Latest articles by Chris Cope
“People will speculate”: When Dream Theater’s John Petrucci reunited with Mike Portnoy
Three years before the reunion actually took place, the pair got together in the studio for the first time in a decade – and the guitarist got their first song wrong
“It’s about coming to terms with being weirdos”: Thank You Scientist embrace being different
Despite the naysayers, the New Jersey alt-proggers went bigger and better on their shape-shifting second album
"Whether it’s a simple song with three chords or a really elaborate epic piece, it’s all miraculous to me." How Neal Morse created his rock opera Jesus Christ: The Exorcist
In 2019 the prolific Neal Morse went straight to the top as far as divine inspiration went for his rock opera about, you guessed it, Jesus!
"This is a more outgoing album. It’s noisier, it’s got lots more musical ideas crammed into it." The story of Gazpacho's Soyuz
Having contemplated the end of the world with their previous album, 2018's Soyuz found Norwegian prog rockers Gazpacho turning their attention to being frozen in time
“We’re open to trying some things that maybe we don’t do in some of our other projects.” The story of melodic prog duo Silent Skies
Accomplished Swedish-American duo Silent Skies tap into pop and prog for second album Nectar
"Marillion, Twelfth Night, IQ; to continue to call those bands neo-prog, I don’t see that as particularly positive. Everything has moved quite a lot since then." How Cosmograf defined the sound of Rattrapante
One-man-prog-rock-band Cosmograf returned with their eighth album, Rattrapante, telling Prog, there’s no looking back.
“Everything from Between The Buried And Me to Duran Duran. There doesn’t seem to be a distinct barrier in terms of what we believe we can funnel into Kyros." The sound of UK prog rockers Kyros and new album Mannequin
Pop-friendly, shape-shifting prog quartet Kyros discuss their fourth album Mannquein
“In my head I wanted to be in Genesis; I wanted to be in It Bites. I was living the dream and there was no second-guessing. So there’s a lovely innocence with these tracks”: What Rob Reed learned by reinventing Cyan for the 21st century
The premise is simple: with a new line-up, rearrange, reimagine and rework an album, then record it on much better gear – but the Magenta mastermind didn’t expect it to be educational too
“I never thought prog would be some sort of positive career move… It’s a different audience now and not quite the arenas any more”: Tiger Moth Tales’ Peter Jones returns to guitar for his most personal album yet
He’s moved on from pop, but admits The Turning Of The World isn’t his proggiest work - still, it’s a record he had to make
“I grew up with a lot of metal, so the heavier side of prog is where my roots are." Southern Empire and the making of Civilisation
Southern Empire's second album Civilisation saw the Australian quintet go for it on a truly epic scale
"I think Damian’s the singer we should’ve had from the very first day.” How Damian Wilson revitalised Arena on The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance
Arena's tenth studio album The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance saw the arrival of much-travelled singer Damian Wilson with spectacular results
"Your favourite prog rock albums can take you back in time." Glass Hammer and the story of Chronomonaut
Glass Hammer’s 2000 concept album, Chronometree, was an amusing tale of a music superfan who heard voices through prog rock records. The story is back – in impressive fashion – on the US group’s 18th studio album Chronomonaut
“You find a certain sound and you write some songs around the sound, and then you get tired of being there and you move to another place." How VOLA tackled the 'difficult second album' syndrome
After Danish proggers VOLA released their celebrated debut record Inmazes in 2016, the task of following it up was always going to be tricky. Has Applause Of A Distant Crowd swatted away that second album syndrome?
“In the context of Matt’s cancer, and stuff going on in the wider world, why are we worrying about if anybody’s going to like this?” The Fierce And The Dead refocused for News From The Invisible World
Their “angry but hopeful” fourth album is their first to feature vocals, and it’s already given them a new lease of life
"We’ve never called ourselves prog. Prog is a very technically demanding genre, I couldn’t play it if I wanted to.” Sam Healy on their new album and why North Atlantic Oscillation won't be playing live any time soon
A lot has changed since North Atlantic Oscillation released their last album in 2018. After a strange five years, the electronic post-prog return as a one-man band…
Frost* and the making of Day And Age
With 2021's Day And Age Frost* returned with their first album in five years, and the English prog rockers have put the blow of losing drummer Craig Blundell behind them to forge one of their best records yet
Michael Romeo and War Of The Worlds Part 2
Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo talks us through his third solo album, 2022's War Of The Worlds Pt. 2
From Russia with love: the story of Gleb Kolyadin's debut solo album
Iamthemorning pianist and composer Gleb Kolyadin released his self-titled debut solo album in 2018. This is the story...
Steve Hackett's Mediterranean adventure
The story of 2021's Under A Mediterranean Sky, Steve Hackett's first wholly acoustic album for 13 years
5 new prog acts you must hear in January 2023
Check out Gaupa, Circles, Grace And Fire, Astrosaur and Onsegen Ensemble – five great new up and coming prog artists
How The Flower Kings made Islands
Although not planning to follow up 2019's Waiting For A Miracle so swiftly, the pandemic gave The Flower Kings other ideas. The result: the epic double album Islands
How John Petrucci reunited with Mike Portnoy for Terminal Velocity
It only took John Petrucci 15 years to get round to his second solo album, but when he did it had Dream Theater fans dreaming
"I regret saying anything" – Mike Portnoy on Flying Colors, Metal Allegiance, and the perils of social media
Mike Portnoy isn’t just content with being one of the best drummers in prog; it seems he wants to be the busiest too. In 2015, Prog caught up with him to find out more about his many musical outlets
