neo-prog

In 2018 Pendragon had their 40th year anniversary. Yeah, I know that the number 40 might seem too big but this band has been around since 1978 and has been true to their prog rock values all these years. Then again it’s been almost 6 years since their last studio album “Men Who Climb Mountains”, so the prog fans might have been wondering what’s been going on.

I thought the debut of Sons Of Apollo was a pretty decent prog metal album, from a supergroup that felt a little disjointed, despite all of the people involved in it being awesome players. “MMXX” comes a short time after, with a tour under the band’s collective belt and a Jeff Scott Soto that seems to be working throughout the year on different projects, yet is able to afford the material fairly spirited promotions.
 

Leprous have become for a lot of fans a focal point in the prog genre, in some cases eliciting fanatical responses, both positive and as of late even negative. Not being a fanatical fan of a lot of popular bands and able to appreciate or sour up at will, about different releases has been quite liberating, as a musical work can either fit one’s criteria or even help expand their tastes, but becoming a fanatic usually takes away perspective and I feel that’s happened a lot to the Leprous fandom.
 

Ray Alder has been with Fates Warning for a while now, but as some extracurricular activities has made Jim Matheos work with former Fates vocalist John Arch for example. Alder has likewise allowed himself to be involved quite a bit with Redemption, as well as drop a couple of not so well received engine albums around the turn of the millennium. 2019 sees the release of his first “solo” album all the while Matheos seems to be involved with the second Arch/Matheos album and Fates on some downtime.