Ara-Arm

Aranis (Belgium): Aranis (No label ASMLLJ001, CD, 2005)
Progressive/Classical/Folk
Linde de Groof (joint lead vocals, violin), Axelle Kennes (piano), Marjolein Cools (accordion), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin), Jana Arns (flute)
I’d always imagined Aranis to be RIO, but this dainty chamber music album is more in the folky, neoclassical vein of Flairck (or to a slightly lesser extent Julverne). Almost exclusively instrumental, intricate and occasionally fiery, it’s charming and dainty stuff displaying beautifully judged musicianship. GRADE: B–.
Aranis (Belgium): II (No label ASMLLJ002, CD, 2007)
Progressive/Classical/Folk
Axelle Kennes (piano), Marjolein Cools (accordion), Linde de Groof (violin), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin), Jana Arns (flute)
‘The secret of Aranis lies in the compelling fact that, as a listener, you are flung to and fro between the finesse of a classical concert and the excitement of a rock concert’ notes the review from ‘De Tijd’, reproduced in the booklet. I don’t hear any rock here, but I do hear absolutely stunning chamber music – all-instrumental this time round, more dynamic and dramatic than their first, and quite magnificently recorded. GRADE: B.
Aranis (Belgium): III – Songs From Mirage (Home 4446058, CD, with digipak, 2009)
Progressive/Classical/Folk
Els Van Laethem (joint lead vocals), Herlinde Ghekiere (joint lead vocals), Anne Marie Honggokosesomo (joint lead vocals), Axelle Kennes (piano), Marjolein Cools (accordion), Linde de Groof (violin), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin), Jana Arns (flute)
As the title makes clear, album number three takes them in a slightly different direction, with three guest vocalists singing in Latin on the majority of cuts. Once again boasting a stunning recording, this is a beautiful, intricate, vivid set of baroque classical music that lovers of chamber orchestras should investigate immediately. GRADE: B–.
Aranis (Belgium/USA): Roqueforte (Home 4446068, CD, with digipak, Belgium, 2009)
Progressive/Classical/Jazz
Marjolein Cools (accordion), Linde de Groof (violin), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin), Jana Arns (flute)
The addition of well-travelled RIO drummer Dave Kerman (not that he’s hugely prominent here) moves the band’s sound closer to avant-prog and emphasises their slight jazz roots. This slight change of emphasis provides another fascinating variation on their trademark neoclassical sound. GRADE: B–.
Aranis (Belgium/USA): Made In Belgium (Home 4446092, CD, with digipak, and booklet, 2012)
Progressive/Classical/Jazz
Jana Arns (lead vocals, flute), Marjolein Cools (accordion), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin, viola)
As the title suggests, this comprises recitations of works by various Belgian composers (both classical and avant-prog) rather than consisting entirely of pieces by band leader Joris Vanvinckenroye. However, from a musical standpoint it feels less adventurous than their earlier work – Kerman is gone and King Crimson’s Trey Gunn doesn’t add much as a guest – though equally refined, elegant, intricate and knotty.

GRADE: B–.

Aranis (Belgium/USA): Made In Belgium (Home 4446092, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2012)
Progressive/Classical/Jazz
Jana Arns (lead vocals, flute), Marjolein Cools (accordion), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin, viola)
Kerman is gone and King Crimson’s Trey Gunn is guesting on guitar, but this is the first Aranis album on which it feels like the band isn’t pushing forwards. Certainly, it offers beautiful chamber music – refined, elegant, intricate and knotty by turns – but it’s clear that for the most part they’re covering old ground. GRADE: B–.
Aranis (Belgium/USA): Made In Belgium II (Home 4446119, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2014)
Progressive/Classical/Jazz
Jana Arns (lead vocals, flute), Marjolein Cools (accordion), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin, viola)
Part two of the project includes a couple of actual songs, with one number taking the band into Dagmar Krause territory. Elsewhere this is a bit more varied and a bit more dynamic than usual, representing another impressive instalment of experimental chamber music.

GRADE: B–.
Aranis (Belgium/USA): Smells Like (Home 4446159, CD, with, 2017)
Progressive/Classical/Avant-Garde
Marjolein Cools (accordion), Liesbeth Lambrecht (violin, viola), Jana Arns (flute)
This is the radical step forward that the last couple of Aranis albums weren’t, though more for conceptual than musical reasons. As the title suggests, this consists entirely of Nirvana songs reworked in a chamber music style, and the results are challenging, amusing and extremely successful. GRADE: B–.

