Ora Cogan "Hard Hearted Woman" ALBUM REVIEW [Alt-Folk, Country Tinged, Dream Pop]

 

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media                released 2026

Ora Cogan feels like a creative spirit only partially committed to fully materializing in this world. I can’t think of many other artists who sound so consistently ethereal that you briefly wonder whether she might be an apparition rather than a performer.

And yet she is here—fully present, but almost like a mirror—reflecting light and colour from a place just beyond reach, somewhere slightly outside our usual frame of reference. I find I can’t quite approach her music in a conventional “album review” way. It resists that. It feels too artful, too emotionally layered, and too internally coherent to reduce to simple description, and it ends up demanding something more reflective and less fixed.

Maybe that’s the point of it. Perhaps it does something similar for other listeners too: why go to an art gallery (though you still should), or set out on a slow Sunday road trip (also still worth doing), when you can be quietly transported and held by her world—by Hard Hearted Woman and the company it keeps?

I’m especially drawn to the growing country influence in some of her new songs, a genre whose finest moments are built on honesty, plainspoken emotion, and unvarnished truth. I could even compare her, in a small way, to Neil Young—an artist driven by an everything-be-damned commitment to authenticity.

Her addition of violin always feels perfect for her too. She plays some on the album. Her vocals are gauzy and vulnerable, kind of plaintive at moments. 

You can really feel her vision expanding on this album as a progression from the last. Although she already is well on her way in her musical journey. 

I might seem a hard-hearted man, but I’m not going to score this album. I think you already know that. Would you give a beautiful flower you discover growing outside your back door a score? 

Dennis Atlas "Principle" ALBUM REVIEW [80s Prog-inspired Hard Rock/ Arena Rock]

by Dean Wolfe, Prog Dog Media            (released May 2026).

This album would earn a perfect score from me if every track matched the closing song, “We Can Be the Future.” It overflows with optimism and a kind of hyperactive, almost nuclear-squirrel energy that captures what Dennis Atlas seems to be all about.

That track makes me want to grow my frickin’ hair long, crank the CD in the car stereo, and blast it while cruising down the nearest main drag with the roof down—ideally with a couple of my bros perched in the back.

This is what I’d call kick-ass, ’80s prog-inspired, big-hair rock. I’d place it in the same general spirit as Journey and Styx: energetic, melodic American rock with a progressive edge.

And it’s simply fun. This is the kind of music I’d put on at a party where plenty of beer—or root beer—was being served.

Given Dennis Atlas’s relative youth (still in his 20s), he stands out as someone who can convincingly channel the prog and rock traditions of a bygone era—one marked by unapologetic optimism and fist-pumping energy. He can wail vocally just as effortlessly as he can fly across the keyboard, making him a truly impressive and versatile musician.

Of course, Dennis Atlas didn’t create this album entirely on his own. He had some remarkable support on Principle. As the newest keyboardist and member of Toto, he has earned the respect of some legendary musicians, several of whom contributed to the album, including Steve Lukather and Bumblefoot (known for his work with Asia and Guns N' Roses).

“Violent Power” was the first track I heard before reviewing the album, and it immediately convinced me that this was an artist worth paying attention to. It’s an adrenaline-charged opener that gets me completely fired up—before long, my fists are pumping in the air.

I wish there were a bit more jazz-inspired passages like the ones in “Save It for Tomorrow.” If Dennis Atlas leaned further into that side of his musical personality, I’d be very happy. The song is packed with shifting time signatures and unexpected twists and turns, along with a tasteful saxophone solo that adds another layer of sophistication. And throughout it all, you can hear some wonderful inspiration from the adventurous spirit of 1970s progressive rock.

Then there’s Dennis Atlas’s cheeky sense of musical playfulness, which comes through strongly on the instrumental “Candy on Mars.” The track is driven by some seriously funky bass lines and the kind of whimsical keyboard flourishes that could become one of his trademarks. It’s impossible for me to hear those lighthearted touches without smiling.

I love the positivity Atlas displays. I believe this is the quality that is going to serve him well into the future. Those moments on the album that he just lets go and rips are great. Always nice to have an uplifting party album to reach for in the collection. 

If you’re a party-pooper, this album may not be for you. Dennis Atlas is filling a much-needed niche, delivering unapologetically fun, high-energy progressive rock with genuine heart.

I’m giving "Principle" 4 out of 5 Dog Bones.

What a strong year 2026 is proving to be for progressive rock.

My initial favourite tracks are “We Can Be the Future,” “Candy on Mars,” and “Violent Power.”

The only track that feels a little musically awkward to me at times is “When the Monster Attacks,” though the bass and drum work are excellent, and the lyrics are particularly interesting.

A Liquid Landscape "Rogue Planet" ALBUM REVIEW

 

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media                       Album release 2026. 

