Nad Sylvan ~ Spiritus Mundi

Nad Sylvan has been in a bunch of music. Music that you may or may not have heard, but, some of it, you probably have heard at some point. He was in a band called Agents Of Mercy, he also played with Steve Hackett & put out some solo albums. He is a musician as well as vocalist. This album is based upon the poetry of William Butler Yeats. Nad Sylvan takes Yeats’ words & puts them into some great progressive rock. The album also has some great guests on it, including Tony Levin, Jonas Reingold, Steve Hackett, & Mirkko De Malo. Most of the music was from Sylvan & Andrew Laitres. I would give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Vestindien 3000 ~ Null EP

This EP started off very slow & melodic. then went off into a rather grungy sound. It wasn’t bad, it just went from one extreme to another. I couldn’t tell you what they were singing about, as it was in a language that I don’t speak. This band is a black metal band from Norway, so, it may be that, that may have swayed me away from this, but, I did like the melodies of the music. For me, I give this 3 out of 5 Music Guru stars, but, if you’re a fan of black metal from Norway, this may be right up your alley.

HISTOIRES SANS PAROLES – Harmonium Simphonique

All I can say about this is WOW! Everything about this is awesome. I have the vinyl/CD set & it comes in a large box-set. It is beautiful just to look at. Once you listen to the music, it gets even better. The orchestra does an excellent job & the music is perfect. There are so many musicians on this box-set, I can’t fit them all in this review, but, they all deserve mention. I’ve included a picture that comes in the beautiful booklet of the orchestra. Buy this! This is wonderful in every way! I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Upbeat classical music. It doesn’t get much better!

Thunder Mother ~ Heatwave Deluxe Edition

This all female band from Sweden really has a good punch to their music. Everything is almost perfect. Good music, good melodies, good vocals. It’s all there. A mix between AC/DC & Heart. I would lean more towards heart as the music end of it was better than AC/DC. Not that AC/DC is bad, because they are not, it’s just that Heart is more musically talented as far as their music goes. All that & Ann Wilson’s vocals certainly helped with the sound of Heart. Thundermother doesn’t have Ann Wilson’s vocals, but, they are good vocals. This is a deluxe version of an album that’s been out before in 2020, but with an extra disc worth of music. Again, good music, good vocals & a bunch of fun, thus the “deluxe” at the end. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. With more listening, it could get more. I’d love to see some feedback from you who are reading this, to see what you think. The band has been around for awhile, but, broke up. Guitarist Filippa Nässi is the only original member, she found others in 2017 that make this band even better. Those members are Guernica Mancini on vocals that have quite a range to them, Emlee Johansson on drums and Majsan Lindberg on bass, rounding out the rhythm section. Again, let me know what you think.

Laura Meade ~ The Most Dangerous Woman In America

What I really liked about this album, is the analog sound of the instruments. Specifically, the keyboards. They come across as very simple & easy. It is very fresh. There are 2 keyboardists on this album. One is Laura Meade, who is also the singer on the album. The other is Tom Galgano, who, with Laura Meade, wrote this album between March 2020 through December 2020. Other people on this album is John Galgano on bass, electric guitar & additional keyboards. The guitar sounds also came across as simple & easy. The guitar also sounds fresh. Also, Brian Coralian on V-Drums, electric drums & percussion. This was the only part that didn’t really make me want to listen. I like to hear real drums. As you can tell, I like real instruments. The songwriting makes you feel like Laura is telling you her story. A nice album all the way around & Laura’s vocals are very nice. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. For those of you who may not know, Laura sings with Izz, the progressive rock band.

