Sankara have released a free download single to celebrate the Rugby World Cup.

HRH Prog 2 is a residential rock festival held in this year the former Butlins holiday camp at Hafan-Y-Mor just outside Pwllheli in north Wales, following on from the successful first festival held in Rotherham a year ago.

It’s certainly a long way from anywhere, at the end of miles and miles of single-carriageway roads winding through the Welsh hills, or an equally winding single-track railway line, and it certainly wasn’t the organisers’ fault that part of the train journey was by replacement bus because the tracks had been washed away in a storm. There were complaints from some quarters that it was an inconvenient location. But it was an equal opportunity inconvenience; it takes just as long wherever you’re coming from.

The festival proper began on the Friday, but Thursday night saw a warm-up featuring four bands.. Proceedings opened with the melodic rock of Sankara, who played a solid set despite a stand-in rhythm section, and again showed how much better they’ve become in their expanded twin-guitar form. The only problem was when Gareth played keys he was hidden away in the shadows at the back of the stage.

Jump are always entertaining as a live band. Frontman John Dexter Jones comes over as a cross between Fish and Morrissey, with his storytelling style and music that owes as much to folk and blues as to prog. A particular highlight was “Down Three Times”, a song about a relative in the Merchant Navy during World War Two, who ended up as a beachcomber after being the victim of three sinkings.

Next up was Synaesthesia, playing keyboard-heavy symphonic rock with plenty of vintage analogue keyboard sounds including mini-moog solos and squelchy bass tones. For a very young band playing their second ever gig they delivered a remarkable performance. This is a band we’ll almost certainly be hearing a lot more from the coming months and years.

It fell to Credo to top the Thursday night bill. Their rather old-fashioned neo-prog doesn’t always make that strong an impression on record, but live it’s a different story, and their passion and energy made a good conclusion to the night.

The festival proper opened with The Custodian at noon on Friday, a largely instrumental act, with the drummer singing much of the lead vocals. They displayed an undoubted level of technical skill with a jazz-metal flavour and more than a hint of the late Frank Zappa, though their instrumental virtuosity ultimately exceeded their compositional ability. They could have done with a proper frontperson.

The Physics House Band were phenomenal for a band so young they looked as though they were still at school. They’re an entirely instrumental power trio, with Sam Organ swapping between guitar and keys. It was the rhythm section that really impressed, with Dave Morgan’s drums as a lead instrument. Indeed, when the guitarist took of on a soaring effects laden solo you often find yourself listening to the inventive bass riffs rather than the guitar. All completely bonkers stuff, and the sort of music to give “prog” a serious kick up the arse.

Luna Kiss were less impressive. They have a more modern streamlined sound without much in the way of flashy instrumental showboating, but weak vocals and lack of memorable material held them back, and they failed to make a particularly strong impression. The prog-metal of Shattered Skies was rather better, with the first proper lead singer of the day, though their use of programmed keys rather than a flesh and blood keyboard player was irritating at times.

Chimp Spanner were another all-instrumental act, a prog-metal trio made up of a drummer and two guitarists wielding matching eight-sting axes. With no bass player, one guitarist soloed with remarkable fluidity while the other played hammered riffs. But while they were interesting for a couple of numbers, ultimately they were lacking in variety or dynamics.

The Pineapple Thief were one of the most eagerly anticipated acts of the day, and they did not disappoint. Their widescreen atmospheric music combines progressive rock with elements of indie and electronica to give them a very contemporary sound, and it all comes over very strongly live. With a set drawing heavily from their most recent album “All The Wars”, their intense performance was head and shoulders above everyone who’d been on stage before them, with big soaring melodies and a strong sense of dynamics that previous acts had lacked.

Dutch veterans Focus were the only out and out nostalgia act on the bill. They’re been a regular act at classic rock festivals in recent years, and sometimes they’ve come over as marking time until their big hit. This time they came over rather better, and their set was enjoyable if predictable. At heart they’re a jazz act rather than than a rock band, led by Thijs van Leer on his battered Hammond held together with gaffer tape. The set included the lengthy “Eruption” and of course their other hit “Sylvia” before the inevitable yodelling conclusion of “Hocus Pocus”.

