Issue 2026-017: Martin Burns Special
We have been saddened to hear of the loss of one of our longest-serving and most respected writers.
Martin Burns' first DPRP album review was published in 2014. It was an honest evaluation of the German TransKrautPyschedelic project Vintage Cucumber.
Since then Martin, who lived in the West Midlands region of England, has been credited with a total of 550 reviews. He also contributed a live review of Steven Wilson at Wolverhampton in 2015 and six other mini-features. Martin also helped with editing articles and contributed to our annual Top 10 features.
We have just been told by Martin's wife, Anne, that Martin passed away last week. Martin's final DPRP review was part of a Round Table Review of the new Magenta album, Tarot, that we published yesterday. We had four more of his reviews waiting to be published, which we decided to publish right now, below.
DPRP founder Jerry van Kooten said: "Having an international team often means we don't meet face-to-face, but since Martin joined DPRP in 2014, we have been in regular contact. I am going to miss his writing, his clever approach to certain harder issues, and the discussions we had about the music. The team and the world have lost a gentle soul. We wish his family the strength to carry this loss."
Former reviews editor Andy Read worked with Martin on getting articles ready for publication for many years. "Martin saw writing reviews as a wonderful outlet for his love of music," noted Andy. "I loved his diverse taste; everything from prog-metal to ambient, as the four reviews below will testify. His writing introduced me to many great artists, albums, and songs over the years. I am sure many of our readers will miss his recommendations and his love of progressive music."
Final Coil — 1994
Martin Burns
As guitarist and vocalist with the Leicester-based quartet Final Coil, Phil Stiles observes, their new EP 1994 "falls pretty far from the prog tree". However, in its defence there is still an adventurousness to the arrangements and hard-edged interweaving guitars, bass, and drums that they bring to this examination of their 1994 influences. This EP ends up being part loving tribute to the grungy guitar-heavy American sound of that year, part fun nostalgic exploration, and is "just a little digression while we gear up to return to the studio for album number 4".
Of Final Coil's previous releases, only a couple were reviewed here at DPRP.net. 2021's Somnambulant II an EP reworking earlier material and 2024's The World We Inherited a smart, engaging, and conceptually dark full length release.
Now Phil, along with his long-standing cohort of bassist Jola Stiles, and guitarist Richard Awdry, have been joined on this EP by Therapy? drummer Graham Hopkins. 1994 is Final Coil revisiting their formative influences, bands like Alice In Chains with Jar Of Flies, Nine Inch Nails' Downward Spiral, Machine Head's Burn Your Eyes. It is also when Nirvana played their final gig.
The four tracks here are a noisy conglomerate. Instant Fix's opening feedback get blasted away by punchy grungy riffs, smart bass, and thunderous but dexterous drums. The vocals throughout this EP have a throat shredding edge to them. A live favourite follows in the shape of Narcissist whose interplay of guitars and bottom heavy bass is a non-prog gem that recalls Soundgarden and their 1994 masterpiece Superunknown. Playing Games has that Nirvana style restless ambling rhythm below its kinetic riffs. The final, longer, track Woke is the closest this EP gets to prog-metal and feels more like what Final Coil were doing on The World We Inherited. Fast paced sections, dynamic shifts all take this one up a prog gear.
So as far as this may be from the prog tree Final Coil's 1994 is an immense riff-laden listen if you have any liking for the bands mentioned above.
Mike Johnson — The Gardens Of Loss
Martin Burns
Mike Johnson's The Gardens Of Loss is his debut solo album. He is known as the co-founder guitarist and composer, along with bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake, of the Rock In Opposition/Avant-Prog band Thinking Plague. Four of whose albums have been variously received here at DPRP.net.
The four Thinking Plague albums reviewed here on DPRP are Upon Both Your Houses, Decline And Fall, In This Life, and Hoping Against All Hope.
Thinking Plague have always taken inspiration from outside the prog traditions with dives into chamber music and twentieth century avantgarde classical music. They then took these inspirations into the same playground where Art Bears, Henry Cow and Art Zoyd had destroyed the sandbox of conventional rock music. Thinking Plague then joined in with that genre free challenging experimentalism of their European counterparts. With this solo release Mike Johnson mixes classical instrumentation with RIO based rock, giving life to compelling strange melodies displayed in a superbly detailed stereo mix that cries out for quality headphone listening. All through The Garden Of Loss there are enigmatic harmonies, dense instrumentation, and lively dynamic contrasts.
On The Gardens Of Loss besides recruiting a number of classical players, Mike Johnson has also collaborated with various Thinking Plague alumni most notably vocalist Elaine diFalco. Other musicians involved are the rhythm section of drummers Kimara Sajn and Morgan Ågren (from Kaipa) with bassist Simon Steensland, and Jerymy Kurn on piano.
The album's theme is according to Johnson, not 'mere protest songs or ideological "anthems." Rather, I strive to express human emotions in response to what has happened or is happening' and engages with his responses to the political and environmental degradation he sees all around.
The album starts with Dies Irae where atmospheric keys and guitars lead into a jazz fusion section dominated by drums and bass, cooling as Elaine diFalco's icily precise vocals enter singing a song that looks at the current political situation in the USA. The next song Boys With Toys continues the political theme excoriating the macho military, set to fast punk-fusion bass, drums, keys, and spectacular guitar. The vocal is warmer here and slightly distorted.
An instrumental song follows the two short openers, The Lords Of Creation, sees Mike Johnson delving into minimalist neo-classical that echoes the work of Steve Reich with wordless vocals, pulsing wind instruments, brass, strings and unforced drums and bass. The melody glows with a light touch that makes the avant experimentation easily palatable. An organic sense of dynamics comes from inside the melody. The stereo mix is a joy; I can't imagine how long this would have taken for it to sound this good.
