Prog's Tracks Of The Week is back after a week's break while we went on holiday! And we've got seven new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Congratulations to Colombian prog quartet Argovia, whose richly melodic Mountains won last week's Tracks Of The Week, with Tunisian-French progressive metal quartet Myrath beating off a stern challenge from Swedish prog metallers Soen for second place.
The premise is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it? The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier, could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
SCHOOL DISCO - SIMULATION III
School Disco are a psych/prog quartet from Brighton and Simulation III is the first track Prog has heard from the band. It didn't take long for the band's blend of prog and jazz flavours, not to mention the shuffling 6/8 groove of the track, to appeal to our ears, however. The fact that they're signed to a label called Krautpop! shouldn't go unnoticed either. The song is taken from the band's upcoming fourth studio album School Disco SDIV. Very much part of the younger musical movement, including bands such as English teacher and Black Country New Road; all prog-inspired and taking new sounds into different areas.
“Simulation III came out real quick. I was meant to put a different song forward, then this one sort of just presented itself," says bassist and vocalist Laurence Underood. "It sounded menacing to me, so I thought I’d have to match that with the lyrics. At the time, I was seeing a lot of people online talking about ‘the simulation’ and thought that the idea of actually believing that is pretty funny. Pair that with rewatching the Matrix movies and there you go, a song about living in a simulation.”
THE BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA - WINTER MAJESTY
Correct us if we're wrong, but we're pretty certain prog pop duo The Blackheart Orchestra are first out the traps this year with a seasonal offering. And what a little beauty the plaintive Winter Majesty is. The new song features Big Big Train's Claire Lindley on violin and Brian Mullen on cello. It's been a big week for the band, for none other than Mike Batt picked the band's Utopia Hotel album as his favourite modern album on Times Radio's Old & New, and he knows a thing or two about good music. Well deserved.
"Winter Majesty was written on the Winter solstice," says the band's Rick Pilkington. "It's a new, more thoughtful song for Christmas that questions the hyped up lights and maxed-out credit cards in favour of being called by the shifting season to slow down, to rest and reflect on the wisdom of nature. Winter Majesty beckons us to a crackling fire, to reject the outside noise and to follow nature's lead for the company of loved ones and the beauty of things that happen in the long, slow dark."
EINAR SOLBERG - STELLA MORTUA
When Leprous singer Einar Solberg stated he was keeping the more proggy and orchestral sounds for his solo work, he wasn't joking. What a monster of a track his brand new single, Stella Mortua is! Backed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, this first piece of new music since his 2023 solo debut 16, and it bodes well for his upcoming second album, which is finished and released next year. Solberg will be touring throughout Europe in September.
"Stella Mortua is one of the darkest and most grandiose pieces I’ve ever written — a fusion of progressive metal and cinematic orchestration, recorded by the incredible Norwegian Radio Orchestra," he explains. "It explores how envy and insecurity can quietly thrive beneath the surface of success. In this world, demons wear tuxedos, and pride slowly turns to paralysis. With Stella Mortua, the Einar Solberg project has truly found its sound: highly dynamic, orchestral and cinematic progressive metal with an emotional core. I’m going all the way with this.”
NEW MISERABLE EXPERIENCE - ORDINARY PEOPLE
When you consider the band members of New Miserable Experience come from the heavier end of the musical spectrum - Rivers Of Nihil, Revocation, Rosetta and Model Prisoner - then the sound the quintet makes is likely to surprise you. No crushing heaviness, blastbeats and screaming guitars here. Instead, it's a measured synth-heavy sound with the emphasis on melody and clean vocals. The band release their new album, Gild The Lilly, through Pelagic Records on January 23. Give it a go. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Ordinary People is, according to the band, "a song that is a reaction to rich and powerful men trying to convince us that they are ordinary people and that empathy is a toxic trait.”
BLANKET - TRUE BLUE
Blackpool post-rockers Blanket will release their new album, True Blue, through Adventure Cat Records on January 26 and have just shared a video for the title track. The new album is said to expand on the lush atmospheres and emotional depth that have defined their sound over their previous albums, How To Let Go (2018), Modern Escapism (2021) and Ceremonia (2024). Excellent news.
"When we wrote True Blue, it felt like the whole thing finally fell into place — the vibe, the lyrics, the meaning — everything started to make sense. The track, and really the whole record, is about brighter days, a bit of nostalgia, and finding beauty in the small, quiet moments," the band explain. "We used samples from films like Nomadland, which felt right and added to the atmosphere we were trying to build."
OZUL - VULTURE
Ozul is the cinematic solo project of Norwegian/Costa Rican filmmaker Paulo Chavarría, creating emotionally dense and narrative-driven progressive rock. He will release his upcoming concept album, Stillborn Hope Vol I in May 2026, from which comes the slow-building, sometime Floydian Vulture. It's Ozul's third album, following 2023's debut Provenance and Man On The Shore, which followed a year later.
"As a filmmaker, I've created a video that I believe is a powerful, arthouse statement that will resonate with your readers," explains Chavarria.
LAUGHING STOCK - NOT TODAY
Norwegian prog trio Laughing Stock will release their seventh album, Life In Seven Dreams (the band's seventh release in seven years, no less) through Apollon Records on September 27. The delicate and sombre Not Today features a fitting guest vocal from Tim Bowness, while Camel bassist Colin Bass also appears on the forthcoming album.
"It is a very personal song, and Jan Mikael (Sørensen, guitar and vocals) composed it when life was at its darkest," the band say. "He just wanted to disappear and to not be found. At the time, he was working on some projects with Tim Bowness, and one of those was the lyrics to Not Today. Tim Bowness offered to do it, and he recorded the vocals in a cabin somewhere in England, the same day Jan Mikael’s mother died. It made the following days a bit brighter, and Jan Mikael, Jan Erik and Håvard is eternally grateful for the favour."
