Trollheart

In contrast to the Progtronics disc, the ones given away free with at first Classic Rock Presents Prog and later just Prog, which went under the description of Prognosis, all featured either well--known or at least signed artists, who hopefully will be more in the line of the kind of prog I prefer. This is the third one they released.



Track 1: “Indigo” by Pendragon.
I’ve already covered this when I chose Pendragon as the first Featured Artist, so if you want a deeper review of it check that out. The opening cut from their 2008 album Pure, this track sees Pendragon in a heavier vein, moving somewhat away from the more often pastoral nature of their earlier albums, and tackling real-world issues. I think. Great track anyway. Good start.
Rating: 9/10

Track 2: “Motion” by Konchordat
This band, on the other hand, I know nothing about, but would hazard a guess that with a name like that they’re… French? No. Couldn’t be further. English, hailing from the green county of Kent. Well, so much for my guess. This is from their debut album English Ghosts and immediately there’s a more, well, prog feel to it than I got from any of the tracks on the Progtronics disc. I like the sort of medieval opening and the vocal is gentle but strong. And plenty of keyboards too thank the Great Pixie! The guitar is great too though. See? Already I have a new band to get into, something which did not happen with the other disc. Kind of a slower, majestic pace to this, certainly nowhere near as frenetic or heavy as the Pendragon song.
Rating: 9/10

Track 3: “Clear” by Breathing Space
This one should be right up my street. Band put together by the keyboard player from Mostly Autumn, this is from the second album by Breathing Space, entitled Below the Radar and features current Mostly Autumn singer Olivia Sparnenn on vocals; more uptempo than the previous, it of necessity sounds quite like the parent band, but that’s no bad thing, not for me anyway.
Rating: 9/10

Track 4: “Hollow Hills” by The Wishing Tree
And again, come to papa! The Wishing Tree is Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery’s solo band, and this is also from their second album, Ostara, though to be fair there seems to have been one hell of a gap between this and their debut - thirteen years in fact. But then, Steve’s a busy boy, so we can forgive him the wait I’m sure. As you might expect it’s pretty acoustic-y, very guitar-driven and quite laid back. Female vocals from (let’s see) Hannah Stobart - I think I recognise that name but not sure from where. Looks like it’s just herself and Steve; she writes the songs too apparently, and Steve does, well, everything else. Peter Trewavas lends a hand on the bass too. Nice.
Rating: 9/10

Interesting point: don’t know if it’s intentional but we’re halfway through the disc now and every act has been a British one, indeed an English one. Let’s see if that continues.

Track 5: “Breathe It In” by Darwin’s Radio
Well yes, so far it does. Darwin’s Radio are also English, and this is, again, from their second album, Template For a Generation, which has only three tracks, although they’re nineteen, eleven and thirteen minutes long. This one is the eleven-minute one. Lovely soft piano intro with powerful keyboard bursting through then it gets a bit prog metal. Hmm, I see the singer is one Declan Burke: surely not the same Dec Burke who released Destroy All Monsters? Oh. Yes. Yes it is. Interesting. Seems he left Darwin’s Radio after this album to pursue his own career, and given this is not only the second but also last album by the band, I guess we can assume they split up after he left. Pity. They sounded like they had real promise.
Rating: 9/10

Track 6: “The Wretched Fathoms” by Knifeworld
Technically still English, but the brains behind this band, Kavus Torabi, is anything but a Brit, as you might gather from his name. He's actually Iranian. This is from Knifeworld’s first album, Buried Alone - Tales of Crushing Defeat and it’s certainly a heavier track than anything we’ve had on this disc yet since Pendragon. Very much guitar-oriented, it seems to alternate from pounding guitar chords to softer, more soothing riffs, a little disorienting. Vocal seems very Beatles-ish. It’s also the shortest track on the disc, a mere three and a half minutes. Certainly interesting.
Rating: 7/10

Track 7: “Time Flies” by Porcupine Tree
Ah my old bugbear! Never quite sure what to make of Porcupine Tree. When they’re good they’re very very good, but they can often be not only mediocre but frustratingly inaccessible, for me anyway, as well. This is from their tenth album The Incident, and is a shortened, edited version of an eleven-minute track. It’s pretty uptempo, guitar-driven, fairly simple tune I guess for these guys. Almost a kind of indie rock vibe to it. Not bad.
Rating: 7/10

Track 8: “The Moment Has Passed” by The Resonance Association
And completing a totally English lineup, this is from The Resonance Association’s second album We Still Have the Stars. Sounds a little freaky and spacey and seems to be all instrumental, or at least this track is. The artist is described as “psychedelic/space rock” on Prog Archives, and I’d agree this sounds in that bracket. Lot of feedback, weird sounds, repeating motifs - not quite drone but close in ways - electronic samples, drum loops; gives a sense of early Hawkwind in places. Again, not bad, though I’m not sure I’d listen to a full album of this.
Rating: 6/10


Overall average rating for this disc: 8/10

Unsurprisingly, the Prognosis disc has a higher average rating, given that a) I knew at least some of the artists and b) most of the tracks scored around 9/10. As far as checking out further work from any artist on either disc goes, I would consider 4 on the Prognosis one (apart from the ones I am already aware of, that is) and at best 2 on the other one. No big revelation that the disc with what I would consider both more “my sort of prog” and also bands I know wins, but that doesn’t mean future Progtronics discs might not fare better. They’d do well to have some god-damn keyboards on them though to achieve that! Less metal and more prog please!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018