A new editorial week at Progressive Rock Journal opens with a selection that travels from the Canterbury cosmos to the Heavy underground of three continents — closing chapters and uncovering forgotten ones, diving into the myth of Sisyphus and the ruins of Managua, honouring a Dutch golden-era document and a Berlin School veteran finally recognised with the award he deserves. Two Hidden Rarities this week, one from Nicaragua and one from Montréal, and Vol. XI of the PRJ Compilation series to close with maximum weight. A rich week. Here is what you shouldn’t miss.
— REVIEWS —
Gong – Bright Spirit: The third and final chapter of the trilogy that began with “The Universe Also Collapses” (2019). Released on March 13, 2026 via Kscope, “Bright Spirit” finds Kavus Torabi, Fabio Golfetti, Dave Sturt, Ian East, and Cheb Nettles operating at a level of creative freedom and collective confidence that feels genuinely hard-won. Seven tracks — from the ten-minute ritualistic opening of “Dream Of Mine” to the Jazz-Prog refinement of the closing “Eternal Hand” — constitute one of the most fully realised statements in the band’s post-Allen era. A cosmology still in motion. [Read here]
Hunka Munka – Demoni e Dei: Released on March 09, 2026 via M.P. & Records. Roberto Carlotto‘s decision to revisit compositions from “Dedicato a Giovanna G.” (1972) and his Dik Dik years within a decisively heavier and more confrontational framework is a statement of genuine artistic confidence. Produced and mixed at Joey Mauro‘s Dr. Phibes Studio, with mastering by Alessandro Del Vecchio at Ivorytears Music, and featuring Marcantonio Quinto, Gianluca Quinto, Andrea Arcangeli, and Barbara Rubin on viola and violin — twelve tracks that make a compelling case for Rock Progressivo Italiano as a living tradition. Rock Progressivo Italiano is alive. [Read here]
— INTERVIEWS —
[Exclusive Interview] Polychrome — The Making of “Someday”: Brothers Simon and Maxime Senizergues — conservatoire-trained, Paris-based, deeply rooted in Classical, Jazz, and the great ’70s Prog canon — discuss the self-released second album of their band Polychrome, out January 23, 2026. From the influence of Pink Floyd and The Beatles to the recording sessions at Mirador Sound Studio in the south of France, the conceptual thread of time that connects sunrise to dawn, and the live debut at Supersonic in Paris. Detailed, generous, and genuinely illuminating for anyone serious about contemporary Progressive Rock. [Read here]
[Exclusive Interview] Trey Xavier on In Virtue’s “Age of Legends”: The primary architect of Los Angeles Progressive Metal outfit In Virtue goes deep into the Sisyphus-inspired concept album released on November 21, 2025 — fourteen tracks, with guest contributions from Charlotte Wessels, Dave Davidson, and Chaney Crabb, artwork by Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity), and mastering by Jens Bogren and Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street. Trey talks with rare candour about autobiography and myth, structural logic, the eight-minute centrepiece “Tempus Fugue,” and what it actually means to build a band in Los Angeles. One of the most honest conversations PRJ has had in 2026. Start at “Ascent Glorious” and don’t stop. [Read here]
— NEWS —
Peter Mergener – Chip Meditation 2025 wins Schallwelle Award for Best National Album: Berlin School veteran Peter Mergener — co-founder of Software alongside Michael Weisser in the 1980s — has been honoured with the Schallwelle Award 2025 for Best National Album, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the German electronic music scene. The winning record marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic “Chip Meditation”, featuring entirely new compositions that carry the same hypnotic warmth of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze at their most meditative. Available on CD directly from Spheric Music. [Read here]
Focus – “House of the King: Live in the USA 1973” — out March 20 via Audio Vaults: The classic Focus lineup — Jan Akkerman, Thijs van Leer, Bert Ruiter, and Pierre van der Linden — captured live at the Philharmonic Hall, New York, on March 23rd, 1973, via FM broadcast, digitally remastered for a digipak CD edition. The tracklist includes the sprawling “Anonymous II” (over 26 minutes), “Eruption,” “Hocus Pocus,” “Sylvia” — and a BBC session from January 30th, 1973 featuring “House of the King” as bonus closer. Essential archival material for any serious Prog collector. Pre-order via Burning Shed. [Read here]
— HIDDEN RARITIES —
[Hidden Rarities #53] Alfonso Noel Lovo (Nicaragua): Born in León, Nicaragua, in 1951, Alfonso Noel Lovo is the best-kept secret of Latin Rock and Central American fusion. Shot six times during a political hijacking in 1971, survivor of the Managua earthquake of 1972, self-taught on Hammond B2 and piano in Jesuit boarding school isolation, musical companion of Chepito Areas (Santana’s legendary percussionist) — his biography reads like a screenplay written under lysergic delirium. His 1973 debut “Terremoto Richter 6:25 — Managua” fuses Classical Spanish guitar, New Orleans Jazz, Gospel Choirs, Minimoog and Echoplex. His 1976 masterpiece “La Gigantona” — masters destroyed in the fire of the Sandinista revolution, resurrected from acetate test pressings by Numero Group in 2012 — reached #4 on the Billboard Tropical chart and earned praise from Gilles Peterson at the BBC. A story that demands to be read in full. [Read here]
[Hidden Rarities #39] Mashmakhan (Canada): Montréal, 1969. A band that built its sound through a decade of underground circuit work — Pierre Sénécal, Rayburn Blake, Jerry Mercer, Brian Edwards — before exploding internationally in 1970 with “As The Years Go By”: 100,000 copies in Canada, 400,000+ in the United States, over one million in Japan, where it triggered a form of collective hysteria comparable to Beatlemania. They shared the Festival Express train with the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Band. Their second album “The Family” (1971) pushed decisively toward Progressive territory. Two albums, a single that rewrote the rules, and a legacy that still waits for the wider recognition it deserves. [Read here]
— COMPILATION —
PRJ Compilation Vol. XI – The Last Breath of the Sun: The eleventh volume of the PRJ Compilation series is a deliberate descent — Stoner, Doom, Heavy Blues, and Downer Rock as a single unrelenting arc. Five artists, five distinct voices: Sombra De Piedra (Colombia), The Valley (Italy), Fuzzard (Netherlands), Desert Colossus (Netherlands), Ender (Puerto Rico). No redemption offered — only weight, texture, and the riff as the last language standing. Stream the full compilation on YouTube. [Read here] | Stream on YouTube:
— PRJ SPOTIFY PLAYLIST —
PRJ Playlist: Prog Selection — March 2026 is now live. Ten tracks, no fillers: Big Big Train, Gong, Terravia, Hunka Munka, Brass Camel, Crown Lands, Fjords, Black Idol feat. Loïc Rossetti, inner:i, Astraya. Updated monthly throughout the year — archived at year’s end as a document of what mattered in Progressive Rock in 2026. [Read here] | Stream on Spotify:
— PRJ YOUTUBE CHANNEL —
Radium Telepathic – Demo Stream here:
Fuzzmind – 2025, Full Demo | Stream here:
As always, Editor’s Pick is a curatorial compass — not a list, but a guided entry point into PRJ‘s week. Read what catches you, follow the links, and come back next Monday. — Jacopo // PRJ