This album has been keeping me company lately. It is a melodic, deeply atmospheric record that, as its final track fades, seems to demand that you start it over from the beginning.

This album feels like a blend of post-grunge and the graceful, Pink Floyd-inspired side of progressive rock. It is unmistakably guitar-centric, which I love, and the distortion tones in particular are consistently tasteful, with a rich, velvety character. All the instrumentation - particularly the energetic drum work as well—are excellently recorded and sound great. 

The vocals are not an afterthought, but A Liquid Landscape feel to me like an instrumental, post-rock-leaning band with a singer baked into the overall sound. Rather than the music serving as a backdrop for the vocals, the voice remains down in the orchestra pit with the rest of the musicians—an integral part of the arrangement rather than the dominant focal point. The singer’s voice is highly produced and stylized—breathy and youthful in tone, with an overall soft and warm character.

The lyrics—and this is only my interpretation—seem open-eyed and questioning, grappling with much of what is happening in the world. There is a measure of cynicism, but it is balanced by a clear sense of hope: “There’s a spark inside,”  and “Tiny footsteps lead the way, I’m sure.” 

“I dreamt a dream bigger than me” feels like a line anyone in a band like this might relate to. Isn’t that part of why albums get made in the first place? “We need a brave, resilient future we are proud to call our own.”

I noticed something interesting in the album’s song arrangement. “Few and Far Between” and “Raven Song” are each split into two parts—so in a sense, it feels like four tracks that are interwoven, evolving as part of a larger structure rather than standing as strictly separate pieces.

I find myself curious about how this came to be: what actually ties the parts together? Are they variations on the same musical idea, lyrically linked, or connected in a more abstract, conceptual way?

What I appreciate is that repeated listens don’t immediately settle the question. There’s a deliberate ambiguity that holds up over time instead of resolving too quickly. I did eventually notice, for example, that “Raven Song” revisits a musical motif in a transformed way, which makes the connection feel intentional without being over-explained.

This is a powerful 4½ out of 5. While occasionally haunting, the album is cavernously deep and often serenely gorgeous.

...that's the same as 9 out of 10 for the math challenged, :-) 

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P.S. For anyone wondering, when it comes to reviewing and scoring albums, I tend to gravitate toward records I either enjoy a lot or find engaging in a constructive way from the outset. It doesn’t feel particularly worthwhile to spend time dissecting albums that I already sense will land poorly for me. I tend to reserve that kind of deeper critical scrutiny for releases from major artists where higher expectations are part of the context, and where disappointment feels more revealing than simply writing something off.

Emily Rach Beisel "Sumptuous Branching" ALBUM REVIEW [Cinematic, Drone, Avant, Experimental, Ambient]

by Dean Wolfe (Prog dog Media)       Album released April 10, 2026.

I didn't know what to expect, but I ended up really loving this album. Like...damn. 

Sumptuous Branching is an invigorating, challenging listen—decidedly not background music and not for the faint of heart. It demands attention, rewarding even as it unsettles, like a disturbance that stirs a riverbed and leaves the water cleaner.

Soloist Emily Rach Beisel is a Chicago-based improviser, composer, educator, curator, and woodwind specialist. She performs all music on this album, with bass clarinet, vocals, piccolo, and electronics. Listening to her work can feel like an alien abduction: everything familiar falls away, replaced by a world you didn’t know existed. She has said she was inspired by late medieval chant, drawn to its wild freedom and rich density. Whatever the artist’s statement might suggest, my first instinct is to set that aside and respond directly to what I’m hearing.

As a fan of first-contact movies like Arrival, I can’t help but think much of the album would be perfectly suited as a film score covering that same strange territory. “To Rise in Arms,” a standout track, captures this tension perfectly—at once jarringly beautiful, but also eerie and otherworldly.

'Her Still Singing Limbs' evokes strong imagery in my mind, reminding me of the classic early 70's TV show Kung Fu about a peaceful Shaolin monk who travels the desert expanse of the American Old West, using martial arts and wisdom to avoid violence while helping others and searching for his lost half-brother. 

Fragments of the familiar do surface on this album, especially on the title track, thoughtfully chosen to close the album with, offering a kind of quiet reassurance. A simple, lonesome clarinet begins with a single breath, before three or four voices gradually join in, answering it in kind—loneliness still present, but shared, and in that sharing, softened. It restores a distinctly warm human touch within a broader soundscape of electronically scrambled and manipulated textures.