Sweden’s The Flower Kings are an established act with a strong reputation, enhanced in recent years though guitarist Roine Stolt’s involvement with the prog supergroup Transatlantic. But from the strength of performances like this it’s very difficult to see what all the fuss is about. Their directionless set lacked any kind of focus or sense of pacing, and while they’re undoubtedly great musicians much of the material felt like loose, unstructured jams. Sonically they were great, with the interplay of guitar and keys reminiscent of Barclay James Harvest. But unlike BJH, they lacked anything in the way of memorable tunes, and there was little energy either. For a festival headliner this was a very disappointing performance.

The bill was set up with the nominal headliners as the penultimate band of the day, so it was left to Deadly Circus Fire to close the proceedings. Their brand of in-your-face metal dressed as zombie clowns in greasepaint was an unfortunate case of the wrong band in the wrong place at the wrong time. They’re good at what they do, but they weren’t what the thinning crowd really wanted at that time of night, and they could only be described as “room-emptying”.

Friday had been a bit “Desolate Shore” (With Theydon Bois on guitar, and Clam on bass), but Saturday’s lineup promised bands with a more song-centric approach. Proceedings opened with September Code, from Greece, whose melodic hard rock flavour of prog focusing on songwriting and a proper lead singer. Some flamenco-tinged guitar leads gave them a distinctive edge.

Because DeeExpus had pulled out due to illness, Crimson Sky came on earlier and played a longer set than planned. They started out with a few wobbles, but soon rose to the big occasion. Their sound is an interestingly quirky mix of 70s prog and 80s new-wave, and setlist drew from the EP “Dawn”, some favourites from the earlier album “Misunderstood”, and two brand new numbers, the Uriah Heep-like “Catching On” and the ambitious “The Signifier and the Signified”. Jane Setter came over very strongly as a frontwoman on a big stage, with a presence that held the attention of the crowd, perhaps showing some transferrable skills from her day job as a university professor. An interesting fact; Jane Setter is probably the only prog singer who is fluent in Klingon. How prog is that?

Purson were one of the most visually striking bands on the bill. Unlike many other bands who go on stage in jeans and t-shirts, Purson put a lot of effort into their stage outfits. Their late-60s hippy look exactly matches the psychedelic rock of their music with its swirling organ and fuzz-toned bass grooves. Their retro sound and dark lyrical themes recall Blood Ceremony, but with hints of Curved Air and early Pink Floyd. Despite some early technical problems with lead singer and lead guitarist Rosalle Cunningham’s pedal board, they rose above those early difficulties to deliver an impressive performance.

Panic Room also suffered some sound problems early on, but still made a very strong impression with a powerful and professionally-delivered set. In a bold move the vast bulk of the songs came from their newly-released album “Incarnate”, with just two older numbers, “Song for Tomorrow” and the anthemic “Satellite” at the very end of the set. The new material came over well live. The layered atmospherics of “Into Temptation” made an interesting choice of opener, and the stripped-back “Start The Sound” featured some inventive rhythms from Gavin Griffiths. New guitarist Adam O’Sullivan is still finding his feet to some extent, but he’s slowly growing into the role, and of course Anne-Marie Helder’s vocals were in a class of their own. The choice of setlist showed a band taking aim at the future rather than relying on their past, and they deserved to win over plenty of new fans.

Arcane Roots were something completely different; a prog-metal power trio, relying on a combination of technical virtuosity and sheer raw energy rather than songcraft. There were a bit “Theydon Bois and Clam go metal” at times, and clearly weren’t to everyone’s tastes. They were good at what they did, but ultimately suffered from a lack of variety.

Hawklords are essentially a Hawkwind tribute act including people Dave Brock has sacked from Hawkwind over the years. With their mix of classic ‘blanga’ and poetry readings accompanied by electronic effects they sought to evoke the legendary “Space Ritual” sound. They started and ended well, bookending with the Hawkwind standards “Master of the Universe” and “Damnation Alley”, but their rather self-indulgent set flagged badly in the middle. Adrian Shaw did a passable impression of the late Robert Calvert, and one highlight was a lengthy and surprisingly melodic instrumental piece that eventually morphed into “Uncle Sam’s On Mars”. Unfortunately their overlong set overran their slot, throwing out the timings for the rest of the day.

