AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

GRANT MOON has a rummage down the back of the Prog sofa for the ones that nearly got away…

Swiss quartet Marhold hit the Top 10 in their home country back in June with their high-quality, selfreleased debut album A Homemade World, which deserves to bring them to broader notice. Taking humankind’s place in the natural world as its theme, the record’s packed with strong, crunchy songs, and singer/violinist Aleksandra Poraszka is a natural, charismatic performer who fully commits to the Marhold cause. Ones to watch for sure. Formed in 2001, Alter3go are a five-piece prog metal outfit from Barcelona. Their second selfreleased album, The Effect Of Light

offers plainer, less intricate fare than their heroes Dream Theater, but they’re worth Spotifying if you’re partial to spirited, melody-centric metal and ersatz Vai guitar histrionics. With a register akin to Agent Fresco’s Arnór Dan Arnarson, vocalist Guillem Mitchel adds some warmth to the anthemic Hope and ambitious album highlight Lost, the latter of which features a chunk of dialogue from The Matrix.

Residing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina’s WIND are married musical duo Nori and Barbie Kelley. Their PROGressive compilation (available via windworld.bandcamp. com) brings together the proggier material from their steady 25-year career. The recording quality is variable, but Nori’s an assured guitarist whose CV features Jon Anderson, Dave Hope of Kansas and Renaissance’s Jon Camp. These influences inform WIND’s gentle, retro set, with Barbie’s wholesome voice giving it a refreshing Southern twang.

The Son, The Liar, And The Victor is the homemade debut by Connecticut trio Notion Blue. They pay tribute to bassist Johnny Barbi – brother of their keyboardist Max – who died unexpectedly in 2018 with an imaginative record that’s rich with feeling and tinged with melancholy. The artistic ambition may exceed their technical grasp, but there’s promise in Max’s assured Neal Morse-style synth/piano moments, the CS&N-like harmonies, and their way with an arty, interlude.

Finally to Mexico for the ever-classy Alpha Lighting System. Their highly proggy and challenging third record

H+ was mixed by The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord, and its typically thinky concept is: “Transhumanism: the transcendence of our physiological, rational and emotional bearings. All of this leads to becoming more human.” The music’s fittingly lofty, with highlights including knotty instrumental EV01VE and smart fusion piece life.exe,

co-written with System Of

A Down singer Serj Tankian.