In the beginning of the 90's I got into a serious 'metal state'. The reason was obvious. At that time it was the liveliest scene around. Prog had been gone for years, new wave was turning stale and the Happy Mondays were ruling the charts. In this climate also progressive rock morphed into its metalized shape: progressive metal. And next to pioneers like Dream Theater and Fates Warning there was also this less known but nevertheless marvellous band Psychotic Waltz.

Into The Everflow was the first Psychotic Waltz album I heard and it rocked my socks off. It's sure the most overwhelming prog-metal album ever for me. They play with considerable rhythmic and melodic virtuosity, yet balancing this against very subtle and intimate passages and very intense, expressive and original vocals. Imagine Ozzy could really sing and you're close.

The opener should be an immediate winner for all progheads. Gentle guitars and keys work against heavier sections. It changes into a huge David Bowie salute when the vocals kick in. The dead-heavy second track leaves no doubt that they are really a metal band. Be it one with an exceptional gift for original melodies, both in the eerie vocals as in the intricate guitar riffing that constantly progresses into new sequences. Inspiration for 5 albums on this one track.

Next on is Tiny Streams, a song with a huge Sabbath feel (even in the lyrics). It was the first song I heard from them and it immediately drew me into their weird psychotic sound.

The title track is probably everybody's favourite. It's an extended and brooding piece with beautiful picking on spacey guitar chords. About half of it consist of breathtaking harmonic guitar soloing. A typical feature of the PW sound but they never had it better then here.

Little People and Freakshow stick to the complex progressive metal style of Tiny Streams. In between sits a pleasantly lighter piece called Hanging On A String. A ballad that is as good as the sweet melancholic ballads that the Scorpions did in the 2nd half of the seventies.

Butterfly is the other long piece here. It goes through multiple changes, from an almost jazzy opening into something that sounds like Ozzy Osbourne doing some Jethro Tull Benefit chorus. Halfway in, on top of some great percussion jamming, an endless number of musical quotations are thrown into the mix. All too soon, the chorus is repeated and the 9 and a half minutes have passed already.

Despite their obvious influences Psychotic Waltz had an entirely unique sound. Maybe an acquired taste but if you dig it, you will probably find yourself entirely addicted. I'd say go in and discover them and who knows, you'll find yourself hooked forever. One of the best metal albums ever.

"Stained Class" is the first Priest to abandon the heroic 70s cover paintings in favor for something more metallic and straightforward. A very fitting choice as also the music sheds the more progressive and mellow aspects of the preceding Priest albums. The result is their first - and one of their few - albums that I find entirely consistent, in sound as well as quality. It was sure their most aggressive album till then and a leap towards the NWOBHM that would soon take off.

An excellent work, and even if my personal preference goes to "Sad Wings" and "Sin After Sin", this is the album where Priest fully fleshed out their full metal potential. Alas, they would abandon this level of excellence to return with a more commercial approach on the next couple of albums.

My Judas Priest favorite from the 80s. The band had hit a commercial peak with "Screaming For Vengeance" and "Defenders" doesn't deviate much from the previous album. The main difference is the production, which is very thick, complete with overproduced 'gated' snare drums and bombastic production of vocals and guitars. An approach that could be coined as 'make everything sound bigger then everything else'.

The sound makes the album very dated and deprives it from Priest's usual attack and rocking power. But the quality of the songs more then makes up for that, even when things get almost unbearably cheesy, such as on the arena rock anthems "Rock Hard Ride Free" and "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll". Almost too silly to be true, but still Priest make even these songs work. They would be a lot less lucky with that sort of songs on the "Turbo" disaster.

This album couldn't possibly sound more 1984 then it does, but the dated sound is part of its charm. Priest's best from the 80s for me, though it must be said they started to sound like a bunch of old men compared to the more uncompromising 'young and violent' style of the upcoming thrashers of that time.

After being blown away by their debut 'Tall Poppy Syndrome', 'Bilateral' was a much anticipated album for 2011. And I must say that I'm not disappointed. Leprous built further on their songwriting and playing strengths; they also dropped most of their extreme vocals, which I find a wise choice in their case.

Leprous are probably the most exciting thing in prog metal since a long long time. I may prefer Riverside but Leprous dares to cover more ground, with keyboards that avoid traditional neo and prog metal cliches in favor of a more modern approach. The keyboards are maybe comparable to Porcupine Tree's Barbieri, who also favors texture and original sounds above the usual twiedeliwiedelie keyboard runs. So far with the Porcupine Tree references, as the guitars, drums and vocals are far more metal and more prog then Porcupine Tree. The sound is fuller, heavier and more metallic, and vocalist Solberg just has the perfect voice. Could I compare him to a cross of Daniel Gildenglow with that guy from Haken? Something along those lines maybe.

The masterpiece of the album is the 10 minute 'Forced Entry', the remainder of the tracks are shorter but keep a lot of things going and always have an element of surprise, twisting known song formats inside out and spicing everything up with everything that can be expected from prog metal, such as haphazard time-signatures, scenic songwriting, over-the-top theatricality, and - unusual for the genre - great vocals. Ihsahn shrieks an appearance on 'Thorn', which also features some interesting sax.

Leprous is a unique band that succeeds in marrying the attractions of classic prog metal with a fresh approach that is aggressive and modern, avoiding both the cliches and the cheese, and remaining entirely fascinating throughout the entire album. I'm pretty sure this is one of the best Prog Metal albums of recent years. Haven't stopped playing this for weeks on end now.

If you could argue that Black Sabbath is hard rock rather then Metal, then Priest's "Sad Wings of Destiny" leaves no room for doubt, this is pure metal, with soaring twin guitars, dark harmonies, thunderous riffs and piercing leads.

It may not be the first album with twin guitars (the Scorpions come to mind) but it's the first this level of attack and vile mood. The vocals are loud, epic and overstated, and much like the death metal growls of a good decade later, they divided mankind into two camps, lovers and haters of heavy metal. Till Metallica's black album there was little room inbetween. I must have been 15 when I first heard this album (a dedicated fan of prog and opera in those years :) I can tell you I didn't know what hit me, love at first sight for sure.

I know a certain Priest fan that doesn't like this because it is too slow. What the heck, the guy needs to lay off the speed pills. This is the most gloomy Priest album, and one of the few metal albums to get so close to the morbid atmosphere of Black Sabbath's early albums. No metal collection can exist without it. Even with a bit of filler like 'Epitaph' this is nothing short of a masterpiece.