Arapacis (Canada): So Many Leapers (FX Metal FXM00012, CD, 2005)
Metal
Shelsey Jarvis (lead vocals, keyboards)
This obscure album covers a variety of metal styles, from near-doom to thrash to touches of prog (notably on the instrumental ‘Fast Fingers’). Whilst there’s nothing particularly original here, this is a consistently solid disc and sometimes very good. GRADE: C+.

Archangelica (Poland): Tomorrow Starts Today (Lynx Music LM 119 CD, CD, 2016)
Metal/Progressive
Patrycja Mizerska (principal vocals)
Bridging gothic metal and neoprogressive, this offers some nice instrumental textures, good singing and musicianship, and a few pleasant acoustic instrumentals. The downside is that it’s a little generic and rather unadventurous, but it’s decidedly above average for this kind of thing. GRADE: C+.

Arcana (Canada): Letters From A Lost Soul | Act I: The World One Forms (No label, download, 2020)
Progressive
Anna Draper (joint lead vocals)
Ignore the copious and rather pompous title: this is rather good (and not overly bombastic) sympho-prog with some nice chunky riffs. Sure, it’s a bit low-budget and the brief outbreak of death vocals doesn’t endear it to me, but there’s plenty of promise here and I wish they’d recorded more than 22 minutes of music. GRADE: C+.

Arcanes (Italy): Quiet And Stormy (Mellow MMFS 1011, CD, 1995)
Rock
Stefania Bongioanni (lead vocals, keyboards)
According to the back cover, this was issued on Mellow’s ‘Fruit Salad division’, so this is garage rock rather than prog: sometimes heavy, sometimes bluesy and sometimes delicate and mellow. The covers (Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, the Troggs, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane) are a bit of a mixed bag though several work well, whilst the original songs are pretty decent. Stefania Bongioanni has a lovely voice, even though she occasionally struggles with English pronunciation (they even state in the liner notes that ‘we know our lyrics are not correct at all – we hope you’ll understand our Italian expressions’), and the playing is solid throughout, even if this is a fairly insubstantial album. GRADE: C+.

Archensiel (Italy): Archensiel (Cobra A 018, 1987)
Folk/Rock/Progressive
Maria Rosa Negro (lead vocals), Roberta Tuis (violin)
This interesting progressive folk album has a very Italian feel and lots of classical and traditional references, though all the material is self-penned. However, bass and drums are widely used, along with heavy rock guitars on a few cuts; coupled with some unexpected tempo changes, this makes for an unusual and creative LP that is undercut only by the rather thin recording. GRADE: B–.
Archensiel (Italy): Piöva (Pressing details unknown, 1989)
Folk/Rock/Progressive
Maria Rosa Negro (lead vocals), Roberta Tuis (violin)
The band’s second and final album is as beautifully crafted as their first, and very much its equal. I have never encountered an original 1989 pressing, or seen one offered for sale, which makes me wonder whether the CD version (Akarma AK 1044, with digibook, 2004) was the first issue of this material. The CD also includes three bonus tracks taken from their first album. GRADE: B–.

Architectural Metaphor (USA): Creature Of The Velvet Void (Black Widow BWR 019-2, CD, Italy, 1997)
Progressive/Psychedelic
Deb Young (lead vocals, drums, percussion, recorder, whistle)
This low-budget space-rock outfit unsurprisingly owe a heavy debt to Hawkwind: the disc closes with a lengthy cover of ‘The Golden Void’. However, they’re both more psychedelic and more amateurish than their idols, with less of a heavy rock feel. Their songs and instrumentals are fairly crude and not brilliantly recorded, and their cover of ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ is quite strange, but this is an enjoyable example of its style and sure to please almost any space-rock fan. GRADE: C+.
Architectural Metaphor (USA): Everything You Know Is Wrong (No label JANAP-146, CD, with digipak, 2013)
Psychedelic
Andrea Aguayo (lead vocals)
This much later album, recorded by a different line-up, is rather different from Creature Of The Velvet Void. Most of the Hawkwind elements are gone, replaced by a more varied stylistic palette of psychedelic music, though still with electronics well to the fore. The result is somewhat uneven but never less than satisfying and sometimes quite transcendent on the long, trippy space-rock jams. This time round, the surprising cover is Roxy Music’s ‘In Every Dreamhome a Heartache’. GRADE: B–.

