Black Widow's second album finds them dialling back the psychedelic and occult influences on their sound, yielding a sort of bluesy proto-prog approach. Opening number Tears and Wine, for instance, lands particularly close to the sound Audience had circa House On the Hill when it comes to finding comparisons on the wider scene, particularly on the opening Tears and Wine; other moments, like The Journey or Poser, suggest the influence of early Deep Purple. Zoot Taylor's organ and piano contributions and Clive Jones' interjections on flute and sax make sure that there's a touch of psych-prog still in play, but it's certainly less original and distinctive than their debut album, Sacrifice.

This may have boded ill for Black Widow going forwards, lending credence to the perception that once they moved away from their eye-catching early concept there wasn't that much to them, and certainly there's a touch of the "transitional album" here. On the plus side, this does mean that the sound is fairly varied; on the downside, it'll be a rare listener that loves all of these tunes equally. The Gypsy, for instance is a mostly-acoustic number save for a volcanic electric guitar solo, which isn't quite a novelty song but feels like it's at risk of going in that direction at any moment.

There's flashes of a potentially new vision here and there; Mary Clark, in particular, comes across especially well, though there's a caveat here - it's actually a left-over song from the Sacrifice sessions, the earlier version of which was left off the album because it didn't fit the concept, and so the update here is more of a flash of the genius which once animated the band rather than the light at the end of the tunnel for their creative crisis.

Had Black Widow swiftly found a strong new creative vision to pursue after moving on from the style of Sacrifice, perhaps their history would have been different. As it stands, it's easy to see how at the time the album didn't quite hit the mark - anyone keen for the Sacrifice approach would have felt disappointed, anyone open to a new direction might regard what they're playing here as rather similar to what a lot of progressive groups were doing at the time. In retrospect, it's not half bad, with The Journey and Mark Clark being particular highlights, but it's unsurprising it got lost in the shuffle. One for those who particularly like the sound of the more Deep Purple-ish end of proto-prog.

This is the third of the three distinct ways you can take in Black Widow's debut concept album, Sacrifice. The first-released, second-recorded one is, of course, the Sacrifice album itself; second-released but earlier-recorded was Return To the Sabbat, the demo version of the album which included Kay Garret on vocals before she left the band which was finally saw an official release in 1997.

This was recorded the last of all the three, and released the last - being a live show from the Sacrifice tour. It seems like Black Widow's live show at this time basically consisted of playing the entire Sacrifice album, which nmakes sense because even though they had a previous existence as Pesky Gee, the Exclamation Mark album didn't exactly have many classic tracks on it aside from the cover versions of work by much bigger acts.

However, the live show expanded on the Sacrifice concept, working in masses of theatrical flair and, in particular, focusing on adding in more ritualistic elements that give the performance the air of an actual occult gathering, and pehraps qualifies this as the best version of the complete narrative.

Nektar's Recycled presents an absolutely electrifying first side joined at the hip with an extremely pedestrian second side. The first half of the album (from Recycle to Unendless Imagination?) is a demented thrill-ride through a nightmare future of "recycled energy" and runaway entropy, which I could listen to over and over again; the second side is a set of rather pedestrian songs about tourism which lack the dynamism, energy, aggression, or breakneck pace of the first side, and so rather squander the album's momentum. I'll give it a four star rating, but please note that it's a five star side A bolted to a three star side B.

Did you like Remember the Future? Because this is basically a rehash of the general sonic approach of that, with a shade less oomph. It's alright, but a lot of it doesn't come across as being very memorable, and it all feels like revisiting territory Nektar have already explored. The following Recycled would invigorate their sound - especially on the excellent first side - but here the band sound a little bogged down, though there's still some charming moments here and there, as well as Beatles-esque touches (particularly in some of the vocals) which would have given it a bit of a retro vibe even at the time of release.

Emerging from a long hiatus, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum make a triumphant comeback. With an orchestra backing them, absolutely pristine production, and themes as dark and foreboding as any they offered up on their original run of three albums, this is a purified and intensified take on their distinctive musical approach, a terrifying metal-in-opposition meditation on human extinction and other weighty topics which runs the full emotional gamut from ethereal beauty to apocalyptic terror.

Not only do the band sound like they've not missed a beat - and in fact, they never did with many of the members having continued to work with each other in Free Salamander Exhibit, perhaps nodded to in the opening track here. Moreover, they began working on much of this material in 2010-2011 (and SQPR, a This Heat cover, hails from as far back as 2004) and have been gently working on it ever since, meaning this album has been brewed, distilled, and refined over the span of a decade. The end result might be the best expression they've ever offered of their creative vision, a keystone which ties their body of work together and which in retrospect it feels like their earlier albums were building towards all along. With many of the band members equally adept at rock and classical instruments, and Nils Frykdahl giving Mike Patton a run for his money in terms of vocal acrobatics, the Museum deploys its full bag of tricks here expertly, everything used purposefully and thoughtfully to best effect.

For a group which started out resembling an avant-prog take on Mr. Bungle, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum have only forged ahead into yet stanger territory; here they make Mr. Bungle's most alienating moments seem outright smooth and approachable by comparison, but never become dryly technical, maintaining an impressive command of atmosphere and emotion for the whole 66 minute running time.