[The album was recorded at Marmalade in Chicago by Bill Harris, mixed by Harris and Beisel, mastered by Edward Hamel. This is her second album released through Chicago’s avant/exploratory label Amalgam. She is wrapping up a mid-west tour right now.] 

https://www.emilybeisel.com

https://emilyrachbeisel.bandcamp.com

https://www.instagram.com/beisel_m_

https://www.amalgamusic.org

https://www.instagram.com/amalgam_chicago

https://www.facebook.com/amalgamusic


FOR FANS OF:
Sunn O))), Om, Zu, Faust, Amon Düül, Colin Stetson, Nala Sinephro, John Zorn, Oren Ambarchi

GENRES:
Drone, Avant Jazz, Experimental, Ambient

Angine De Poitrine "Vol.II" ALBUM REVIEW [microtonal looper math rock/prog(?)]

by Dean Wolfe, prog dog media.   Album released 2026. 

If you’ve been living under a rock lately, prepare yourself. Vol. II by ADP is a brain-stunner of an album that hits you like that soccer ball you never saw coming.

Angine De Poitrine, it seems, are the “chosen ones” to bring lively, fun, quirky, challenging, and audacious instrumental rock to a nutrition-deprived audience. It’s all delivered with snappy drums, a double-neck instrument combining bass and six-string guitar (with twice the usual number of frets), and a complex looper rig demanding speedy, barefooted coordination and precision.

The mania is spreading ever wider since the duo’s live KEXP performance on YouTube (13 million views as of this writing). This burst of popularity suggests a genuine thirst among listeners for something different—if not outright unhinged—compared to the usual mainstream churn of predictable or overly processed schlock,  not to mention an endless stream of replayed classic hits of yesteryear, and yester-century.

Has the dam broken? Is Angine De Poitrine the long-overdue wrench in the machine that prophets have foreseen and forewarned us about? Is a massive world-wide musical reboot about to be triggered? 

I knew this would be a hard album to review, because Vol. II by Angine De Poitrine isn’t just a unique record. This papier-mâché-clad Québécois duo is fast becoming a heavily scrutinized, impossible-to-ignore cultural phenomenon.

Many longtime prog fans count themselves among Angine De Poitrine’s new devotees, hyping the pyramid hand signals in YouTube comments—and probably in real life too. Some even claim the duo as “one of their own.” But is it really progressive rock?

Rather than belabour genre labels, it’s probably easier to accept a few things. Plenty of prog fans love this band, and math rock, while it came later, digs into the same kind of rhythmic complexity. And yet it’s still its own thing—related to prog, but not quite the same. Clear as mud.

What does the duo say about their own music? I discovered a very recent interview on Youtube entirely in French. In their own words (translated and with a bit of paraphrasing): 

"[Angine De Poitrine] is first of all a duo... rock with a bit of an electro flavour, meaning the music is constructed and built on loops. There's a certain repetitiveness but always with an intentional build-up to bring in the next phase or a more developed riff etc.

"The tunes keeps moving forward, and don't stagnate.... but they have a kind of repetitiveness that reminds you of techno... In terms of timbre it's anchored in a very instrumental rock tradition- a bit left field overall. Super danceable."

They say that got into microtonality simply through curiosity and were...

"interested in ever increasing complexity ...the notion of a challenge is always attractive. ...it started with a fascination with eastern music...but we didn't want to copy it - we used it in a way that was more our own...our own flavour...made sure it wasn't just a pastiche of what's done in the East. We make it very 'Seguanay-an'...(they are from Seguanay Quebec)"

So, they are making use of microtonality in a way they were comfortable with and in a way they enjoy--attracted by the closeness of the notes, the friction, the timbre, and the novelty as well. 

Listening to Vol. II, I feel reassured they’re here to stay. This doesn’t strike me as a flash in the pan. They did refer to ADP as a “project” in an interview, which suggests they’ll stick with it only as long as it continues to challenge and intrigue them—but on this album, their artistic integrity feels intact. The music is genuinely strong, and it sticks—more like cast iron than Teflon. And how can you not love “UTZP,” with its munchkin-scaled, Led Zeppelin-ish flair?

The album feels a tad on the short side, but there’s that old saying: “leave ’em wanting more.” There’s good variety across the tracks, even veering a bit country on the opener to side two, keeping things consistently interesting as one piece flows into the next.

There’s a deliberate otherworldliness to the album, mainly in the occasional vibey vocals—like Sesame Street aliens singing from another planet—and in lead guitar lines soaked in wild, unpredictable effects.

The bass tones really rock out, reminding me of Chris Squire on The Yes Album, with aggressive pick use and plenty of lines up high on the fretboard. This album is fun and fresh. ADP pull the tablecloth out from under the listener’s dinner plates before they even realize what’s happened. There are generous splatterings of funk, disco, rock, and jazz fusion, plus an armada of catchy riffs—cleverly making use of, quite literally, the notes between the notes.

The drumming is also highly satisfying. Klek is, quite literally and figuratively, half of the band’s sound—and together with Khn, they are far more than the sum of their parts. Hearing them play together, it’s not surprising to learn they’ve been jamming since they were young teenagers.