Mike Johnson (promo photo)
The short Destitution Meal, a song of hunger starts as a piano ballad with harmonically twisting backing vocals, develops as an instrumental second half into something you would wish it would continue further. A longer song, Transience, is next, opening with piano, guitar, and multitracked vocals, slow-paced and delicate as it looks for the light in the darkness. The orchestral instruments join in with strings and woodwind. Flute and clarinet carry the piece forward as sliding strings bring in up-tempo, strident bass, drums, and organ. It is a track full of dynamic shifts from the louche to the austere.
The theme of environmental degradation informs Dumbstruck's lyric. It's disruptive arrangement probably makes this the most RIO of tracks here. It mixes off kilter progressive rock with dense orchestral support. Even after a lot of listening, I am still unsure where this one is heading.
Plucked cello, strings, piano, and organ introduce The Gardens Of Loss. The vocal line adds a disgruntled element that is mirrored in the innovative neo-classical orchestral arrangement that fills the majority of the track. Instruments come in and out in a unfamiliar way keeping the ear engaged. The album closes with the instrumental, Soulless In Gaza, that opens with a RIO Fusion mix of rock instruments with just the occasional string interjection. After two minutes an increasing number of orchestral instruments come out to play as it develops into an avant-classical workout.
Mike Johnson's The Garden Of Loss is an album of incredible detail, hats off to Colin Bricker and Mike Johnson who mixed and mastered the album. I should imagine that if you are a prog-metal head or wedded to the classic 70s prog sound this striving, bold and intrepid release probably will not work for you. However, if you like your music with a sense of the adventurous that takes the unexpected paths then join Mike Johnson on his trek off the beaten track.
Tom Lardat — Récits de l'ombre
Martin Burns
The Bern-based pianist and composer Tom Lardat has released his new EP, Récits de l'ombre, this follows on from his previous EP, 2025's Revenir au rêve where he explored progressive metal through the medium of classical grand piano. He cites inspirations from both the classical world (Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninov) and, his other passion, the prog-metal world of Dream Theater, Adagio, and Symphony X. Indeed he plays keyboards for the French prog-metal band Conscience and in other various bands as well.
On Récits de l'ombre (Tales From The Shadows) the emphasis is more classical than the translations of prog-metal on the previous EP. The main influence that stands out for me is that of J.S.Bach. The short, introductory opener Ouverture has the preciseness of one of Bach's 48 preludes and sets the tone for the following three tracks. Jour de pluie (Rainy Days) is a mournful meandering ballad with a late 19th century romantic feel to it.
Pulsing chords powers forward Sortilèges (Spells). This track mixes a percussive prog metal arrangement through a classical blender, adding in jazzy runs and a waltz section along the way, returning at its conclusion to the pulsing melody it opened with which I think echoes a classical sonata form. The final track Regrets returns with a Bach style chorale but arranged for the piano that then changes its energy to one of long fast runs and a progressive development before entering a nocturne like coda.
So Tom Lardat's Récits de l'ombre continues what he started with his previous EP but it feels in some sections freer and more improvised but without losing any of the disciplined melodies we got on the first release. Very enjoyable especially if you are looking to reset your listening with something different.
Thistle Shifter — Forever The Optimist
Martin Burns
Thistle Sifter is the cinematic post-rock project of English guitarist and composer Pete Barnes who is based in Utrecht, Netherlands. These instrumental post-rock pieces, says Peter Barnes, display "themes of land use, animal rights, cobalt mining in the Congo, climate breakdown, neo-liberalism, and the media's complicity in genocide. During the writing process I was heavily inspired by writers Jay Griffiths, George Monbiot, Omar El Akkad, and Siddharth Kara."
Moving away from the more personal themes of his previous few albums such as A Spectral Moon (2022) and Circles (2024), Forever The Optimist looks at environmental issues and the problems caused by the relentless pursuit of economic growth.
On Forever The Optimist, Thistle Shifter expand their sound with the inclusion of a string quartet (cello by Marta Jiménez Ramírez, viola by Maria Garcia and violins by Damián Cabedo Vicente and Begoña Hernández Gallardo, strings arranged by Mark Tersteeg) along with drums and percussion by Koen Klarenbeek and additional guitars by Nils Breunese and Tom Broshuis. This gives the post-rock of Thistle Shifter's music textural sheen of melancholia coupled with an enigmatic cinematic feel.
Thistle Sifter (promo photo by Lisanne Lentink)
The album opens with the shifting ambient electronica of Anthropocene that suddenly bursts to life with a fierce drumbeat and guitars sliding and building over each other. It segues seamlessly into Ghost Acres extended exploration of industrial farming with spoken quotes from George Monbiot. Words spoken over synths, reverb laden guitar, cymbal washes, and throbbing bass. Sudden tempo changes that slow and speed up keeps the interest at peak levels. Acoustic guitar introduces Atop A Horrid Hill a sad melody plays out over strummed electric guitar, synths, and strings. In complete contrast heavyweight darkwave synths kick One Fleeting Glance alive before fading as drums, bass, and guitars come to the fore, before returning less intensely in a very satisfying coda.
Upright, overstrung piano picks out the melody of Endling before passing it on through grand piano, synths, and strings. This and Weightless slowly develop a floating intensity that belies the instrumentation used in a quietly spectacular way. Reverberant guitar leads into the dense post-rock of Et In Arcadia Ego. The closing title track Forever The Optimist ends the album on a neo-classical meets post-rock style with the string quartet taking the limelight.
Pete Barnes' project Thistle Shifter and its new album Forever The Optimist is a rich, resonant set of heartfelt melodies that deserves a listen.