Oblivion Protocol - The Fall Of The Shires (2023) LP

At its best, prog can be a safe haven from the storm outside, a soothing experience with healing and escapist qualities. Genuine musicianship, pure emotion and a penchant for supreme melody make this music a journey, an experience for which records and headphones were invented in the first place. At the forefront of prog music stands Richard West, renowned keyboard wizard and songwriter for British prog metal pioneers Threshold for over 30 years. Six years after their epic masterpiece 'Legends of the Shires', West returns to these shores to deliver a long-awaited sequel. Not under the Threshold moniker, mind you. But with a brand new supergroup. Prog fans far and wide, rejoice: Oblivion Protocol are here. And they bring us "The Fall of the Shires". "When my Threshold bandmates decided not to record a sequel to the 'Legends of the Shires' story," explains Richard West, "I knew I wanted to stay in that world a little longer, so I wrote my own sequel called 'The Fall of the Shires'. I just did it for myself at first, but when it was finished I started to wonder about releasing it.” We can be very thankful for that: Oblivion Protocol will immediately claim a place in the hearts of every prog connoisseur, delivering a dense, climactic sound somewhere between Rush, Steven Wilson, 'Dark Side of the Moon' era Pink Floyd and occult hard rock masters Ghost.