There is nobody else quite like The Enid. Robert John Godfrey is closer to a classical composer working within the rock world than a conventional rock musician, and they augment rock keyboards and guitars with an impressive array of orchestral percussion instruments including some massive kettle-drums. They’ve moved away from the over-ambitious large-scale choral works of a couple of years back that didn’t work at festivals in favour of their more melodic and accessible material. Rather than the fully-instrumental form of earlier years they’ve added a lead vocalist in the shape of Joe Payne whose falsetto is quite unlike any other singer at the festival. They were yet another victim of technical problems, this time with a wind synth that refused to behave, but like others before them rose above it to deliver another strong set. They ended with what Robert John Godfrey described as the closest thing they’ve done to rave music, the dynamic groove-orientated “Dark Hydraulic”. This is a band that does tend to divide opinions, but for every person who they leave scratching their head in bafflement there’s another who’s absolutely mesmerised by what they do.

Fish has experienced a strong renaissance as a live artist in the past couple of years, as anyone who saw his tour in 2013 will know. But this festival crowd contained a fair number of sceptics who last saw him several years back when persistent voice problems resulted in very hit-and-miss performances. Almost as soon as he hit the stage he proved beyond doubt that he was back on form, and had the audience eating out of his hand, especially when he launched into a very intense rendition of Marillion’s “Script for a Jester’s Tear” early on. The setlist was a cut-down version of that played last year, with no surprises for anyone who saw him that tour, and the whole thing, from the epic brooding opener “Perfume River” to the medley of oldies at the end flowed beautifully, and built in momentum as the set proceeded. One ‘festival moment’ was the end of the acoustic “Blind to the Beautiful” when he handed the microphone to Panic Room’s Anne-Marie Helder in the photo pit. As an elder statesman of prog, his career has had its up and downs, and at the moment with a highly-regarded new album and live shows like this he’s definitely on an up. This was the performance of the festival.

It was left to 80s prog-folk veterans Solstice to close the show. After Fish it could easily have an anticlimax, but they proceeded to play an entertaining and uplifting set. Andy Glass is a phenomenal guitarist, Emma Brown delivered a great performance on lead vocals, and Jenny Newman’s violin added another dimension to the sound. It was a shame that it was cut slightly short due to Hawklords overrunning their slot earlier in the day.

The main part of the festival turned out to be an event of two halves. With a couple of notable exceptions Friday was a day of shredding virtuosity rather than songs, with a very noticeably all-male bill. Saturday was the reverse, with a lineup of bands emphasising composition where technical ability was a means to an end, and half the acts featured female lead vocals. I know which I prefer.

Overall the festival was well-organised, the sound was good, and everyone involved did a professional job. The fifteen-minute turnovers between bands kept the music flowing, but at the expense of the technical problems that plagued almost every band on the Saturday.

A couple of recommendations for next year. First, it’s an established fact that given a choice many prog fans prefer to drink real ale. After the Hobgoblin ran out early on Saturday the bar was just generic lagers; a day spent chilling out in Porthmadog after the festival was a reminder that there are some superb local beers in this part of the world, and it would be nice to have one or two of those on sale at the venue.

Second, it wasn’t easy to buy merch for many of the bands. Bands didn’t have their own merch stands, and the only source of CDs within the hall itself was an independent trader who carried only limited stocks of music by the bands on the bill, which rapidly sold out. There was some merch on sale in another building several minutes’ walk away, but again, only a limited selection.

But those are only minor issues. It was a highly enjoyable event held in a beautiful part of the world. It’s a long journey to get there, but the whole trip was thoroughly worthwhile.

It was a last minute decision to go to this gig, at the end of what had been a rather rough week. A strong bill with three acts I was keen to see made it worth travelling to another country involving rail replacement buses and a stay in a cheap B&B. Sometimes it’s gigs like this where I’m reminded of the line in Mötorhead’s “We Are The Road Crew” ‘Another hotel I can’t find‘. But in this case I did manage to find the hotel, but got hopelessly lost in the decidedly non-Euclidian geography between the hotel and the venue. I was in a maze of small twisty streets, all alike. Fortunately I did eventually manage to find The Globe in time for the start.

Opener was the solo acoustic guitar virtuoso Matt Stevens. Matt plays acoustic guitar through a series of looping pedals and effects enabling him to turn a single guitar into a multilayered tapestry of sound. At times he uses his pedal board as an instrument as much as the guitar itself, and at one point was on his knees pressing buttons and making Hawkwind-like electronic effects. For the second half of his set, he was joined by virtuoso bassist and former Panic Room member Alun Vaughan, who played some imaginative bass parts to Matt’s solo compositions and added an interesting extra layer to the music.