I give this ingenious and highly listenable album 5 out of 5 prog dog bones. Do yourself a favour—pull up a chair and let these Quebecois masters of microtonal riffs pepper your brain with polka dots. You won't know what hit you. Guaranteed fun for the whole family. 

Clive Nolan "The Mortal Light" ALBUM REVIEW [prog-adjacent theatrical rock]

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media. Album released February 2026. 

This is a fun listen—even though outside my usual range. Rock musicals and stage productions aren’t in my regular rotation, so it’s fair to wonder why I’m even reviewing this. The short answer: I don’t mind stepping outside my comfort zone. And with a project from British progrock mainstay Clive Nolan (Pendragon, Arena, Shadowland, Strangers on a Train, and Caamora), it felt like a safe enough bet that it wouldn’t be time wasted. "The Mortal Light’ is the third musical in the ‘Alchemy’ series. It chronicles the ongoing journey of Professor King and friends as they navigate the dangers and challenges of a colourful Steampunk Victorian ‘Universe’.

I approach this album the same way I would a good book—something to take in from cover to cover. It’s a time investment, and that’s the point. This is also the kind of release that demands a physical copy—the package is an attractive box set of 4 CDs and 3 booklets, with a full story to follow in graphics and text. I’d splurge if I had the cash, but for now I’ll be relying on the PDFs that came with the digital promo.

The vocals are strong and spirited throughout from an extensive cast of characters. It must have taken a lot of time just to organize all the singing sessions. They mostly avoid that traditional operatic style—which I appreciate—and at times in the style of Nightwish music. Compositionally, it’s solid, as is the production but not every second is crafted with the precision of The Dark Side of the Moon, probably because it spans over two 70 minute CDs. Tracks like Prophesy, and especially the verse in Decisions for example, deliver some genuinely moving and powerful melodies. Fade is powerfully cinematic. There’s also a lot of character acting and dialogue woven throughout. So this is definitely an album that has to be experienced in sequence—Act 1 through Act 2.

One of my favourite elements is the incidental percussion—bodhráns and other hand-driven rhythms that Clive Nolan uses so effectively. There’s a real sense of variety, and it adds a lot of character. At times, it genuinely feels like he’s tapped into some Viking-warrior drum circle—and it hits in a way that feels almost primal, like it’s waking up something buried deep.

Prog Dog score: 4 prog dog bones out of 5. If rock musicals are your thing, you’ll likely enjoy this distinctly British, sumptuous extravaganza, featuring impressive vocal performances and plenty of drama.

Advent Horizon "Falling Together" ALBUM REVIEW [Prog Metal/Progressive Rock]

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog media      (Advent Horizon's 4th Album, released 2026)

Ambitious and inspiring, “Falling Together” is Advent Horizon's fourth album.  It leaves a strong and lingering impression beginning with In a Lone and Dreary World, the mere 19 minute 'opener' that establishes the album's adrenaline-fueled energy. The musical foundation is its monolithic sonically fine-tuned prog-metal guitar tones and dangerous and gut-punching bass and drum rhythm section. It's all dressed up with plenty of synths and amazing vocal harmonies. 

But despite all the explosive instrumental dynamite, the glue that makes the album cohesive as a whole for me is the vocals and also, surprisingly, the acoustic guitar that is revisited throughout and gives the album a more unique signature. Keyboards also play an essential role in the band, keeping it firmly in progressive rock territory, nicely rounding out this super-tight and at times djent-y band. 

Rylee McDonald is gifted and super-capable singer and reminds me a bit of Dennis deYoung of Styx. He shares the lead vocal on some tracks with Kristen McDonald, whose voice is absolutely sublime (and that can't be understated). She seems to have the female energy that brings balance to the universe and to this band, though she doesn't appear to be a permanent member per se (but she is married to Rylee I believe). 

A quick aside: This newer generation of prog-makers are helping the genre expand from its late ’60s and ’70s origins, delivering modern interpretations and fresh iterations. It used to be a relatively small circle in the 70s— Yes, Rush, Genesis, King Crimson, E.L.P., Renaissance, Gentle Giant, Camel etc. Nowadays the offerings are growing broader each year. It’s not a couple handful of acts creating great music: it’s a boatload. Truly this is thanks in part to much more affordable recording technology and also due to the instant and all encompassing internet distribution. An album that cost tens of thousands in the 70s can be arguably rivalled on a laptop computer with a digital interface and a few decent microphones. But there are no shortcuts in the art of songwriting, musical instrument mastery, and having an ear for properly produced music and arrangements.

So here's a band regularly reaching for those ‘hairs-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck’ moments. The production is beautiful, the songwriting stays interesting and engaging, and not overly hooky.  My two word review of Falling Together is: (drum roll...) "Ridiculously good." My score is 4.5 prog dog bones out 5.