Short Reviews [Progeland - 2014 - "Gate To Fulfilled Fantasies"]

I was on Facebook one day and I noticed a post from Nick Katona celebrating the tenth anniversary of this album. I mentioned I had not previously come across it which is why I am now listening to an album which was released all the way back in 2014. Progeland was formed in 2007 by Petri 'Lemmy' Lindstrom (bass & various instruments), and in 2011 they self-released an EP which gained some attention which led to this, their debut album. Petri was joined by Tomi Murtomaki (vocals), Juha Kaski (keyboards), Matias Kangasniemi (guitars) and Pasi Manninen (drums) and it certainly does not sound as if it has come from Finland in the 21st Century but rather as if it was from some 40 years earlier and a country which is 1,825 km away. There is no doubt that Uriah Heep are one of the most important, although continually under-rated, bands to ever come out of the UK, with one critic famously saying, "if this band makes it, I'll have to commit suicide." But remember, when Tony Jasper and Derek Oliver released the first edition of "The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock & Heavy Metal" in 1986. It had Mick Box as the cover image. There is no doubt their first eight albums are essential, with the Box/Byron/Hensley/Kerslake core setting the band up for their ongoing success, still touring in 2025 having formed all the way back in 1969. It is to that band which Progeland have taken their influences, and the result is something which is somehow both dated and modern, as there are so few bands who sound quite like this anymore. Heep always had the perfect mix of organ/keyboards with guitar, overlaid with dramatic vocals, and there are few who have managed to capture it in the same manner although many have tried, yet with this release Progeland showed everyone where their influences were and then brought it into the modern age. Whereas a lot of bands are influenced by Genesis and King Crimson, and even more of the modern age who are influenced by the likes of Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, IQ, Pendragon etc, there are very few indeed who have managed to capture the early Seventies gravitas of Byron, combined with a musical backing with can be heavy and dramatic or gentle and flowing with flute sounds changing the direction and taking us into more pastoral areas. It is a fascinating release, definitely taking us back in time, but it is a journey which is thoroughly enjoyable.