I first saw Sankara at the 2012 Cambridge Rock Festival when they were still a four-piece, and the recently-formed band showed a lot of promise. Almost immediately after the release of their début album “Guided by Degrees” they changed personnel, with a new bassist and the addition of a second guitarist.

They now sound like a completely different band. Having two guitars fills out the sound significantly, with Jay and new addition Paul having contrasting and complementary styles. While their music still lies somewhere on the hard rock/AOR spectrum, they’ve now got a bigger, tougher and heavier sound than they had either as a four-piece or on record.

Their lengthy set including the majority of both the album and their earlier EP “Enigma”. Gareth Jones again impressed as a frontman, switching between the front of the stage and the occasional number sung from behind the keys. High spots included a very emotive “Lullaby for a Lost Boy”, which Gareth introduced as inspired by his day job in housing; ‘A song about homelessness’. Sankara have come on a lot in a very short time, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here.

Also Eden are another band in the throes of lineup changes. They’ve got a new bassist since I saw them last, and their current run of gigs marks the farewell appearances of founder member, keyboardist Ian Hodson. And although he’s established himself as the voice of the band over the last couple of years, Rich Harding wasn’t their original singer.

His politically-charged lyrics recall Geoff Mann-era Twelfth night, some of his theatrical vocal delivery reminds me a lot of very early Marillion, and his dedication of “1949″ to everyone who works in the NHS was a nice touch. Musically, despite sometimes lengthy songs and rich arrangements they avoid most of the obvious clichés of 80s neo-prog.

Their set drew heavily from their third album “Think of the Children”. For the older “Skipping Stones” they were joined on stage by their original singer Huw Lloyd Jones. They also played a substantial amount of brand-new material from the forthcoming “[Redacted]“. On first listen the new songs came over strongly, darker and heavier than their older songs, with “Chronologic” a particular standout.

From this performance Also Eden came over as a band who have significantly raised their game, and provided they manage to negotiate the speedbump of finding a replacement keyboard player they look about to move up to the next level. Certainly “[Redacted]” is now one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year.

In these cash-strapped times shows like this are exactly the sort of thing more bands ought to be doing, putting together a bill of two or three contrasting but complementary acts that give audiences their money’s worth regardless of who is the nominal headliner. It works for audiences, and I think it works for the bands as well.

All photos by Paul Johnson

Video of the opening track from the album “Guided By Degrees”, filmed at the album launch in Cardiff back in December, featuring the new five-piece lineup of the band with Arnie on bass and Paul on 2nd guitar.

The usual disclaimers apply, of course. They’re selected from the albums of 2012 that I’ve actually had the chance to hear over the course of the year. It’s also a personal list of albums that have made an impression on me rather than any attempt to declare them the “best” of the year, whatever that might mean. Which is why there are very obscure independent releases alongside heavily-promoted major-label albums.

My self-imposed rules exclude both live albums and studio restatements of past material, although Steve Hackett’s “Genesis Revisited II” and Heather Findlay’s “Songs From The Old Kitchen” deserve mention.

It was going to be a top 20, but once I’d got my list finalised someone went and released a record in the middle of December that really deserved to be on the list. So now it’s a top 21. I’ve given up trying to rank all 21 album in any kind of order, and have gone for grouping them under Good, Great, Superb and Legendary, the last being my album of the year.

So here are the ten Good albums, which form numbers 21 to 12 in the list, ordered alphabetically.

Joe Bonamassa – Driving Towards The Daylight

Excellent album of guitar-shredding blues-rock from one of the most exciting guitar players of his generation, with electrifying takes on blues standards from the likes of Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon alongside a handful of original numbers. Yes, the ever-prolific Bonamassa can probably turn out albums like this in his sleep, but that’s just a measure of his talent.

Delain – We Are The Others

A seamless blend of in-your-face metal riffs and chart-friendly pop choruses, featuring the remarkable vocals of Charlotte Wessels, all of which makes it more of a mystery why a major label sat on this record for months before releasing it. If only daytime radio wasn’t afraid of big-sounding guitars.

