White Knight Records - [Release date: 7 November 2025]

Third album from Retreat From Moscow since they reformed in 2016 and this one’s a belter.

Active from 1979 – 82, the band have been on hiatus, while life happened, but re-emerged with ‘The World As We Knew It’ in 2021, followed with ‘Dreams, Myths And Machines’ in 2023.

Released on Rob Reed’s White Knight label (which is gaining traction in the progressive rock world with a roster of top bands and artists), ‘The Illusion Of Choice’ is a progressive rock tour-de-force, with tremendous musicianship, a very ‘now’ libretto – and not a hint of the cursed ‘prog-metal’ to be heard.

Having been around since 1979, RFM have the miles on the clock and musical nous to create a musical experience here that fans of bands such as Arena, IQ, Pendragon and even Marillion will find much to their liking.

Even if the vocals of John Harris are somewhat of an acquired taste, his guitaring more than compensates, as does the quality of the songwriting, the quality of the recording (which is a credit to all concerned) and the skill-set of the band which, at times, is off the scale.

And vocal contributions by Jillian Slade and Magenta’s Christina Booth really do ice the cake.

Seven tracks, with just the one clocking in at less than five minutes and one bladder-bursting eleven minute epic to enjoy.

The opening title track strikes the tone with classic progressive synths, power chords and seamless tempo transitions backed up with excellent guitar/keyboard interplay and a rock-solid engine room – a trope maintained throughout the album.

The flute intro to ‘Earth Stepper’ is a treat (courtesy of Les Penning) as is the harp intro and coda on ‘Bones Will Sing’ – a further demonstration of John Harris’s mastery of all things strung.

Christina Booth guests here and takes the track to another level.

‘Navigators Of The Trym’ with its pulsing synth riff is the only track I’ve ever heard, prog or otherwise, that features a tale of storm drains – but a glance at the lyric sheet explains all…

Jillian Slade guests on the sorrowful ‘Polina’ about the death of a young woman in the shit-show that is Ukraine, whilst ‘Snowfall Road’ has an almost Celtic vibe and uses quotes from both Emily Brontë and the poet Shelley.

The album concludes with the rather depressing ‘Black Mist’ in which the treatment of native populations in the UK’s nuclear tests in the 1950s is laid bare – however, despite its dark subject matter, this is probably the best track on the album with exquisite musicianship from the whole band.

Whilst ‘The Illusion Of Choice’ is hardly a bag of laughs – progressive rock seldom is – despite its occasional dark themes, this is a true celebration of everything that prog stands for and deserves all the plaudits that are surely coming its way. *****

Review by Alan Jones

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