If anyone forgets how experimental – and therefore weird – the 1960s were in the pop charts, there’s no need to look further than Excerpt From A Teenage Opera, which reached Number 2 in 1967.
It’s weird enough that it was the story of a local trademan and his passion for serving his village, who’s only truly appreciated after dies at the age of 82, leaving the area’s kids asking, ’Grocer Jack, Grocer Jack, is it true what mummy says, You won’t come back, oh-no-no?‘ Its effect on the careers of Steve Howe and Keith West was even wierder.
The brainchild of producer Mark Wirtz – who wrote the music for what was supposed to be a large-scale rock opera in the style of the era – the song was sung by West, who at the time was pursuing fame with Howe in their band Tomorrow.
“I knew Mark, who came up with the idea,” West told Prog in 2011. “He invited me round to his place one day and played me a lot of the music he was working on. What he needed was for someone to put lyrics to the songs – that just wasn’t his thing.”
So West set about the task; and the first song he finished was Excerpt From A Teenage Opera – often known as Grocer Jack.
“Mark had given me the title of the song, and at the time having eccentric characters at the centre of songs was all the rage,” West recalled. “Maybe it was something to do with the fact that we were in an era when everyone was dropping acid!”
With Howe laying down guitar for the demo tape, West agreed to record guide vocals for an unconfirmed bigger name to do a ‘proper’ job. But that never happened. “The label, EMI, liked what I’d done,” West remembered.
“And as they already had me under contract through Tomorrow, they thought it would be a good thing for me to sing on it. I agreed – it would never amount to much, and certainly wouldn’t interfere with the band. How wrong I was!”
West was on tour with Tomorrow when the label ordered him back home to promote the single, which was starting sell in major quantities. “It just took on a life of its own,” he said. “In Germany it was even bigger than in the UK; it made it to the top of the charts.” He added: “Everywhere I went I was mobbed by girls – I could have gotten used to that lifestyle!”
In 1999 Howe reflected on the dead shopkeeper’s spirit having haunted the final months of their band. “For a while we did well off of Keith’s success – we all went out and we earned much more money than we were doing as Tomorrow,” the guitarist said.
But the fact that they played as a guitar trio was a problem. “We disappointed people by not being the sort of group that featured Keith in the way as might be thought with Grocer Jack.
“In Ireland we played the Tomorrow set with Grocer Jack. That wasn’t enough. They didn’t want Tomorrow – they wanted Keith West and that kind of a singer. So they hurled money at us. It was painful – we got hit!
“That was the effect of trying to be two things at once; trying to be Tomorrow and Keith West and Tomorrow. It didn’t work. Gigs fizzled out and then we were left with not with very much.”
Wirtz – who died in 2020 – meandered elsewhere in the music industry when the Teenage Opera project wilted as the result of second single Sam failing to emulate the success of Excerpt. West followed his own route too, without regrets. “It was a good song, and I loved the experience,” he said.
(written by Islander) The Northern California metal band Amarok have demonstrated towering, far-seeing ambitions since their inception more than 15 years ago. With their self-titled debut EP in 2010 they began identifying their songs with Roman numerals. That EP was also more than 45 minutes long, spread across three songs. After a trio of splits, […]
Scorpions are once again putting their Las Vegas plans on ice. The band’s 2026 residency at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino has been pushed back, with the new dates now landing in September 2027.
Live Nation broke the news in a social media post on Wednesday (Sept. 2), pointing to “unforeseen circumstances” as the reason behind the delay.
“Scorpions regret to announce that, due to unforeseen circumstances, their upcoming September shows in Las Vegas will need to be postponed,” Live Nation‘s post reads.
“The band is extremely disappointed but looks forward to returning to Las Vegas in September 2027. Scorpions are also currently planning a number of European shows for 2027, continuing their hugely successful ‘Coming Home – 60 Years Of Scorpions’ tour, with details to be announced soon.”
The new 2027 dates are: September 09, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, and 25.
Backed by Live Nation and Caesars Entertainment, “Scorpions – Coming Home To Las Vegas” was originally slated to run from Thursday, Sept. 17 through Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, with Buckcherry once again booked as support.
Whenever it finally happens, this residency will slot in behind three sold-out Scorpions runs at the same venue: “Scorpions – Sin City Nights” in 2022, “Love At First Sting Las Vegas” in 2024, and last year’s 60th-anniversary edition, “Scorpions – Coming Home To Las Vegas.”