Transatlantic ~ The Absolute Universe

Another gem from Transatlantic. Actually more than 1. There is the extended mix, called Forevermore & the abridged version, called The Breath Of Life. As I was listening to this, I thought that it was a 2 CD set, but, they are actually the same album, done differently. 1 was a 2 CD set, 1 was a single disc. As I was listening, again, not knowing, I kept saying to myself, this sounds familiar, but, then, there were parts where you say, hmmmm, that’s different. With these 4 talented guys how can you go wrong? You can’t! With Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Pete Trawavas, & Roine Stolt, keeping each other in place. There are so many music nuances that are heard on this album. Roine Stolt’s guitar playing is really explored on some tracks & Pete Trawavas does some amazing bass work on some tracks as well. Neal Morse & Mike Portnoy, are always doing what they do. Some great keyboards & drumming on this album as well. Again, there are 2 albums here. 1 is a 2 CD set (Forevermore), & the shorter (The Breath Of Life) abridged version. They are similar, yet different within the same album. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Give this a listen. Either of them…or both.

Dana Sipos ~ The Astral Plane

This canadian singer songwriter has a nice flow about her music. It seems that she uses a lot of analog keyboards & things like that. It brings you to a simpler time. The music is smooth & the vocals are not bad. She does not sing about depressing things (thankfully, as we have enough of that in the world already), which brings a little bit of hope in my heart that there may be more “Shiny Happy People” out there (pun intended). As you listen to her lyrics, you can tell that she’s telling you HER story, from the past to the present. I give this 4 Music Guru stars. The band behind Dana is Michael Davidson on Vibraphone, Sandro Perri on Synths & Percussion, Fats Kaplan on violin. Other vocalists are Lydia Persaud, Danielle Knibbe, & Barbara Lica.

While She Sleeps ~Sleep Society

While this band has some talent, it is very hard for me to enjoy them while the singer is screaming at versus singing to me. As stated earlier, I prefer melody than to hear people screaming at me. I can’t understand what your song is about, while you’re screaming at me. The guitar work is pretty good, as are the keyboards. The drumming is hard-core, which is what you would expect with this type of music. While she sleeps considers themselves Metallic Hard-core. They may also be considered hardcore punk. With the exception of their first 2 EPs, the band has been together since 2009, as it stands today. The band is Sean Long on lead guitars & backing vocals, Aaran McKenzie on bass & backing vocals, Adam Savage on drums & percussion, Mat Welsh on rhythm guitar, piano & vocals, Lawrence Taylor on lead vocals, replacing Jordan Widdowson on lead vocals. If you’re a fan of scream-o rock, you will enjoy this as the music behind it is really good. Background vocals are pretty good. I would give this 3 out of 3 Music Guru stars only because I prefer singing to screaming. There is 1 song where the singer sings at you. That song is “Division Street”. This, to me, is the best song on the album, with good melodies & harmonies that really work.

Signum Regis ~ Flag Of Hope EP

From the very first song, this band reminded me of Van halen, musically but not vocally. There is no David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar vocals. The vocals aren’t bad, but they don’t have that range that usually goes with this type of music. The music is fast & hard, although they also have ballads that sound very nice. This would definately fit in very well in the 1980s, but fits in very well in 2021. This is only an EP. I would like to hear more of what this band can do. There are some guest vocalists on this EP which include Göran Edman (Yngwie Malmsteen), Matt Smith (Theocracy), Samuel Nyman (Manimal), Mayo Petranin (Signum Regis, Castaway) and David Åkesson, vocalists that in some capacity contributed to the band in the past. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Not perfect, but really good. The artwork would also fit in very well in the 1980s.

Junior Santos ~ CONPAMBICHE

Jazz fans will love this album. Beautiful piano playing, sax solos & more. Everything that you would want in a jazz album. Now, Junior Santos is the percussionist on this album, which also flows with this fine album. There are many musicians on this album. They include Sandor Schwisberg on Piano, JT Kim on percussion, Sandy Gabriel on saxophone, Paco Luviano on bass, Luiz Deniz on percussion, Joaquin Nunez on Congas, Hilario Duran on piano, and many more guests on many more instruments. Some of the artists mentioned above play other instruments as well. I really enjoyed this album & think you will too, if you’re a jazz fan. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.