Prognosis – The Custodian vs. In The Silence vs. Marcus And The Music

Prognosis – The Custodian vs. In The Silence vs. Marcus And The Music

THE CUSTODIAN
Necessary Wasted Time
Lasers Edge

A debut album from English proggers, The Custodian, who comprise the mysterious F (vocals, drums / guitar / synths), A (guitars), P (ac guitar) and J (bass).  Spooky.

They’re a band who want to return to the splendours of early seventies rock, where prog and mainstream happily mixed it up, and bands like Uriah Heep conquered the world.  Which is fine by me.

And they’re very good.  Mixing up rock, prog and psych, with swathes of Hammond organ dripping all over the place, this is a real pleasure.  They can jump form shorter, poppier pieces to nine minute prog jams with ease, and with songs as good as ‘The Man Out Of Time’ and ‘Stop Talking’, they’ve got everything they need to make a splash.

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IN THE SILENCE
A Fair Dream Gone Mad
Lasers Edge

Over in prog metal land, “A Fair Dream Gone Mad” is the debut album from Sacramento-based progressive metal band In The Silence. Very much in the vein of Anathema and Opeth, this is a fine introduction.

They are extremely good musicians, and those of you who like to drool over instrumental chops will need a lot of tissues to recover from some od the music on offer here.  Luckily for the rest of us, they also know how to write songs, so the likes of ‘Ever Closer’ and ‘Serenity’ made me a happy boy.

if you’re bored waiting for Katatonia to make another classic, then give this a go.

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MARCUS AND THE MUSIC
Catch 22
Ex-Tension

Finally, for today, we’re heading over to french Franceland to catch up with a young fella me lad called Marcus Linon.

Of course, prog is in the blood of the multi-instrumentalist, as it turns out he is the son of the legendary Stella Vander (Magma, Offering), and Marcus directed the Magma ‘EPOK’ DVD series, and developed/executes the very light design for Magma’s tours.  A right smart arse, in other words.

And this is a good album.  Others have compared his vocals to Peter Hammill, and they’re not a million miles off the mark.  Add in some excellent musicianship, and some songs like ‘Skyzophrenia’ and ‘A Boxful Of Eyes’ that mix and match the worlds of rock, folk and prog, and his is a name to look out for.

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