Raccomandata Con Ricevuta Ritorno - In Fuga Year: 2025
Score: 85
Style or Subgenre: Rock Progressivo Italiano, Heavy Prog
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 21st
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Raccomandata Con Ricevuta Ritorno -Per un mondo di cristallo Year: 1972
Score: 80
Style or Subgenre: Rock Progressivo Italiano
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 23rd
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Most prog fans know that the height of RPI saw many Italian artist make one brilliant album and then disband and disappear never to be heard from again.... or maybe not. For some reason, a good number of these one offs reformed decades later as if awakened almost simultaneously from some sort of cryogenic sleep. Not being familiar with Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, I had no idea they were one such band when I latched on to their 2025 release, In Fuga. The interesting thing is that there's really nothing on this album that would indicate they were one of the great RPI bands coming out of hibernation; it is a thoroughly modern album sounding more like contemporary heavy prog than RPI. That said, I really dug this album. On paper, it's nothing to write home about, but to my ear, it's magnificent. It's one of those albums that just gets better and better as you proceed through it and your ear gets more acclimated to the group's sound and approach. I would comfortably recommend this to any fan of contemporary RPI or heavy prog.
Upon learning of the group's history beginning with their one original era album in 1972, I had to seek that one out as well. That turned out to be a genuinely classic RPI album with all the expected adornments of diverse instrumentation and a prog folk meets symphonic prog approach that throws a little bit of everything at you including pieces of the kitchen sink. Being pure classic RPI, it comes across nothing like In Fuga a half century later. It's hard to relate these albums together musically, but there are common threads, namely the vocals which actually got a little sharper with age, and some very tasty drumming on both albums. Again, this is easily recommendable, maybe even essential, for fans of classic RPI.
Avkrvst - Waving at the Sky Year: 2025
Score: 75
Style or Subgenre: Heavy Prog, Progressive Metal
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 84th
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Think of this as a sort of less energetic/technical Norwegian Dream Theater by way of Haken with more understated vocals (save for the occasional cookie monster appearance). There's plenty of time signature flexibility to entertain my prog mind, but the overall subdued effect, while in tune with the subject matter, seems a little at odds with much of the musical approach. A reasonably solid prog album, but one I was definitely hoping to like more.
Celeste - Anima Animus Year: 2025
Score: 75
Style or Subgenre: Rock Progressivo Italiano
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 79th
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Celeste were yet another of those Rock Progressivo Italiano artists who produced one classic album, only to disappear seemingly forever... but then reformed after an extended hiatus. Their 2025 release departs little from their mostly instrumental, frequently flute filled, symphonic-folk blueprint. It's certainly a pleasant listen if not particularly forward thinking at this point.
Vimma - Ei noi muut Year: 2025
Score: 75
Style or Subgenre: Eclectic Prog
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 83rd
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I have no business liking this album. FIrst, there's hat hideous album cover, and yes, it seems a perfectly accurate representation of what lies within. Second, this album is for people at least four decades my junior. Now I'm not against young artists making youthful music; there is much that fits that description that I really love. But this is just that specific type of youthful that annoys me if that makes any sense.
So what is this album. Is it prog? Well, it is world folky, so that's a good start. It's also sometimes symphonic in attitude, so more to love there. It's also 21st century pop; no love there. It's punk; nope. It's rap; definitely not! It's all these things, so I gotta' call it prog jusrt for its audacious blending of seemingly incongruous genres.... and somehow these eclectic Finns make it all work, a testament to compositional skill. In the end, I can't help but champion this album.
Hora Prima - Hora Prima Year: 2025
Score: 90
Style or Subgenre: Rock Progressivo Italiano
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 7th
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I really try to listen to each artist on their own merits and not think of them in terms of other artists they may resemble or have taken influence from. Sometimes that can be a challenge, often more so with prog. Hora Prima, while formed less than a decade ago, clearly wear their reverence for the golden age of RPI right out in the open. What's more, it's so easy to spot various influences, not only from early RPI but also from various other artists along the way. While their first two cuts here sound like that classic sort of symphonic prog inspired, prog folk sounding blend that characterizes much of that early RPI, the subject matter is more modern. Then they kick off the third cut with pure electronica that gradually morphs into jazzy rock taking it's cue from Steely Dan. Later, they go heavy prog and end up sounding line an Italian Uriah Heep. Still later, they get the funk out recalling Funkadelic, complete with Eddie Hazel-ish guitar solo. As if that wasn't enough, they top it all off with a bonus track thiat might have you thinking "is this a Queen song?"
Normally, such clear derivativeness would cause me to mark an album down, at least a little. But not so here! This aforementioned influences, whether real or imagined on my part, give Hora Prima some real variety and they never fail to tickle my prog bone throughout this creative if reverent album. Really, I'm putting this in my top 3 prog albums of 2025 (so far).
Moon Letters - The Dark Earth Year: 2025
Score: 80
Style or Subgenre: Heavy Prog
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 60th
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Brand new heavy prog that brings its own shade of darkness across it's technical presentation. Not metal, but often exhibiting the spirit of extreme/technical metal, these ever changing compositions challenge the listener to keep up. I appreciate each listen more than the last, and I think this may climb on my list of the best prog of the year.
US - Between the Apex and the Pinnacle Year: 2025
Score: 75
Style or Subgenre: Rock Progressivo Neo-Prog
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 100th
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This new 2025 release by still obscure US, while perfectly adequate in any way, just screams of what could have been. We get a full hour of classic Neo-Prog spread across just four cuts. These are large scale compositions and I definitely admire the ambition. The problem is that these songs don't seem to make the most of their considerable running time, taking a paragraph to say what could be said in a sentence. I liken it to a Close to the Edge level of ambition but with a Tales from Topographic Oceans level of interest, but not having at the level of virtuosity of either. That all sounds worse than it is; Yes is a near impossible benchmark and this is fine music, I just found myself wanting more at times. In all honesty, that may just be my problem. Adding to my relative lack of excitement is that I could say something similar about the vocals; again they're perfectly serviceable, but just that without any unique character. I personally love John Wetton's voice, but I do understand when some people say he sounds generic. To me, what others say about Wetton is what I hear in US.
Still a solid 7.5/10 as an album for me, but I can't help that it's a bit of the tease, like a group on the verge of greatness, but not quite able to push that final yard.
Red Bazar - Blood Moon Year: 2025
Score: 70
Style or Subgenre: Crossover Prog, Progressive Metal
My Rank in Year as of this listen: Not in top 100
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There's surprisingly good variety in this 2025 crossover/prog-metal album. These are also well crafted songs, delivered by solid musicians. So I'm at a bit of a loss to discern why this left me so flat. The second listen was better than the first, but this will never challenge for a place on a year end list. If you like a mostly easy on the ear bit of prog metal gone mainstream, but with a few twists, this might still be worth a spin.
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