Artists (H)

Habu

– To The Stars (2014) NOT RATED

Hackensack

– Up the Hardway (1974) 3.50 stars

Haikara

– Haikara (1972) NOT RATED

Hair

– Piece (1970) NOT RATED

Hairy Chapter

– Eyes (1970) NOT RATED
– Can’t Get Through (1971) NOT RATED

Haken

– Aquarius (2010) 4.50 stars
– Visions (2011) 4.50 stars
– The Mountain (2013) 4.50 stars
– Restoration (2014) 4.50 stars
– Affinity (2016) 4.00 stars

In my opinion, Haken is one of the best and most creative newer Prog-Metal bands around. The music includes many influences, and the overall talent is amazing. Often breathtaking and brilliant, the albums are quite diverse with long, complicated tracks, atmospheric and moody at times, in-your-face and slamming at other times, and generally Haken includes a treasure trove of styles woven together into a style all its own.

Half Past Four

– Land of the Blind (2016) NOT RATED

Halo Tora

– When The Bones Shake (2013) NOT RATED

Hamadryad

– Conservation of Mass (2001) 4.00 stars
– Safe in Conformity (2005) NOT RATED
– Intrusion (2010) 4.00 stars
– The Black Hole (2017) NOT RATED

A better-than-average Canadian band with heavy Yes influences on its debut album, especially considering the lead vocalist (debut album only) sounds almost exactly like Jon Anderson and the keyboards (Hammond, Moog, and classic Mellotron) seem straight out of the Rick Wakeman playbook. For fans of classic Yes , as well as for those craving more from Glass Hammer and other contemporary acts of similar style, Hamadryad might just be a band you’ll also appreciate when it comes to its debut.

But beware, the second and third albums sound very little like Yes due to a change in the lead singer—his lower range and somewhat gruffer, lazier, and less precise style, somewhat remind me of a cross between Francis Dunnery (It Bites) and Peter Gabriel (Genesis)—and the beefing up of the guitars with more unique keyboard sounds (as opposed to the Wakeman-esque vintage sounds). But considering the drastic change of overall style, these albums are also quite decent. I do, however, prefer the style of the debut. Regardless, I’m hoping for more material in the future.

HammerFall

– Legacy of Kings (1998) 3.50 stars
– Crimson Thunder (2002) 3.50 stars

Hammerforce

– Dice (2009) 3.50 stars

Hand

– Kintsugi (2014) 2.00 stars

Hands

– Hands (1996) 4.00 stars
– Twenty Five Winters (2002) 4.00 stars
– Strangelet (2008) 4.00 stars

Hangar

– Infallible (2009) 4.00 stars

Hangover Paradise

– Mirrors (2013) 4.00 stars
– Out Of Sight (2017) NOT RATED

Hanoi Rocks

– Bangkok Shocks Saigon Shakes Hanoi Rocks (1981) 3.50 stars
– Oriental Beat (1982) 3.50 stars
– Self Destruction Blues (1982) 3.50 stars
– Back to Mystery City (1983) 4.00 stars
– Two Steps From the Move (1984) 4.50 stars
– All Those Waisted Years (1984) 4.00 stars
– Twelve Shots on the Rocks (2002) 4.00 stars
– Another Hostile Takeover (2005) 4.00 stars
– Street Poetry (2007) 4.00 stars

Hannibal

– Hannibal (1970) NOT RATED

Happy the Man

– Happy the Man (1977) 4.00 stars
– Crafty Hands (1978) 4.00 stars

When I listen to albums by this band, I’m somehow reminded of the lighter, jazzier tunes off of Jean-Luc Ponty’s best releases (Cosmic Messenger-era), only without the actual violin itself. Add a touch of bands such as Camel or some Canterbury Prog-Rock groups along with some spacier elements from instrumental acts such as Ozric Tentacles, and that’s pretty much what Happy The Man delivers. Nothing overly exciting, mind you, but more than pleasant.

