Band: Абстрактор (Abstraktor) | Album: Мать (Mat’, Eng. Mother) | Genre: Progressive folk | Bandcamp This Russian quartet plays a smart, artsy variety of folk rock. They blend their own Slavic roots with jazz, modern classical, indie rock, and other bits and pieces from around the globe. The instrumentation is often intricate and full of unexpected twists. They build lush and varied textures, and they’re able to blend strong pop sensibilities with a spirit of adventurousness and experimentation. Score: 81/100 Band: Agusa | Album: Noir | Genre: Progressive rock, Space rock | Bandcamp I liked ..read more

Band: Perilymph | Album: Progressions Imaginaires | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2024 From: Berlin, Germany | Label: Six Tonnes de Chair For fans of: Patrick Moraz, Phideaux, early Pink Floyd Bandcamp Arriving three years after their last effort, Perilymph’s fourth album, Progressions Imaginaires, is this group’s newest output. I’ve covered this band a couple times in the past, and I’ve always enjoyed their work. They have always done a great job at contrasting spare, acoustic passages with big, warm retro synth tones.  Perilymph’s past work has often straddled the always-fuzzy line b ..read more

Band: 55YT MQRT | Album: 55YT MQRT | Genre: Space rock, Progressive rock | Bandcamp This band’s name might look like a license plate number, but their sound isn’t nearly that ordinary. They play a vast, cosmic variety of heavy psych and prog, and the album art of an astronaut traveling through an ancient temple is weirdly fitting. The soundscapes are vast and huge, and everything has a massive amount of weight behind it. Even though this album is a bit on the long side, it works. This is the sort of music where stretching out benefits the band. Score: 80/100 Band: AKU | Album: Solipsism | Ge ..read more

Band: Slift | Album: Ilion | Genre: Heavy psych, Space rock | Year: 2024 From: Toulouse, France | Label: Sub Pop For fans of: Elder, Hawkwind, Ash Ra Tempel Bandcamp Slift is back after a four-year gap with their new album, Ilion. The band has stated that Ilion can be thought of as a direct sequel to Ummon, their 2020 release. There is a lot of sonic continuity between the two records. Both prominently feature bludgeoning doom metal riffs, crossed with krautrock-like repetition, and interstellar aesthetics. Much like Ummon, Ilion is a challenging listen. It’s a nearly-unrelenting onslaught of ..read more

Welcome to the fifth annual installment of The Elite Extremophile’s Top Prog Releases. 2023 was an exceptional year for prog and prog-adjacent genres, and I was left with a glut of good music that wasn’t going to make my year-end lists. Even in less-stellar years, there are often records that I’m overall unimpressed with, which just so happen to have a great song or two on them. Thus, from a desire to not give such releases the short shrift, I’ve decided to highlight ten Cool Songs from this year. This segment is meant to show off great tracks that otherwise do not appear on my year-end lists ..read more

Band: Frankie and the Witch Fingers | Album: Data Doom | Genre: Progressive rock, Krautrock | Bandcamp Frankie and the Witch Fingers remind me a lot of Osees. The music is fierce, energetic, and shot-through with punk influences. But the riffs are usually weird and angular, with uncommon meters. Despite a lot of the overt, aggressive tendencies of this band, the music remains relatively accessible. There are plenty of melodic hooks and catchy riffs and themes. “Syster System” is one hell of an earworm, and “Doom Boom” has a groovy, King Gizzard-esque feel to it. Score: 80/100 Band: Gong | Al ..read more

Band: Hashshashin | Album: Śaraṇaṃ | Genre: Post-rock, Afghan folk | Bandcamp The latest release from this Australian act draws upon the Central Asian folk-meets-progressive metal flavors of their last release and hones them even more. Here, much of the focus is on an Afghan instrument, the rubab. It lends a distinct folky and esoteric character to these three songs. This EP is both meditative and impactful, drawing from Afghan folk traditions and modern progressive and post-rock scenes. Score: 74/100 Band: Mellow Beast | Album: Reactor | Genre: Space rock, Progressive rock | Bandcamp Mellow ..read more

Band: Agusa | Album: Prima Materia | Genre: Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp The newest release from this (mostly) instrumental Swedish act sees them push in a more overtly psychedelic direction. In the opening track, blues flavors are prominent alongside jazzy flourishes. “Under bar himmel” has a dreamier feel to it; it strongly channels Camel’s gentlest moments. This cut features a great slow build, and it’s probably my favorite on the album. “Ur askan” is bouncy and organ-forward, and the closing “Så ock på jorden” has some fun, funky wah-wahed guitar that complements the band ..read more

Welcome to the first half of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2022. This article covers spots 50-26, and the top 25 can be found here! Full disclosure: the label of “2022” is not entirely accurate. The music featured here covers December 2021 through November 2022. Trying to find new music in the month of December is a fool’s errand, as much of my time during that month is occupied with writing and editing this list. As I always say, I’m sure there are some excellent albums not included in my list. This site is a one-man operation (in relation to reviewing, that is; my editors, K ..read more

Artist: Roger Waters | Album: The Dark Side of the Moon Redux | Genre: Art rock, Spoken word | Year: 2023 From: Great Bookham, UK | Label: SGB For fans of: Dull poetry, Being sleepy, Being disappointed even though you know something’s not going to be good but you subject yourself to it anyway Buy I generally do my best to be positive on this site. I cover music I like (mostly), and I aim to give acts the benefit of the doubt when possible. I’ve heard it said that critics should be curators, not gatekeepers, and that is an ethos I strive for. But every now and then, you run across a flaming pi ..read more