Guided by the light

The grand parade of lifeless packaging? Far from it, as this much-delayed blockbuster reissue of one of prog’s most fascinating and frustrating albums finally proves.

Amarok prove they’re more than worthy of their ...

Folk-proggers Kindred Spirit Band have teamed up with members of Gryphon, Stuckfish, Haze, Spriggan Mist and more on their seventh studio album. Bandleader Elaine Samuels tells Prog about the personal story that lies behind the conceptual The Journey Within , and the fantastical characters she conjured up to tell it.

IF PARADISE LOST guitarist Gregor Mackintosh gets his wish, music fans might be adding the gloom-driven sounds of his band’s Ascension LP to their Christmas playlists this year, perhaps alongside Yule

Robert Reed and Steve Balsamo’s progressive electronic duo Chimpan A are back with their long-awaited third album, the teasingly-titled Music Is Art – Vol. 1 . Comprising original material and some surprising cover versions, the double-length record also includes a host of impressive musical guests. The pair discuss making big-sounding songs, fanboy moments in the studio and their plans to cast us all under the Chimp spell!

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue: Roy Harper . Since the mid-60s, the progressive folk singer-songwriter has enjoyed a successful solo career that’s also found him collaborating with everyone from Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel to Kate Bush and Ian Anderson. But he’s never quite reached the commercial heights of his peers. As his Final Tour: Part Two fast approaches, he looks back over highlights from his career so far and teases a brand-new album.