Hard Meat

– Hard Meat (1969) NOT RATED
– Through A Window (1970) NOT RATED

Hard Stuff

– Bulletproof (1972) 4.00 stars

Hardline

– Double Eclipse (1992) 3.50 stars

Harem Scarem

– Harem Scarem (1991) 4.00 stars
– Mood Swings (1993) 4.00 stars
– Human Nature (2007) 4.00 stars
– Hope (2008) 4.00 stars

Harlequin

– Victim of a Song (1979) NOT RATED

Harlequin Mass

– Harlequin Mass (1978) 3.50 stars

Harllequin

– Archangel Asylum (2008) 3.50 stars

Harlow

– Harlow (1990) 4.50 stars

Harmonium

– Harmonium (1974) NOT RATED
– Les Cinq Saisons (1975) NOT RATED

Harmony

– Dreaming Awake (2003) 4.50 stars
– Chapter II: Aftermath (2008) 4.50 stars
– Theatre of Redemption (2014) 4.00 stars

Harsh Reality

– Heaven And Hell (1969) NOT RATED

Hartmann

– 3 (2009) 4.00 stars
– Balance (2012) 4.00 stars

Harvest

– Underground Community (2009) 3.50 stars
– Chasing Time (2012) 3.50 stars
– Northern Wind (2014) 3.50 stars

Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion

– Future Past (2010) 4.50 stars
– Powerplay (2012) 4.00 stars
– HFMC (2015) NOT RATED

Hate

– Hate Kills (1970) NOT RATED

Hatfield and the North

– Hatfield and the North (1974) 4.00 stars
– The Rotters’ Club (1975) 4.50 stars

See my “Hatfield and the North – An Overview” for more information.

Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate

– Broken But Still Standing (2017) NOT RATED

Hawk

– Africa She Too Can Cry (1972) NOT RATED

Hawkwind

– Hawkwind (1970) 3.00 stars
– In Search of Space (1971) 3.00 stars
– Doremi Fasol Latido (1972) 3.00 stars
– Space Ritual (1973) 3.00 stars
– Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974) 3.00 stars
– Warrior On The Edge Of Time (1975) NOT RATED
– Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music (1976) NOT RATED

Haze

– In the End: 1978-88 (1993) 3.00 stars

HB

– Frozen Inside (2008) 3.00 stars

Head East

– Flat as a Pancake (1974) 4.00 stars
– Get Yourself Up (1976) 3.50 stars
– Gettin’ Lucky (1977) 4.00 stars
– Head East (1978) 4.00 stars
– Live! (1979)
– A Different Kind of Crazy (1979) 3.50 stars
– U.S. 1 (1980) 2.50 stars
– Onward and Upward (1982) 2.50 stars

Head Machine

– Orgasm (1970) NOT RATED

Head Over Heels

– Head Over Heels (1971) NOT RATED

Head With Wings

– From Worry To Shame (2018) NOT RATED

Headpins

– Turn It Loud (1982) 4.00 stars
– Line of Fire (1983) 4.00 stars
– Head Over Heels (1985) 3.50 stars

See my “Headpins – An Overview” for more information.

Heads or Tales

– Eternity Becomes a Lie (1995) 3.50 stars

Headspace

– I Am Anonymous (2012) 4.50 stars
– All That You Fear Is Gone (2016) 4.50 stars

The band features both Adam Wakeman (son of Rick) on keyboards, and Damian Wilson (Threshold, Landmarq, etc.) on vocals…two reasons enough for me to have grabbed the albums the moment they came out. Excellent Prog-Metal!

