The war within

Stockholm instrumentalists Gösta Berlings Saga are back and celebrating 25 years of heady musical adventures with their seventh album, Forever Now . Driven by a thrill-seeking wanderlust to explore new sounds and the desire to remain recognisable, the band tell Prog they’re always searching for something new, even if they’re not actually sure what that is.

What began as a vague idea for two musicians from very different parts of the prog world to jam together has turned into an exciting electro-instrumental project. Bioscope combines the talents of Marillion’s Steve Rothery and Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning. The pair talk to Prog about the mutual respect they have for each other, and how they turned that into their long-gestating debut album Gentō .

The newly reconfigured band throw open the doors on an expansive sixth album. By Victoria Segal. Illustration by Quinton Winter.

Bringing a hard-rock swagger and the majesty of metal to their own brand of prog rock, Magic Pie break a six-year studio silence with Maestro . Frontman Eiríkur Hauksson tells Prog about being a metalhead in a prog world, writing songs at bus stops, and feeling the heat on Cruise To The Edge.

Manchester quartet hit heavy and soft with radiant prog sound.

WE WERE THE first band of our generation that started to grow up,” Billy Corgan says, reflecting on the making of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 grand opus, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. “The b