Scorpions‘ most recent album, Rock Believer, arrived in February 2022. It was tracked primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany, and mixed at the storied Hansa Studios in Berlin with engineer Michael Ilbert, whose mix credits include multiple Grammy-nominated records for producer Max Martin with Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HELLUCINATION UNLEASH “PETRIFIED” — A DARK AND CRUSHING FIRST CHAPTER OF UPCOMING ALBUM PENUMBRAL
Italian Death Metal Force Returns With a Modern Blend of Brutality, Technicality, and Atmospheric Darkness
Release Date: September 1, 2026 Genre: Death Metal For Fans Of: Gojira, Whitechapel, Meshuggah, Cult of Luna
ROME, ITALY — Italian modern death metal force Hellucination officially unleash their new single “Petrified” , September 1, 2026. The track serves as the first single from the band’s upcoming full-length album, Penumbral , opening the door to a darker, more introspective chapter in the band’s evolution.
Built on crushing riffs, extreme aggression, intricate rhythmic structures, and atmospheric textures, “Petrified” offers a powerful introduction to the sonic world of Penumbral . Drawing from death metal, black metal, progressive metal, djent, hardcore, and post-metal, Hellucination have crafted a sound that balances sheer brutality with emotional depth and experimentation.
“Petrified” is the beginning of a much larger story.
Penumbral : A Story of Mourning, Obsession, and Letting Go
Penumbral is conceived as a true concept album, built around an original narrative exploring grief, obsession, the dissolution of identity, and ultimately the necessity of letting go.
The story follows two people connected by an exceptionally deep bond. When one dies, the survivor becomes consumed by grief, unable to accept the loss. That overwhelming mourning mysteriously disrupts the deceased’s passage into the afterlife, bringing them back to the world of the living through an unnatural form of reincarnation.
At first, their reunion appears to be a miracle. But as time passes, the consequences of defying the natural order become impossible to ignore. The deceased is no longer truly part of the living world, while the survivor begins to recognize the distance and transformation separating them.
Ultimately, the natural cycle must be restored.
The deceased finds peace beyond life, while the survivor learns that true healing requires accepting loss, releasing grief, and moving forward. In this sense, Penumbral becomes a journey through mourning and obsession that culminates in symbolic death, acceptance, and rebirth.
A Sound Built From Darkness and Experimentation
Musically, Penumbral represents several years of creative development as Hellucination searched for a sound capable of bringing together the different sides of their musical identity.
The band’s influences stretch from the crushing intensity and aggression of Gojira and Whitechapel to the technical complexity and atmospheric approach of Meshuggah and Cult of Luna . Rather than simply replicating those influences, Hellucination use them as foundations for a sound where heaviness, emotional depth, rhythmic complexity, and experimentation coexist.
Compared with their previous album, Multiverse , Penumbral pushes the band into darker and more introspective territory, mirroring the record’s central themes.
The album’s production was shaped through collaboration with Stefano Morabito at 1Gth Cellar Studio , resulting in a massive, contemporary production designed to preserve the personality and authenticity at the heart of Hellucination’s music.
A Decade-Plus of Evolution
Formed in Rome in October 2010, Hellucination began as a four-piece featuring Massimiliano on bass, Andrea on drums, and Lorenzo Sicuro and Francesco Xella on guitars. The band quickly began writing original material and establishing themselves on the Roman metal circuit.
After several lineup changes, the band released their debut three-track EP, Ruins , in March 2013, followed by their first European tour through Slovakia and Poland.
Their first full-length album, Katabasis , arrived in March 2015. In 2017, Hellucination signed with Rome-based label Time To Kill Records and began work on their second full-length. That album, Multiverse , was released in May 2018, preceded by the single “Overhumanist.” Silvia Pistolesi joined the band on bass during the same period.
The years that followed saw Hellucination continue performing throughout Italy and Europe while developing partnerships with various gear and string brands. In 2020, the band also launched a Kickstarter campaign with Nebulae to fund their first post-pandemic concert. The campaign reached its goal in only six days, leading to their November 2021 return to the stage at Traffic Live Club in Rome.
In 2022, Hellucination joined Nebulae for the Pulses from the Multiverse 2022 Tour , performing across Italy and San Marino.
Now, the band enters its next chapter with Penumbral .
Hellucination Are:
Francesco Xella — Vocals & Guitar Lorenzo Sicuro — Guitar Silvia Pistolesi — Bass Andrea Scimò — Drums
All songs written, arranged, and produced by Hellucination.