Area 39 (UK): Stand Alone Together (No label, CD, 2004)
Progressive/Psychedelic
Paula Cunningham (joint lead vocals), Nicki Allan (joint lead vocals)
No surprises for guessing from the cover depicting an astronaut that this is space-rock; what is surprising is that this band never got to release anything else, as Stand Alone Together is little short of a classic. Fusing elements of Hawkwind and Ash Ra Tempel with more modern stylings reflecting innovators like In The Woods…, the disc builds a remarkable head of steam on some long, intense jams punctuated by explosions of cosmic electronic noise. Considering this was a one-off private album from a short-lived amateur band in the North of England, the end results are frequently astounding; the majestic closing cut ‘The Dreamers Dreamed’ can only be described as breathtaking. (As a footnote, beware of other releases credited to ‘Area 39’: there was a prolific dance music duo of the same name.) GRADE: B.

Arguedene (Belgium): Chante! (Sabam FRA 801511, 1981)
Folk
Marie-France Dumay (occasional vocals), Andrée Dupont (occasional vocals), Nicole Mulquin (occasional vocals), Françoise Massot (bugle)
Housed in a striking black, white and green silkscreened sleeve, this obscure album offers pleasant traditional folk/rock with entirely self-penned material. Linked by sound effects, the songs have a mediaeval edge and some interesting arrangement touches, though some listeners may struggle with the slightly unusual male vocalist who dominates side one (imagine Malicorne’s Gabriel Yacoub with a more lugubrious troubadour style) and an outburst of yodelling. Side two, which has mainly female vocals, is vastly superior and contains some truly beautiful moments. GRADE: C+.

Aries (Italy): Aries (Mellow MMP 479, CD, 2005)
Progressive
Simona Angioloni (lead vocals)

My initial impression of Aries' debut was of a modern classic – a strong B comparable in mood and consistency to Renaissance or Carol Of Harvest and ranking among the best albums of its kind from the twenty-first century. The second part remains true on further listens, though its drawbacks became more obvious: the hauntingly beautiful vocals, lovely melodies and fine musicianship aren't consistently matched by songwriting embodying the complexity of peak Renaissance or the sheer glacial beauty of Carol Of Harvest. Nonetheless, this is an excellent album throughout and frequently a brilliant one: for a start, there's no denying the magnificence of the hypnotic 17-minute closer ‘When Night Is Almost Done’, which remains a jewel in Fabio Zuffanti’s crown. GRADE: B.
Aries (Italy): Double Reign (AMS AMS192CD, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2010)
Pop/Rock/Progressive
Simona Angioloni (lead vocals)
Five years on, their second drops most of the seventies influences and long instrumental passages in favour of a modernistic, atmospheric pop sound featuring lots of loops and borderline trip-hop elements. It’s not exactly bad, and it’s certainly more varied and inventive than their first, but the disc lacks the great songs to lift it above the ordinary. GRADE: C+.
See also Höstsonaten

Arion (USA): Arion (Delaney 42777, 1981)
Lounge
Roberta Holler (joint lead vocals, synthesiser, percussion)
The cover and liner notes about ‘Arion, a Corinthian poet and musician from 7th century BC’ make this appear to be some kind of progressive concept album, but it’s actually a mixture of Latinesque soft rock and lounge stuff. With mainly original material and a bit of a lo-fi Steely Dan vibe, this is a pleasant enough album with just enough oddness to have some appeal for ‘real people’ collectors.
GRADE: C+.

Arion (Brazil): Arion (Progressive Rock Worldwide PRW 047, CD, 2001)
Progressive
Tânia Braz (principal vocals, guitar)
I was expecting this to be of that typically dense, hard-riffing Latin American modern prog style, but it’s actually a well-crafted symphonic prog album with lots of seventies leanings. One reference point could be Renaissance, though this is much more rocking and dynamic, and without the overt classical references. With the music soaring and ebbing at all the right moments, this is a good album – but it lacks the really memorable melodies and riffs to make it a great one. GRADE: C+.

Arkangel (USA): Warrior (Joyeuse Garde JGR-001, with booklet, 1982)
Folk/Rock/Progressive
Bekah Crabb (joint lead vocals, autoharp)
Here Kemper and Bekah Crabb, formerly of Redemption, return with a much more unusual new band. Gone is Redemption’s straightforward rural Jesus rock, replaced by an oddball fusion of AOR, folk and mediaeval music, with a few avant-garde touches. The sumptuous fantasy artwork and odd photos of the band in Middle Ages garb reflects the music fairly accurately; lute, recorder, dulcimer, psaltery and autoharp all put in appearances here, alongside plenty of synthesisers. Some of it is positively MOR whilst other cuts are hard rocking (though simultaneously mellow); bits are brilliant and others less so, but ultimately this succeeds where many more lauded bands failed: its mix of styles is like nothing else I’ve ever heard. GRADE: B–.
See also Redeption, Various ‘Hill County Faith Festival’