Heart

– Dreamboat Annie (1976) 4.00 stars
– Little Queen (1977) 4.00 stars
– Magazine (1978) 3.50 stars
– Dog & Butterfly (1978) 4.00 stars
– Bébé le Strange (1980) 3.50 stars
– Private Audition (1982) 3.00 stars
– Passionworks (1983) 4.00 stars
– Heart (1985) 4.50 stars
– Bad Animals (1987) 3.50 stars
– Brigade (1990) 3.50 stars
– Rock the House Live! (1991) 3.50 stars
– Desire Walks On (1993) 3.00 stars
– Jupiter’s Darling (2004) 3.50 stars

Heartbreakers

– L.A.M.F. (1977) 4.00 stars

Heart of Cygnus

– Over Mountain, Under Hill (2009) 4.00 stars

Heart of Sun

– Heart of Sun (2007) 4.50 stars

H.e.a.t

– H.e.a.t (2008) NOT RATED
– Freedom Rock (2010) 4.50 stars
– Address the Nation (2012) 4.00 stars
– Tearing Down the Walls (2014) 4.50 stars

Heat (DE)

– Old Sparky (2012) NOT RATED
– Labyrinth (2014) NOT RATED
– Day In, Day Out (2016) NOT RATED
– Night Trouble (2017) NOT RATED

Heather Findlay Band

– I Am Snow (2016) 3.50 stars

Heaven & Earth

– Windows to the World (2000) 4.00 stars
– A Taste of Heaven (2004) 4.00 stars
– Dig (2013) 4.00 stars

Heaven & Hell

– The Devil You Know (2009) 4.00 stars

Heavenfall

– 7 Sins (2011) 4.00 stars

Heavenly

– Coming From the Sky (2000) 3.50 stars
– Dust to Dust (2004) 4.00 stars
– Virus (2006) 4.00 stars
– Carpe Diem (2009) 4.00 stars

Heavens Edge

– Heavens Edge (1990) 3.50 stars

Heavy Bones

– Heavy Bones (1992) 4.00 stars

Heavy Pettin

– Rock Ain’t Dead (1985) 3.00 stars

Heavy Water Experiments

– Heavy Water Experiments (2008) NOT RATED

Hedersleben

– Orbit (2017) NOT RATED

Heir Apparent

– One Small Voice (1989) 4.00 stars

HeKz

– Caerus (2014) 4.50 stars
– Invicta (2018) NOT RATED

Heliopolis

– City of the Sun (2014) 4.50 stars

Helix

– White Lace & Black Leather (1981) 3.00 stars
– No Rest for the Wicked (1983) 3.50 stars
– Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge (1984) 3.50 stars
– Long Way to Heaven (1985) 4.00 stars
– Wild in the Streets (1987) 4.00 stars
– Back for Another Taste (1990) 3.50 stars

Hellcats

– Hellcats (1982) 3.50 stars

Hellfield

– Hellfield (1978) 4.00 stars
– Night Music (1979) 3.50 stars

Hellion

– Hellion (1983) 3.00 stars
– Screams in the Night (1987) 3.00 stars

Helloween

– Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I (1987) 3.50 stars
– Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (1988) NOT RATED

Hemina

– Synthetic (2011) 4.00 stars
– Nebulae (2014) 4.00 stars
– Venus (2016) NOT RATED

To me, the band’s second album (Nebulae) is not quite so heavy, therefore I place it more into the Progressive Rock genre. All of Hemina’s albums, however, are quite good, so fans of the Prog-Metal genre who don’t mind the lighter moments would probably enjoy all the band’s releases.

Henceforth

– Henceforth (2005) 3.00 stars

Henning Pauly

– Babysteps (2006) 4.00 stars

Henry Cow

– Legend (1973) NOT RATED

Herd Of Instinct

– Herd Of Instinct (2011) NOT RATED
– Conjure (2013) NOT RATED
– Drone Priest (2017) NOT RATED

Here On Earth

– Thallium (2018) NOT RATED

Hericane Alice

– Tear the House Down (1990) 3.00 stars

Herman Frank

– Loyal to None (2009) 3.50 stars
– Right in the Guts (2012) 4.00 stars
– The Devil Rides Out (2016) 4.00 stars

