Last 3 discs before top ten list .......

[LarryD]

I was just about to sit down and write my year end list - and all of sudden, these appeared on my order list from The Lasers Edge ....... I swore that I was done buying anything until the new year, and then these appeared .......therefore, I reserve the right to add any one of these to my list when I get them ........

SORCERER / Reign of the Reaper -
I had repeatedly forgotten to order this one since its release, and now I'm just getting to it ......due to the fact that Sorcerer has been my #1 disc in the past, I have to wait to get this one before writing the list. If there was any metal band that I continue to hang on to, its this one. That is mostly due to the vocals of Andy Engberg, but the music has been killer as well. I'm hoping this one hits me like the others have. I still have some metal left in me ......


THIS WINTER MACHINE / The Clockwork Man -
This band has been through so many changes over the years, and I believe that this is their first concept disc. Kites was a very good disc, and this one is supposed to be even better. One of the better modern Neo / Prog Rock bands .......


MOON SAFARI / Himlabacken - Vol. 2 -
I'm not sure how I haven't heard of this band given their many prior releases.....they are a prog rock band, and due to the praise of Claus himself, and Ken as well.... I bought this blind and have high hopes for it. Went on Youtube to check them out and I was stunned that I had not heard of this band before ......


It would be awesome for these three to end up on my list - but that would create another problem for me in which disc(s) to eliminate .......very exciting way to end the year.

[jhallum]

I have to give Moon Safari a listen when I get a chance after the holidays end, it's made a few year end lists.

[AllMediaReviews]

"Blood Moon" is good from the Moon Safari record.

[Sir Exar Kun]

THIS WINTER MACHINE / The Clockwork Man -
This band has been through so many changes over the years, and I believe that this is their first concept disc. Kites was a very good disc, and this one is supposed to be even better. One of the better modern Neo / Prog Rock bands .......

Played this one on my way north last week, and enjoyed the hell out of it. The slower / lighter portions of the album are stunningly beautiful!

[LarryD]

THIS WINTER MACHINE / The Clockwork Man -
This band has been through so many changes over the years, and I believe that this is their first concept disc. Kites was a very good disc, and this one is supposed to be even better. One of the better modern Neo / Prog Rock bands .......

Played this one on my way north last week, and enjoyed the hell out of it. The slower / lighter portions of the album are stunningly beautiful!

****Yep !!!!! And I was going to see of you had heard this one and recommend it to you .......I don't think this will end up on my top 10, but, I will highly recommend this one to Neo-Prog fans who like it beautiful, love concept discs, or miss the old days when bands were putting out discs like this one on a regular basis......

Good call.

[LarryD]

Here are my thoughts to my thoughts ...... I have only gotten these recently and played them through twice, except for Moon Safari, which I've only played once due to long songs and needing time to digest that one .....I don't think any of these would make my top 10 ..... Sorcerer would make my Top 20 ..... This Winter Kite would make my Top 20, and Moon Safari I doubt would make it at all at this point - but as I said, I have to go through it a couple of times to make judgement, but initial reaction wasn't good .....

SORCERER / Reign of the Reaper -
I had repeatedly forgotten to order this one since its release, and now I'm just getting to it ......due to the fact that Sorcerer has been my #1 disc in the past, I have to wait to get this one before writing the list. If there was any metal band that I continue to hang on to, its this one. That is mostly due to the vocals of Andy Engberg, but the music has been killer as well. I'm hoping this one hits me like the others have. I still have some metal left in me ......

****Like anyone who has said anything about this disc - it's all true. The Doom has taken a back seat to a more melodic power metal style now, and they could pass for any great melodic power metal band out there, except this band has Andy Engberg, and he takes the whole disc to another level as always. I hardly do any power metal anymore, but I could listen to this anytime. The problem is, I like their previous material better - so chances are I wouldn't grab at this one unless I was in a power metal mood, and I hardly ever am. This disc would get lost to Crowning of the King, and may never see the light of day after. That's a sad thing to say, given how good this is, but I think that is what happens when you start to move into another direction. In this case, I like their doomy style better, but that isn't to say this is not a good disc, because it really is.

