Time Silent Radio II and vii by Echolyn

Today I listened to the two newly released Echolyn albums: "Time Silent Radio II" and "Time Silent Radio VII," which I'm combining in a single post because, in my opinion, they're two works that should be listened to together. Both were released in 2025.

Echolyn in Brief:

A band dedicated to progressive rock, highly prolific and well-received by critics, active since 1989. They released their self-titled debut album in 1991 and continued until 2015 with various lineups and released a dozen studio albums, some of which were truly excellent (Suffocating the Bloom, As the World, Cowboy Poems Free, Mei, The End Is Beautiful, Echolyn, I Heard You Listening). In 2025, they released the two albums described here.

The albums feature intricate guitar solos, non-standard harmonies influenced by classical music from the great monsters of progressive rock and heavy prog and range from classic progressive rock, with layered keyboards and expansive arrangements and beautiful grooves without sacrificing refinement.

The Albums in Brief:

I'll describe them in the reverse order of how I listened to them (after listening, reversing the order allows me to better explain).

- Time Silent Radio VII, 45 minutes divided into seven distinct tracks.

A lot of work on the melodies in all the tracks, emphasis on the beautiful vocals, beautiful fretless bass, great work on the toms and piano even when in the background, punchy guitar, beautiful choruses and beautiful choruses, for an overall harmony that's never excessive. An album that thrilled me, with a slightly pop soul but still within the prog genre, very, very beautiful.

- Time Silent Radio II, about 45 minutes, divided into two long suites of 16 and 28 minutes.

"Time Has No Place" and "Water in Our Hands" are two songs in which the band "takes all the time it needs" to express themselves, without being verbose, but without giving in to the need to "shorten" the pieces for editorial reasons, in my opinion. These two songs share the same characteristics just described in Time Silent Radio VII, but are more extensive and in-depth. These are my favorites, but I love long, elaborate pieces, so this is my personal opinion.

I highly recommend both albums. The progressive rock genre, in my opinion, needs bands like Echolyn, and that should suffice to summarize my appreciation. Wonderful!