Atmospheric Dutch heavy progressive rock outfit, The Aurora Project, released their debut album in 2005, and their previous, fourth, album a whole nine years ago, so it is a welcome return to the recording fold for their Evos12, to be released on 21st February. The digital album is on Bandcamp at https://theauroraprojectnl.bandcamp.com/album/evos12 and that provides you with details of how to get physical copy. Readers should note that I played the epic third track, Have Some Tea, on my Progzilla Radio show on 1st February, and it went down a storm with listeners joining me in the Chat Room.

The line-up has returned to a six-piece band (tragically, they lost rhythm guitarist and lyricist Marc Vooijs in 2014) with the addition of guitarist Alex Ouwehand (Golden Caves) joining Joris Bol on drums & percussion; Remco van den Berg, guitar, and backing vocals; Marcel ‘Mox’ Guijt on keyboards; Dennis Binnekade, lead vocals; and Rob Krijgsman on bass.

There is, as per the band’s usual tendency, a concept behind this work, and they explain it as; following the Drone wars, humanity gathered in massive cities, losing its sense of purpose. The new world’s leaders seized control, deepening the divide between themselves and the people. Nigel Light struggled to survive in the ruins of a city that once valued dreams, freedom, and equality. Far away, on the moon Welda, a young genius made a discovery with the potential to save his world. If only Earth could learn from Welda...

So, there is the story. What about the music? Well, we start off with Slave City, and this brings across the shocking conditions, humiliation of humanity in cities so well, something which outside a story I can relate to readily in real life, loathing as I do the thought of having to live amongst so many people and so much pain in ghastly urban centres. The opening vocal is bleak, unaccompanied, before the mix opens up and you instantly notice the guitar before the band let rip a minute in with some crackling riffs, a collective making a fine old noise, announcing themselves as back with a vengeance. Krijgsman provides a beautiful bassline as the song moves to its main passage, and from the off, I really like Binnekade’s vocals, expressive and telling a story without falling into the easy trap of shouting or growling to emphasise the words. Wonderful effects, soaring soundscapes, riffs pushing it all along, this is a sharp and focussed start to proceedings. There is an official music video released, and you can view it embedded below.

The Movement strikes me lyrically as representing the kind of debate we are having now regarding the benefits/apocalyptic consequences of AI (delete according to taste or opinion), a device which can be the saviour, or a delusion that won’t solve any problem. The music reflects the dichotomy well, the advocate of the device accompanied by some bright riffs and then beseeching positivity in the “sales pitch”, but the dark voices talking annihilation, and the opposition taking a darker hue. There is a great guitar solo, and as the track progresses, Bol nails the foundations with some crashing drums but then joining the bass in some nice jazz sensibilities in the quieter moments. Really impressive in its moods and execution.

Have Some Tea is, as I said above, the epic track I played recently. Over eleven minutes of music, infused with some rich classic blues rock to start, with our hero being introduced to the light over something as simple as a cup of tea, an alternative to the suffering, the music deliberately taking us on a journey infused with dreamy notes, pulling us in to a brighter alternative, wonderfully building in intensity in its notes, bursting out of the speakers when the band riff out, with as good a heavy guitar solo as you will hear leading into a pulsating sequence as the whole thing is a hard rock delight moving into its “beautiful” denouement, the blues of the start reasserting itself. This wonderful song is a very strong contender for this website’s “epic track of 2025” award, even at this early stage of the year.

The Traveler is a manifesto for all vileness coming to an end, looking down on a better place, full of serenity. I love the keys at the start, thumping out the message, then joined by class drumming, a scorching guitar screaming out some hope, the vocals delivered as a political masterclass against a backdrop of a pulsing bass, swirling keys. Having listened to this album numerous times now, this track contains just about all I love about modern rock music, thoughtful, superb musicianship, telling a story with aplomb, and about as good as it gets.

We close with Freedom of Thought. Freedoms of feelings, freedom of soul, a connection made between the world of the free, and that of slaves, interestingly, I think, recalling similar debates held on earth in the 19th century discussing whether some human beings were merely chattels. There is a lovely post rock feel to the guitars here, more throbbing bass melodies, and some very nice vocal melodies. When the band expand all this, there is a modern orchestral rock vibe coming at me, band and listener connecting with each other, a promise of something better, and it is, of course, up to all of us to realise that dream, that knowledge that we are connected to each other for a reason. Moving into the final third, I can’t help but feel this is how Black Sabbath would have sounded had they been a band recording in 2025, as opposed to the early ‘70’s.

This is the first of a two-part concept, and I, for one, cannot wait for part two. Evos12 drips with quality and is very much recommended for you to explore further.