THIS WINTER MACHINE / The Clockwork Man -
This band has been through so many changes over the years, and I believe that this is their first concept disc. Kites was a very good disc, and this one is supposed to be even better. One of the better modern Neo / Prog Rock bands .......

****This is surprisingly good ...... Kites, their previous disc, was very good. This one here seems to up the ante in every aspect of their music, including the production, and they have made this one an interesting concept of human cloning ...... It reminds me of old school Neo-Prog, the kind that used to come out in droves in the 90s, and then sort of died off .....this disc reminds me of why I love really good Neo-Prog music in general ......it won't make my Top 10, but I will still come back to this one many times in the future...... 

MOON SAFARI / Himlabacken - Vol. 2 -
I'm not sure how I haven't heard of this band given their many prior releases.....they are a prog rock band, and due to the praise of Claus himself, and Ken as well.... I bought this blind and have high hopes for it. Went on Youtube to check them out and I was stunned that I had not heard of this band before ......

****This disc gets praise everywhere - this is a quality prog rock band that brings Styx meets Yes to mind instantly upon hearing the multiple Yes-like vocal harmonies, and the pop-like Styx-like prog rock .....I have not gotten through this whole thing, and I look forward to the 21:00 track ..... my problem is - I don't like Yes. And putting Styx and Yes together at the same time is really beyond what I can listen to vocally ..... you just can't have Tommy Shaw and Jon Anderson and both of those bands in the same room at the same time ...it is beyond my listening scope. I'm saying that those vocal harmonies are too much for my ears to handle at the same time, but being constantly reminded of Yes is not helping my plight. Claus seems to like this a lot, and I'm sure he will come here and tell me that I'm too old to listen to this, but I'm curious if anyone else has heard this and what they think of it ......

[introclaus]

****This disc gets praise everywhere - this is a quality prog rock band that brings Styx meets Yes to mind instantly upon hearing the multiple Yes-like vocal harmonies, and the pop-like Styx-like prog rock .....I have not gotten through this whole thing, and I look forward to the 21:00 track ..... my problem is - I don't like Yes. And putting Styx and Yes together at the same time is really beyond what I can listen to vocally ..... you just can't have Tommy Shaw and Jon Anderson and both of those bands in the same room at the same time ...it is beyond my listening scope. I'm saying that those vocal harmonies are too much for my ears to handle at the same time, but being constantly reminded of Yes is not helping my plight. Claus seems to like this a lot, and I'm sure he will come here and tell me that I'm too old to listen to this, but I'm curious if anyone else has heard this and what they think of it ......

I do enjoy it a lot. One of the very best "non metal" releases of the year, and I've only just got into it recently thanks to Mattias Noren's end of year list. Really good stuff. I don't necessarily think "Yes" when I listen to it - there's more of an ACT meets Queen meets TSO meets lite-Dream Theater vibes to it. I can hear the "Styx" parts in the vocal harmonies though, but also a ton of Beach Boys in how the vocals are layered.

[introclaus]

****Like anyone who has said anything about this disc - it's all true. The Doom has taken a back seat to a more melodic power metal style now, and they could pass for any great melodic power metal band out there, except this band has Andy Engberg, and he takes the whole disc to another level as always. I hardly do any power metal anymore, but I could listen to this anytime. The problem is, I like their previous material better - so chances are I wouldn't grab at this one unless I was in a power metal mood, and I hardly ever am. This disc would get lost to Crowning of the King, and may never see the light of day after. That's a sad thing to say, given how good this is, but I think that is what happens when you start to move into another direction. In this case, I like their doomy style better, but that isn't to say this is not a good disc, because it really is.

Much better than their last album, but nowhere near the class of neither "Crowning..." or "In the Shadow of the inverted Cross".
Like we've talked about, this is Jag Panzer with Andy singing, and that's not what we want from Sorcerer.