Heylel

– Shades of Time (2017) NOT RATED

Hidden Lands

– Lycksalighetens Ö (2014) 3.50 stars
– Halcyon (2017) NOT RATED

Hidden Lapse

– Redemption (2017) NOT RATED

High Jack

– The Iron God (2018) NOT RATED

High Spy

– Paralysed and Hypnotised (2015) NOT RATED

High Tide

– Sea Shanties (1969) NOT RATED

High Wheel

– 1910 (1993) 4.00 stars

Highway Chile

– Rockarama (1985) 3.00 stars

Highway Robbery

– For Love Or Money (1972) NOT RATED

Hills

– Master Sleeps (2011) NOT RATED

Hillward

– Flies in Amber Stones (2015) 3.50 stars

Hiperborea

– Enigmagination (2016) NOT RATED

Hittman

– Hittman (1988) 4.00 stars
– Vivas Machina (1993) 4.00 stars

Hollow

– Modern Cathedral (1998) 3.50 stars

Hollow Earth

– Out Of Atlantis (2017) NOT RATED

The Hollow Moon

– The Hollow Moon (2018) NOT RATED

Hollow Water

– Rainbow’s End (2016) NOT RATED

Hollowmind

– Soundscape of Emotions (2007) 3.50 stars

Hollowscene

– Hollowscene (2018) NOT RATED

Holly Woods

– Live It Up! (2007) 3.50 stars

The Hollywood Stars

– The Hollywood Stars (1977) 2.50 stars

Holon

– The Time Is Always Now (2016) NOT RATED

Holy Barbarians

– Cream (1996) 3.00 stars

Holy Grail

– Ride the Void (2013) 3.00 stars

HolyHell

– Apocalypse (2007) 3.50 stars
– Holyhell (2009) 4.00 stars

Maria Breon has one hell of a voice! (Or should that be one “HolyHell” of a voice?) Regardless, her voice is the highlight of the band’s self-titled release. Although she possesses the operatic quality of other female vocalists in groups with similar styles, she doesn’t overuse this technique, adopting instead a more straightforward vocal approach on most of the tracks. Similarly, the band has the chops to add flourishes of Progressive and Symphonic Rock throughout, yet also doesn’t stray too far from a pure-Metal style, with all tracks having strong melodies and (dare I say) hummable choruses. Additionally, the production is top-notch, and considering the backgrounds of the various musicians involved, the material comes across as a highly professional from a band with longevity instead of being “new.” This is one band to watch!

Holy Lamb

– Salt Of The Earth (1999) 3.50 stars
– Gyrosophy (2015) NOT RATED

Holy Serpent

– Holy Serpent (2015) NOT RATED
– Temples (2016) NOT RATED

Holy Soldier

– Holy Soldier (1990) 3.50 stars

Homer

– Grown In U.S.A. (1970) NOT RATED

Homunculus Res

– Come si diventa ciò che si era (2015) 3.50 stars
– Della Stessa Sostanza Dei Sogni (2018) NOT RATED

Honeymoon Suite

– Honeymoon Suite (1984) 3.00 stars
– The Big Prize (1985) 3.50 stars
– Racing After Midnight (1988) 4.00 stars

Hookfoot

– Hookfoot (1971) NOT RATED

Horakane

– Eternal Infinity (2001) 3.50 stars

Horizontal Ascension

– Horizontal Ascension (2015) NOT RATED

Horse

– Horse (1970) NOT RATED

Host

– Hardt Mot Hardt (1976) NOT RATED

Höstsonaten

– Höstsonaten (1997) 4.00 stars
– Mirrorgames (1998) 4.00 stars
– Springsong (2001) 2.50 stars

Hot Tuna

– Yellow Fever (1975) 3.00 stars

Hounds

– Unleashed (1978) 4.00 stars
– Puttin’ on the Dog (1979) 3.00 stars

Hourglass

– The Journey Into (2002) 4.50 stars
– Subconscious (2004) 4.50 stars
– Oblivious to the Obvious (2009) 4.50 stars

On the releases The Journey Into and Subconscious, Hourglass isn’t ‘quite as heavy as the music that appears on Oblivious to the Obvious, therefore, for the most part, I prefer to label the group as Progressive Rock instead of Prog-Metal.

