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Anton Johansson was van 1999 tot 2006 een gewaardeerd lid van de Zweedse band Mister Kite die een enigszins vergelijkbare heavy, maar melodieuze metal met proginvloeden produceerde als Dream Theater.

Netherland Dwarf is a one man band from Japan. Well, that's about all I could find on the internet. Undoubtedly this artist has been inspired by the great classical composers and the prog from the seventies. According to the artist, the name has been chosen since the Netherland Dwarf - a particular breed of rabbit - moves restless and unpredictable, just like the music on Moi Moi. This album was recorded in 2009 and 2010 and was released in 2011. Listening to the album it all sounds very melodic and hardly as unpredictable as a rabbit.

King Crimson already played the music from their debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969) and from their second album In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970) whilst performing live in the late sixties and in 1970. A mere change in the line-up, made a huge difference because obviously my favourites would be the tracks penned by Ian McDonald and he only contributed to less than two tracks and he is no longer credited as a member of this illustrious outfit.

James Byrd is one of the most distinguished guitarists in the symphonic metal genre. He left the band Fifth Angel in 1987 to embark on a solo career. Songwriting had already begun for the next album by Fifth Angel when Byrd decided to quit the band.

Arthur Brown is one of the most influential vocalists in the history of rock music. He has a very distinguished style and he is unique in his performances. With his voice he's able to whisper, shout, scream, sing like a classically trained tenor or to sing softly in a jazzy style. Ever since the late sixties with his huge hit Fire (1968), Brown has been singing, dancing and recording and still performs to date.

Absinthe Junk is a quartet hailing from Nashville (Tennessee) and Dayton (Ohio, USA). The band plays an alternative kind of metal meets (progressive) rock and is fronted by singer Blair Smart, a lady who also plays the violin, viola, cello, keyboards and guitar. Other band members are Patrick Himes (keyboards, lead guitar, background vocals) and currently Matt Arseneau (bass) and Ben Bruno (drums). On this record, for the most part, we hear other musicians playing drums and bass.

In iO Pages besprak collega-recensent Paul Rijkens het album Machines And Dreams van de Poolse musicus Kayanis. Evenals ik kwam hij tot de conclusie dat de Pool wel erg geïnspireerd moet zijn door musici als Mike Oldfield, Gandalf, Jean Michel Jarre en Vangelis. Toch heeft deze in zijn thuisland populaire toetsenist-bassist beslist ook een eigen inbreng, waarvan hij op zijn derde studioalbum Synesthesis blijk geeft.

Quorum is an interesting Russian band. The band was formed in 2003 and the current line-up consists of Dmitri Shtatnov (keyboards, vocals, bass, main composer), Pavel Barabnov (guitars), Sergey Nicoronov (drums, Elena Kanevskaya (backing vocals) and Dmitri Drogounov (flutes, voices).

Memories Of Machines is a collaboration between Nosound mastermind Giancarlo Erra and No-Man vocalist Tim Bowness. The first time they started the idea of doing something together dates from 2005 and in late 2010 the ideas were finally brought to life.

In Polen is Kayanis een zeer bekende muzikant. Hij is ruim drie jaar bezig geweest met dit bijzondere project, waarin hij klassieke muziek combineert met elementen uit symfo, prog, rock, pop en elektronische muziek (EM). Where Abondened Pelicans Die is de opvolger van Synthesis (2001), dat Kayanis overigens ook opnam met een orkest en een keur aan muzikanten. De rode draad in dit ruim vijf kwartier durende muziekspektakel wordt gevormd door enkele wonderschone thema's.