Enslaved – Riitiir

Symphonically-dense wall-of-sound metal which mixes moments of brutal heaviness with a surprising amount of melody. There’s plenty of death-metal growling, but there are also passages that prove how well metal riffs and Gregorian chants go together.

It Bites – Map Of The Past

The 80s pop-prog veterans reformed a few years back, with the talented John Mitchell at the helm.  Although the latest album doesn’t quite top 2008′s “The Tall Ships”, it’s still an impressive work that combines emotionally-rich songwriting with all the widdly soloing you could possibly want.

Mermaid Kiss – Another Country

A move away from the symphonic prog-rock of their previous album “Etarlis”, with a beautiful semi-acoustic record with touches of Americana and gospel. Not many bands have Cor Anglais as a principle lead instrument.

Sankara – Guided By Degrees

An impressive melodic hard rock début from former members of The Bluehorses and The Reasoning. It’s a rich, multilayered record in which Gareth Jones’s excellent vocal performance proves he’s more than capable fronting his own band.

Shadow Of The Sun – Monument

Former Reasoning guitarist Dylan Thompson returns with some prog-tinged hard rock/metal with guitars that go up to Eleven. A record that’s only been out a few days and I’ve only given a handful of listens. But that’s enough convince me it belongs on this list.

Howard Sinclair – The Delicious Company of Freaks

Lyric-driven semi-acoustic balladry from the Bristol-based singer-songwriter who supported Panic Room on their November tour. Some memorable songs, with one high point being the spellbinding “These Dark Hills” sung as a duet with Panic Room’s Anne-Marie Helder.

Squackett – A Life Within A Day

Two of the most distinctive instrumentalists in the prog-rock world combine their talents for a polished and song-focussed album. At times this collaboration sounds like Steve Hackett with a different bassist, at times it’s Yes with different guitars and vocals. “The Tall Ships” with it’s bass groove and soaring vocal harmonies is a particular highlight.

Winter in Eden – Echoes of Betrayal

With a great vocalist in Vicky Johnson, the Durham-based band prove if the songwriting is good enough it’s possible to do female-fronted symphonic metal without needing the choirs, orchestras and kitchen sinks of the more extravagant European bands.

Virgil and the Accellerators were an early highlight, playing some guitar-shredding electric blues.

Heather Findlay played her first full band gig on a big stage since November last year, and went down a storm.

Sankara, fronted by Gareth Jones, formerly of The Reasoning played the CRS stage, and made a strong impression with their mix of hard rock, metal and AOR.

Winter in Eden, fronted by Vicky Johnson, played an absolute blinder as special guests on the CRS stage.

Silverjet. Because first thing in the morning, some back to basics rock and roll is what a festival needs.

Stolen Earth were another band who rose to the big occasion to play one of the best sets they’ve ever done.

Panic Room did what Panic Room do, which was to blow everybody away. They really should have been far higher up the bill.

Chantel McGregor delivered another incendiary set, great songwriting and some spectacular guitar pyrotechnics.

Flanborough Head played some delightful old-school prog. There is nothing quite like a flute solo backed by Mellotron.

Mr So and So impressed me a lot, they came over a lot better than last year.

The mighty Touchstone stormed the stage to deliver an impressive high-energy set.

Mostly Autumn, special guests on the Sunday night and playing their first gig since the end of last year did not disappoint.

The four track EP gets off to a strong start with the opening title track. Building from a piano arpeggio to a big soaring chorus the end result is a song you just can’t get out of your head. This and the following hard rocker “Exalted Star” with it’s growling riff and multi-layered vocal harmonies recall bands like Styx before they descended into cheese. The ballad “Lay My Body Down” is perhaps the weakest of the four songs, never really coming to life despite some good guitar work from Jay towards the end, but the EP ends on a high note with the hard rock of “Full Flow”.

This highly melodic mix of hard rock and AOR ballads is quite a way from the prog-metal leanings of Gareth’s and Vinden’s previous band. But there are still definite echoes of some of Gareth Jones’ earlier songwriting contributions for them, and his accomplished vocals prove he’s more than capable of fronting his own band, not that it was really in any doubt. On this disk he sings all the harmonies as well as lead, which makes me wonder how they’ll reproduce the songs live; I guess it depends on how well the rest of the band can cope on backing vocals.

This is a promising start for the band. Even if the production isn’t slick and polished, the quality of the songs and playing shine through, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more good things from them in the coming months and years.