House of Lords

– House of Lords (1988) 4.50 stars
– Sahara (1990) 3.50 stars
– Demons Down (1992) 3.50 stars
– World Upside Down (2006) 4.50 stars
– Come to My Kingdom (2008) 4.00 stars
– Cartesian Dreams (2009) 4.00 stars
– Big Money (2011) 4.00 stars
– Precious Metal (2014) 4.00 stars
– Indestructible (2015) 4.00 stars
– Saint of the Lost Souls (2017) 4.50 stars

Houston

– Houston (2010) 4.00 stars
– Houston II (2013) NOT RATED

Hovercraft

– Full Of Eels (2018) NOT RATED

How Far To Hitchin

– Easy Targets (2017) NOT RATED

Howe II

– High Gear (1989) 2.50 stars

However

– Calling (1985) 2.50 stars

HSAS

– Through the Fire (1984) 3.50 stars

Hubi Meisel

– Kailash (2006) 4.00 stars

Hughes / Thrall

– Hughes / Thrall (1982) 4.00 stars

Hughes Turner Project

– Hughes Turner Project (2002) 4.00 stars
– 2 (2003) 4.00 stars

Hugo

– Hugo (1997) 4.00 stars
– Time on Earth (2000) 4.00 stars
– Fire in the Night (2003) 4.00 stars

Huis

– Neither in Heaven (2016) 4.50 stars

Humanity

– When Silence Calls (2003) 3.00 stars

Human 2.0

– Colour Thinking (2018) NOT RATED

Human Instinct

– Stoned Guitar (1970) NOT RATED

Human Temple

– Halfway to Heartache (2012) 3.50 stars

Human Zoo

– Precious Time (2006) 4.50 stars
– Over the Horizon (2007) 4.50 stars
– Eyes of the Stranger (2011) 4.50 stars
– My Own God (2016) 4.50 stars

Humble Pie

– As Safe as Yesterday Is (1969) 3.50 stars
– Town & Country (1969) 3.50 stars
– Humble Pie (1970) 4.00 stars
– Rock On (1971) 4.00 stars
– Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore (1971) 4.50 stars
– Smokin’ (1972) 4.00 stars
– Eat It (1973) 3.50 stars
– Thunderbox (1974) 4.00 stars
– Street Rats (1975) 3.50 stars
– On to Victory (1980) 3.50 stars
– Go for the Throat (1981) 3.50 stars
– Hot ‘n’ Nasty: The Anthology (1994) 4.50 stars
– King Biscuit Flower Hour: In Concert (1996) 4.50 stars

Hurdy Gurdy

– Hurdy Gurdy (1972) NOT RATED

Hybrid Ice

– Hybrid Ice (1982) 4.00 stars

Hydra

– Hydra (1974) 4.00 stars
– Land of Money (1975) 4.00 stars

Hydria

– Poison Paradise (2010) 3.00 stars

Hydrogyn

– Deadly Passions (2008) 3.50 stars

Julie Westlake (along with her guitarist husband Jeff Westlake) fronts this Kentucky band, which has nothing to do with Country Rock. And the one thing that drew my attention to this band is that it is NOT one of the b’zillions of Nightwish-clone bands out there in the universe.  No symphonic overtones whatsoever, just straightforward Hard Rock with more than a few Heavy Metal touches tossed in for good measure. Granted, the band offers nothing new to the world of music, and some of the material is rather average, but a few of the tracks on the band’s half-dozen albums do command at least some attention, and Julie’s vocals are always hard-hitting and pitch-perfect. She has a straightforward style of singing (again, no operatic vocals on these albums that would put the band into the same genre as Nightwish, Without Temptation, etc.) and is always a joy to hear.

Hydrotoxin

– Oceans (1996) 4.00 stars
– Signal Denied (2007) 4.00 stars

Hypermania

– Down To Birth (1999) NOT RATED

Hypnos 69

– Timeline Traveller (2002) 3.50 stars
– Promise of a New Moon (2003) 3.50 stars
– The Intrigue of Perception (2004) 4.00 stars
– The Eclectic Measure (2006) 4.00 stars
– Legacy (2010) 4.00 stars

Hypnotheticall

– Synchreality (2018) NOT RATED