Mixed & Mastered by: Stefano Morabito at 1Gth Cellar Studio “Aeternum Vale” Recorded by: Leonardo Bellavista at Void Studio Spoken Word on “Joy and Sorrow”: Nicole Pyrathon Visualizer: Motus Insaniam Artwork: Adam Burke / Nightjar Illustration
LISTEN TO “PETRIFIED” NOW
Watch the official visualizer:
Listen / Pre-Save “Petrified”:
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/hellucination/petrified?ref=release
PRE-ORDER PENUMBRAL
Physical CD and vinyl editions are available through the band’s official webstore:
https://hellucination.net/shop/
Dreamy Winnipeg mainstays Living Hour are following up last year’s excellent Internal Drone Infinity with a new EP. Magnet, which drops three weeks from today, comprises two new songs and two demos of Internal Drone Infinity tunes. It leads off with the title track, which dials back Living Hour’s hard-hitting qualities in favor of a drifting panorama that fits in well alongside the likes of Cassandra Jenkins, Julia Holter, and Emily A. Sprague. It’s a study in mood, texture, and shapeless beauty, and its final lyric will stay with me: “I wanna sleep at the edge of the text on the screen.”
Stella Lefty isn’t the only one out here ripping off hit songs. Some people are trying to build entire billion-dollar tech businesses out of the practice. Right now, many, many parties are suing Suno, the leading generative AI music platform. Major labels Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are in active litigation against Suno, though Warner Music Group, the other major, settled its own lawsuit by announcing a strategic partnership with Suno last fall. Earlier this week, a group of musicians that includes Jason Isbell and David Lowery filed another Suno lawsuit, this one over name rights rather than copyright infringement. Now, the performance rights organization SOCAN is presenting its own lawsuit and citing strange ripoffs of some big hits in Canadian federal court.
Bestial Mouths return with “HISS,” a new single offering a glimpse into their upcoming album, Dead Lines (Líneas Muertas).
The track explores themes of spreading hatred, collective anxiety and the fragility of identity within an increasingly divided society. Through the project’s signature dark sonic landscape, “HISS” combines industrial tension, haunting atmospheres and intense emotional depth.
With this release, Bestial Mouths open a new chapter in their artistic journey, pairing their powerful sound with a striking visual aesthetic and a critical reflection on the cycles of toxicity that continue to shape society.
Dead Lines (Líneas Muertas) will be released on September 4 via Negative Gain Productions.
As I have said in previous reviews, John Mitchell is that rarest of individuals – a fabulous composer, gifted multi-instrumentalist and great producer who happens to possess a unique singing voice and massive guitar chops. He creates inescapable melodies combined with genuinely progressive arrangements and he confers them with fine production. The only thing Mitchell appears not to specialise in is drumming – a function that is much more ably executed by his good friend and highly talented Frost* band-mate, Craig Blundell.
Mitchell’s ‘Lonely Robot’ series (until now comprising three ‘astronaut’ albums and two others) reaches its ultimate conclusion in 2026 with ‘An Ending’, the final album of the astronaut series and of the Lonely Robot project in general.
For more than a decade and over four albums, Mitchell has led the marooned astronaut (and Lonely Robot’s eager fans) over the infinite reaches of the cosmos, often observing from space the planet that Carl Sagan named ‘The Pale Blue Dot’ and its inhabitants, norms and state of existence. The astronaut’s story was introduced in ‘2015’s ‘Please Come Home’, developed semi-terrestrially in 2017’s ‘The Big Dream’, made even more astral in 2019’s ‘Under Stars’ and now finally brought home in ‘An Ending’ (though it appears that the poor, forlorn astronaut will not himself be brought home.)
It is notable that this album is called ‘An Ending’ as opposed to ‘The Ending’. The title refers more, it seems, to the sad and terminal choice made by the protagonist to remain in space, than to the end of the Lonely Robot project itself (which, of course, the final record certainly also comprises.)
Mitchell has stated that the astronaut’s acceptance of his situation is a metaphor for accepting that one can never go back in life, but must rather accept the circumstances of the present. Of course, Mitchell has in the previous albums consistently used the astronaut as a more general metaphor for humanity’s regimented human condition. Recently he went so far as to contextualise this album’s particular metaphor into his own personal experiences as a child, including the loss of his adoptive parents. If there is one thing that John Mitchell does, it is to bring his own personal perspectives into his music – even where that music is presented as an allegorical story. He does this with huge authenticity and aplomb.
The lyrics of opening track ‘This World Window’ describe the personal sacrifice of the astronaut, who has tragically accepted that he must spend the rest of his life in space rather than return to Earth. Then, over the next eleven tracks, the feelings, emotions and observations of the astronaut are explored and amplified, with the listener sitting alongside him The story, while heartbreaking, is also meditative, resolutive, uplifting, adventurous and, ultimately, serene.