Arkham (France): Arkham (BMT AK02CD, CD, with digipak and booklet, 1994)
Rock
Barbara Lezmy (lead vocals)
Not to be confused with the all-male Belgian avant-prog band of the same name, this is a one-off album from a band fronted by Barbara Lezmy (better known as an artist and as an occasional backing vocalist with Marillion). She has an extraordinarily versatile voice, often sounding like Véronique Sanson or Sandie Shaw, but sometimes moving into Lene Lovich or Pascale Son-style theatrics or even a heavy metal-like scream. The music, meanwhile, is fairly mainstream guitar rock, but very varied too, with hints of everything from new wave and modern pop to seventies hard rock, sympho-prog, metal and borderline avant-prog. The result is an odd and incoherent record that contains several really fine songs. GRADE: C+.

See also Guma Guma

Arkitekture (South Korea): Rationalis Impetus (Tripper Sound MGRC 5001, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and poster booklet, 2022)
Progressive
Katie Dongju Ha (saxophone, flute), Wooah Min (violin, viola)
The mediocre production and brash mastering don’t give Arkitekture’s music the room it deserves to breathe, which is a pity as their dynamic blend of sympho-prog and fusion is frequently superb. Wholly instrumental, Rationalis Impetus is dynamic, atmospheric and sumptuous by turns, citing plenty of seventies references but modern and inventive at the same time. Ih short, it’s packed with promise, meaning that if they up the production and mastering budget next time around they could deliver a classic. GRADE: B–.

Arpia (Italy): Terramare (Lizard/Andromeda CD 042/AND CD 017, CD, 2005)
Metal/Progressive
Paola Feraiorni (occasional vocals)
Blending Italian and South American heavy prog styles, Arpia turn in twelve dense, heavy-riffing songs, with the slightly psychedelic title track probably being the best of the bunch. There are few extended instrumental passages here and even less variety, so the album is slightly long and monotonous, but it’s solid enough for what it is. GRADE: C+.
Arpia (Italy): Racconto D’Inverno (Muséa FGBG 4810, CD, France, 2009)
Progressive
Paola Feraiorni (joint lead vocals)
Shedding their metal roots completely, the band offers a delicate, lyrical album that essentially comprises a single track divided into numerous short sections. With folky and slight jazzy undertones, it’s mellifluous and melodic enough, but – like their previous LP – absolutely packed with lyrics, meaning the music gets little chance to breathe. GRADE: C+.

Arktis (West Germany): Arktis (No label R4040, 1974)
Garage/Metal/Progressive
Karin Töppig (lead vocals)
Recorded solely with voice, electric guitars, bass and drums and with a basement ambience (although excellent recording quality), this is as good a heavy rock record as anyone could wish for. The first side has three short songs packed with memorable riffs, whilst the second is given over to the twenty-minute ‘Rare Girl’: another powerful song bookending a lengthy guitar workout that constantly changes style and gradually builds into a cauldron of acid leads with a dark Krautrock atmosphere. Put simply, this is a classic. The CD reissue adds three bonus tracks recorded about a year after the album proper: these are good but less essential, showing the band moving in a more conventional mid-seventies metal direction, with some proto-punk and even glam undertones. GRADE: A.
Arktis (West Germany): Arktis Tapes (Bon-Bons BBR 7502, 1975)
Blues/Rock
Karin Töppig (principal vocals)
Their second album is composed of outtakes from earlier jam sessions, and unfortunately sounds like it. Whilst there is some good music here, a collection of blues jams plus a few songs (similar to, but nowhere near as good as, those on their debut) is unlikely to set any pulses racing. The CD reissue adds two bonus tracks, totalling nearly half an hour; these are also blues jams. GRADE: C+.
Arktis (West Germany): On The Rocks (No label ARK-76-1, 1976)
Metal
Karin Töppig (lead vocals)
In terms of structure, this harks back to their debut, with four short songs on the first side and a single twenty-minute piece on the second. It’s musically rather different, however, being slick, polished metal with lots of keyboards and an early eighties rather than mid-seventies sound (sometimes recalling ZZ Top at their commercial peak). Whilst this is a good album that should please anyone liking the style, the rawness and sheer power of their debut is sadly missed. GRADE: C+.
Arktis (Germany): More Arktis Tapes (Garden Of Delights CD 039, 1999, recorded 1975)
Blues/Rock/Metal
Karin Töppig (lead vocals)
As the title suggests, this collection of unreleased 1975 recordings is a logical follow-up to Arktis Tapes, again concentrating more on jams than songs. Whilst sharing the same drawbacks as its similarly named predecessor, this is probably the slightly better disc. GRADE: C+.
Arktis (Germany): Last Arktis Tapes (Garden Of Delights CD 125, CD, 2006, recorded 1973-1975)
Garage/Psychedelic/Metal
Karin Töppig (lead vocals)
Ironically, this final volume of outtakes, which should have sounded like scrapings from the very bottom of the barrel, is decidedly superior to More Arktis Tapes, let alone Arktis Tapes itself. For sure, it’s long, rambling and often very lo-fi, but there’s some great garage rock here, especially the long high-octane jams ‘Very Progressive’ and ‘Furious Flight’, which could easily have surfaced on their debut album.

