Soulsplitter is a highly dedicated Germany-based music and arts collective founded by the musicians Fenix (drums), Simon (guitars), Daniel (keys) and Felix (bass). They started writing on their self-released debut record “Salutogenesis” in 2016, eager from the start to melt their musical backgrounds and influences into a new and original sound. Inspired by the Progressive Rock from the seventies as well as modern Metal sounds, Jazz harmonies and the intricate classical compositions of the late romanticism, their sound evokes reminiscences of Dream Theater, Steven Wilson and Opeth – but also Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Queen. The album consists of eight songs which act like movements in a coherent story, telling a tale of love, death, meaning and self-awareness.

IHSAHN will release the first of two five-track EPs – inspired by and dedicated to his home county of Telemark – on February 14, 2020 via Candlelight Records. The first Telemark EP represents the dark, brutal and aggressive side of Ihsahn’s compositional identity. With three new original songs and two ferocious cover versions, it represents a celebration of the defiant spirit that first inspired him to follow a creative path, forming Emperor, three decades ago. Ihsahn further explains; “The title of the EP is Telemark – it’s the county I grew up in and still live in, so the whole thing is situated there and very much inspired by that. So you could say it’s a roots-orientated album. I decided early on that I wanted this to be very purely related to black metal aesthetics. I wanted to distil the basic, bare bones black metal influences of my musical roots, given the overall concept, writing something for and from Telemark. I decided to do Norwegian lyrics for the first time, too. It feels very much closer to home in many ways.”

The Diablo Swing Orchestra dates back to 1501 in Sweden, where history tells the tale of an orchestra that played like no other. With music so seductive and divine that the ensemble overwhelmed audiences all over the country, and people from all social classes took them to their hearts. Their performances rapidly earned a reputation of being feral and vigorous and gained the orchestra a devoted crowd that followed them around…

At long last, it's finally here. Roughly 8 years in the making, The Majestic Sailors' debut album The Salty Sardine is a concept album that came about from a silly senior prom photo taken in 2010. After many years on and off from the project, it's finally a finished product and I'm super happy with the result. It's been a HUGE learning experience and I'm already thinking of ways to improve my workflow on my next project. I hope you enjoy this album and look forward to more music from me in the future!

Harakiri is the third studio album by Armenian-American singer Serj Tankian. The album was released on July 10, 2012, as a follow-up to his 2010 album Imperfect Harmonies, orchestral rock with jazz/electro elements. The album also constitutes the first of four planned albums, the other three being Orca, Jazz-Iz-Christ, and the still-unreleased Fuktronic.

On Ruination, once again, Virgil brings together extraordinary young talent from all parts of the globe, that delivers intensely searing, heartfelt music. Blurring the boundaries between fusion and progressive, instrumental and vocal, Virgil's most recent touring band is featured on this record - Andre Nieri guitar, Junior Braguinha bass, Chris Clark keys, along with many special guests, including Anton Davidyants and Evan Marien on bass, Julian Lage, Marco Sfogli, Carl Mörner Ringström, and Matteo Mancuso on guitar, Steve Hunt (Allan Holdsworth), Alex Argento, and a reunion of sorts, Joe Chindamo (Loose Change) on keys, and vocalist/guitarist Irwin Thomas, aka Jack Jones (Southern Sons).

Devin is definitely building a reputation for being one of the most uncompromising of artists, releasing music that is raw yet over-produced, simple but complex, easy to listen to but also bloody hard work! There is a bit more light on this album than on 'Physicist', but not much. Devin is still trying to change production as we know it, pushing Phil Spector into new avenues. The times when he allows the music to shine through and his vocals to be unfettered is so unusual as to cause an interesting effect, obviously why he chooses to do so. This is much more than just music; it is how the songs can be treated so that they sound very different to anything else around…

"Physicist" is Devin Townsend's follow-up to his magnificent "Infinity" album from 1998. It follows the same musical direction: complex, crazy, experimental, humorous, melodic, noisy and outrageous.

Devin Townsend's second album proves to be a very different beast from his first, taking away the atmospheric, subtle, clean tracks, for outright madness and fun. The production is very strange, both sounding very clear, yet also having a degree of muddiness to it, the compositions are incredibly varied, sounding more like individual tracks rather than a cohesive album, and their is a sense of outright fun to be found here, rather than the extremely solemn 'Ocean Machine: Biomech'. Due to this being a Devin Townsend release, one thing that can be counted on is the absolutely perfect vocals for any case, ranging from beautiful and operatic, to aggressive screaming.

An expanded 2CD edition of Riverside's seventh studio album, Wasteland (from 2018). The band's first as a trio following the tragic death of co-founder and guitarist Piotr Grudziński in 2016, it represented a new beginning and a new creative height. This edition contains five previously unreleased acoustic tracks/versions on a separate disc.

Devin Townsend, possibly more widely known as the frontman for the extreme metal act Strapping Young Lad, began creating solo albums in 1997. Sometimes referred to as the 'Mad Scientist of Metal', Townsend produces a wide variety of music. This ranges from soft ambience designed, as he has stated, to put the listener to sleep, to high levels of thrash and extreme metal reminiscent of SYL. His works often feature a 'wall of sound', built by adding many layers of guitars and keyboards that are playing in unison or harmony. The end result is a number of carefully produced and mixed albums that favor high-end sound systems. Devin Townsend Project is another venture of Devin Townsend, considered separate from the material released as Devin Townsend. The project was originally conceived to comprise four albums of differing musical styles, each with a different set of guest/session musicians backing Townsend, but ended up continuing beyond that.

Warsaw's Riverside released three previous studio albums, all of which reflected their influences deeply, while quietly forging an identity all their own. Their deep love of heavy metal and prog rock was shared by some other Polish bands that created the "progski" scene in their home country, formed in the early part of the aughts. Influenced equally by Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, and Tool, their reputation at home and across Europe quietly spread and was enhanced by a devastating live show that combined stellar musicianship and metal dynamics…

Shrine of New Generation Slaves, the fifth studio outing from Polish progressive rock outfit Riverside, offers up another vast, propulsive, mercurial, and cinematic set of songs that skillfully skip through genres like a well-oiled radio dial, combining elements of heavy metal, jazz, pop, and Eastern European folk into a surprisingly palatable stew that should please fans of Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Kansas, and even Opeth.

Strapping Young Lad's guitarist leader embarked on a solo career with the enigmatic "Ocean Machine", an album of encompassing, thrilling atmospheres in which pop, metal, progressive metal, trash and nuances of electronic blended together in a very balanced way. This atmosphere somewhat recreated the best from the 80's decade: from the mainstream heavy metal scene to the dark atmospheres of The Cure or the frantic energy of Queen. To his virtuous and somewhat prolific guitar work in the vein of Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, Devin Towsend added his inspired gift for creating remarkable melodies and outstanding choruses, while his dynamic voice and obtuse lyrics gave the album the necessary melodic profoundness…