Musically, the album may not be the most complex or technical that Mitchell has ever delivered, but that is understandable, bearing in mind that the story and its accompanying emotions are designed to take centre stage. Of course, this also does not imply that these songs are not highly accomplished and progressive. They are, and they often re-visit prior Lonely Robot themes, just as they should.
After the beautiful and ethereal intro of ‘This World Window’, ‘Show The Way’ presents itself as an obvious single, rocking out in 7/8 time with the exceptional Craig Blundell lending his unique drive and fills. The song could be emblematic of a rapid cosmic flight in the way that it gathers momentum. ‘Back To The Middle’ continues this theme in a less frantic tempo, this time also showcasing Mitchell’s underestimated vocal range. He may be a baritone, but there is a range and warmth to his voice that is very refined and by now quite unmistakable. The guitar solo, always featuring Mitchell’s signature tone, announces that many searing, emotional and dazzling guitar moments are to come.
‘In Ocean Light’ and ‘Ad Astra’ are introspective, gentle serenades that soar on the wings of great keyboard and, of course, guitar work, by Mitchell, while the brilliant ‘Where In The World’ is more up-tempo, complex and built around Blundell’s highly innovative, jagged drum patterns. No-one creates blinding drum fills quite like Blundell, who deserves every accolade that he gets as one of the premier percussive forces on the planet. The same might be said of Blundell’s contributions to the more mid-tempo ‘Twin Suns’ which is a haunting composition that grows around his snare and tom patterns like a vine. We may have heard this before from Lonely Robot, but when it is this good, that fact becomes insignificant.
The seismic growl that opens ‘The River’ soon gives way to a warm vocal hook and very pleasing acoustic sections that create images of the astronaut floating peacefully in his capsule while he watches a quiet cosmic storm (and his own feelings) unfold. ‘Rearview’ sees the protagonist now looking longingly behind him, while the music creates a film-like suspense and anticipation to frame the scene. ‘Bending Light’ sees the hero tragically resigning himself to his fate in the most melancholic and moving way, and ‘The Iron Sea’ reprises the haunting and mournful theme originally introduced to us on the first album, only now in an even more emotional way. Closing track ‘Oblique’ gently and painfully allows us to say farewell to the astronaut for the last time. This is heart-wrenching stuff.
There is a bonus track (exclusively for the vinyl version of the album) onomatopoeically entitled ‘Synthetic’. While this track might perhaps describe the astronaut’s lost human identity, it is thematically unlike the rest of the album and I found myself perfectly happy with the ending provided to the main album by ‘Oblique’.
John Mitchell has once again shown that he is not just a fine multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. He is consistently one of the most accomplished and authentic composers in music today. He has lovingly given his passion, emotion and attention to this album (and indeed into the whole Lonely Robot series.) All four albums are highly accomplished, but this is the most emotive of the four, and John Mitchell’s established bona fides as an authentic, evocative composer, are entrenched by it.
‘An Ending’ is a musical expression of solitude and resignation that makes for a very powerful collection. These songs are clearly about more than an astronaut – they are also about a personal perspective and society in general, presented with humanity, emotion and integrity. This album is important because it is more than just an excellent record. It is a fitting and highly poignant final chapter that brings an end to one of the compelling stories in the last decade of Prog. A sometimes unsung hero of Progressive Rock, John Mitchell is indeed that rarest of things – someone whose music truly makes you feel. Highly recommended.
Released on Sept. 11th, 2026
Track List
This World Window
Show The Way
Back To The Middle
In Ocean Light
Ad Astra
Where In The World
Twin Suns
The River
Rearview
Bending Light
The Iron Sea
Oblique
Synthetic (Bonus track – vinyl only)
John Mitchell – Vocals, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards.
Craig Blundell (Frost*, Steve Hackett, Steven Wilson) – Drums
Jez Fielder – Additional Guitar on The River and Rearview
A death metal groove sets the track in motion, hardcore acceleration tears through the middle, and a succession of breakdowns drives it towards one final declaration: “Hard to kill.” Danish death metal/metallic hardcore band LIFESICK have released the standalone single “Hard To Kill” alongside an official music video. No accompanying album or EP has been […]
James Thompson once viewed his life as a sequence of mistakes he could not forgive. The self-titled debut from ENCASEMENT turns the difficult process of escaping that mindset into dense, dissonant black metal. The album is now streaming in full through Everything Is Noise ahead of its official release on September 4 through Hypaethral Records […]