jazz-funk bass lines echoing from a Chalk Farm bar, all roads seem to be guiding the musically curious to Camden tonight.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
Time Is Relative
Barclay James Harvest's co-founding singer and guitarist John Lees has been leading his iteration of the prog overlords since the band split into two separate entities in 1998. With a new studio album - their first in 12 years - having recently landed, Lees joins Prog to chew over the band's legacy, the perils of playing to 250,000 fans by the Berlin Wall, and why the door has seemingly been left ajar for future live dates and, whisper it, even a reunion.
7 min |
Issue 164
Prog
GAZPACHO
Feeling lucky, punk? The Norwegian art-rockers explore randomness, chance and more focused songwriting on their 12th album.
3 min |
Issue 164
Prog
IHLO
Hot on the heels of the recently released Legacy, Scotland’s Ihlo return to London for a sold-out show celebrating its launch.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
DEREK SHULMAN
Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it's Derek Shulman. The Glasgow-born musician is best known as frontman of progressive rock trailblazers Gentle Giant and before that, the psychedelic pop outfit Simon Dupree And The Big Sound. But his career didn't end there - he went on to enjoy a hugely successful second chapter as a record label executive, playing a key role in signing and developing major acts including Bon Jovi and Dream Theater. Now, with a newly published autobiography, he looks back on six decades navigating both sides of the business, reflects on the importance of 'authenticity', and marvels that his music has found a new generation of listeners.
10+ min |
Issue 164
Prog
Bewitched And Bedazzled
Pagan folk-rockers Spriggan Mist were virtual unknowns in prog circles. Then came their breakthrough set at HRH Prog, which launched them as one of the most must-see live acts. With the release of their seventh studio album, The Glare, Prog sat down with husband and wife founders Baz and Maxine Cilia to talk faeries, festivals and friendly feuds.
4 min |
Issue 164
Prog
ARCTANGENT FESTIVAL
Named after a mathematical calculation, ArcTanGent is a haven for prog-leaning music fans, and 2025 brings another kaleidoscopic lineup that twists the genre's tropes through a modern lens.
5 min |
Issue 164
Prog
"The best thing he's ever done!"
Songwriting partnerships walk a delicate line between inspired and volatile. During Supertramp's most commercially successful period, Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson's working relationship created some of their best-loved material. We look back on Rick Davies' finest musical moments and discover what Hodgson considers to be \"the best thing\" Rick ever did.
7 min |
Issue 164
Prog
PETER HAMMILL
The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986 UMR A retrospective colossus from prog's eternal outlier.
2 min |
Issue 164
Prog
Motivational Radio!
Ten years ago two prog fans with a background in broadcasting teamed up to launch the UK's only dedicated progressive rock radio network. As Progzilla celebrates a decade of airtime, station founders Stacy Doller and Cliff Pearson discuss the past, present and future of one of the few broadcasters that'll play Supper's Ready in its entirety!
7 min |
Issue 164
Prog
WRNTDP ANNOUNCES SIXTH ALBUM AND COMPILATION
Latest LP mourns the collapse of public services.
1 min |
Issue 164
Prog
ADAM WAKEMAN
He's played live with everyone from Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne to Tony Hadley this year, and before some rare shows by his band Headspace, the keyboardist reflects on a very busy 2025.
4 min |
Issue 164
Prog
COLIN EDWIN AND JOHN WESLEY JOIN FORCES AND SET SAIL WITH THEIR NEW PROJECT VOYAGE 35
The former Porcupine Tree members will be playing and touring their former band's early material alongside the band's original lightshow, Fruit Salad Lights in 2026.
3 min |
Issue 164
Prog
Green Awakening
The Emerald Dawn have placed the climate emergency at the centre of their sixth album, The Land, The Sea, The Air. Ally Carter and Tree Stewart tell Prog how the first volume of this ambitious two-album set came together and how a new-found love of fusion has bolstered their sound.
5 min |
Issue 164
Prog
NEW BIOGRAPHY ON PETER HAMMILL DUE
Upcoming book includes exclusive and revealing new interviews.
1 min |
Issue 164
Prog
Breaking The Habit
After releasing four solo albums under his own name, Riverside frontman Mariusz Duda has turned his attention back to Lunatic Soul. He's rightly proud of The World Under Unsun, an ambitious new double album that he refers to as his “calling card”, but could it spell the end of this particular outlet? He tells Prog why he's gone big and bold on his eighth release under the LS banner and reveals his plans for the future.
7 min |
Issue 164
Prog
GREGOR MACKINTOSH
The long shadows cast by the genre-weaving music of Dead Can Dance have long enveloped Paradise Lost's guitarist Gregor Mackintosh.
1 min |
Issue 164
Prog
RAPHAEL WEINROTH-BROWNE
Leprous collaborator redefines the cello and pushes it to its progressive limits.
2 min |