GRADE: B–.

Joan Armatrading (St Kitts & Nevis): Whatever’s For Us (Cube HIFLY 12, UK, 1972)
Folk/Rock
Joan Armatrading (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards)
West Indian-born Joan Armatrading made it big in the mid-seventies as a conventional confessional singer/songwriter (before turning to new wave, pop, blues/rock and more), but her obscure debut album is something else. A remarkably original and personal statement, it sets her unusual voice against beautifully judged backing, with a wide range of moods and textures including sitar on the breathtaking ‘Visionary Mountains’, effective orchestration on ‘It Could Have Been Better’, chimes on ‘Alice’ and bluesy horns on the closing ‘All The King’s Gardens’. This is easily among the five best acid- folk albums that can be picked up for a few pounds, and had it been a small-run private pressing it would now sell for a fortune. GRADE: B.

Army Of Moths (UK): Sorry To Disturb You (No label, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, 2018)
Progressive/Pop
Debz Joy
The obvious reference point here is a low-budget Cardiacs (which raises the question of whether there is a high-budget Cardiacs), as Army Of Moths combine new wave and proggy influences in a similar way. They’re perhaps a little more pop-oriented, though they can rock out in style, with clear eighties as well as late seventies references. Whether you like their playful bric-à-brac music may hinge on whether you like this kind of whimsy (and indeed whether you like the Cardiacs). I love the Cardiacs. GRADE: B–.
Army Of Moths (UK): My Kingdom For A Horse (No label, download, 2020)
Progressive/Pop
Debz Joy
At four songs and 16½ minutes, this download-only EP is a marginal case for review. So is the grade – B– for something as insubstantial as this? But their brand of playful symphonic pop is a delight, making this a nice addendum to their first album (or more accurately, taster for their second). GRADE: B–.
Army Of Moths (UK): By Word Of Moth (No label, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve, 2020)
Progressive/Pop
Debz Joy
This doesn’t add much to the impression created by their first album – as a band with a very distinctive style, Army Of Moths perversely make their varied music sound surprisingly homogenous. As such, this raises the question of how many Army Of Moths albums anyone might need in their collection – as opposed to choosing one and playing it on repeat. But I can only judge albums on their own merits, and on its own merits this is a B–. GRADE: B–.

Army Of Moths (UK): The Canine Trilogy (No label, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve and insert, 2021)
Progressive/Pop
Debz Joy
Three songs about dogs, all as whimsical and unpredictable and oddball as one might expect – at one point this even made me think of Chas & Dave. As such, this won’t be for everyone, but to my ears there’s not a pup among them. GRADE: B–.
Army Of Moths (UK): Four By Two – The Chaos Demos (No label, download, 2024)
Progressive/Pop
Debz Joy
If I didn’t know in advance, I’d never have realised that these four songs are demos – they sound like any other Army Of Moths tracks. Is that testament to how fully the band’s vision is realised here or a commentary on the somewhat low-budget nature of their finished albums? Either way, it doesn’t really matter, as all four numbers are excellent and packed with invention and joie de vivre. GRADE: B–.
Army Of Moths (UK): The Chaos Emporium (No label, double CDR, with minisleeves, booklet, autographed certificate and sticker, 2024)
Progressive/Pop
Debz Joy
The 92 minutes afforded by this double album allow Army Of Moths to indulge their widescreen impulses to the full. Although not a concept album and made up mainly of shorter pop-oriented songs, they achieve an organic flow that makes the album feel like a journey – a very scenic journey with lots of places of interest along the way. GRADE: B–.