Progressive rock & metal album episode 115 - Asia 'Indigo' review

#Asia Welcome to another edition of the Progressive Rock & Metal album review series and today, i am going to be taking a look at a brand new 2026 release from legendary progressive rock supergroup, Asia. 'Indigo' is the 14th studio album from Asia and marks the first time in over 12 years since 2014's 'Gravitas' that Asia has recorded & released an album featuring new material. 'Indigo' features a brand new lineup completely different to the previous one, Carl Palmer has moved on to concentrate on the ELP legacy, Sam Coulson has moved on to various different projects and John Wetton is sadly no longer with us as he passed away back in 2017. The new Asia lineup is comprised of founding member / keyboardist Geoff Downes who was a longtime collaborator of John Wetton as one half of the Wetton Downes Icon project and is currently a member of legendary progressive rock band Yes & one half of the Downes Braide Association with Chris Braide. Guitarist John Mitchell is from Arena, *Frost, Lonely Robot & was a member of the John Wetton Band for many years as well as part of the Wetton Downes Icon. Drummer Virgil Donati is from progressive metal band planet X with Derek Sherinian is consider by many to be one of the greatest drummers of all time and played with John Wetton as part of UK during their last 2015 tour. The newest member is singer / bassist Harry Whitely who has created a lot of buzz on the internet with his incredible reinterpretations of classic Asia songs. This new lineup was formed back in 2023 for a special night in tribute to John Wetton at Trading Boundaries and they performed Asia material, it was announced that going forward that Downes, Mitchell, Donati & Whitley was going to be the new Asia lineup. I wasn't entirely sure if Whitley could fill the massive shoes of John Wetton but he proved everyone wrong that he was very much his own man and not a tribute act. 'Indigo' is a fantastic album and incredibly strong from start to finish with no weak tracks at all. It also features guest appearances from founding Asia member Steve Howe and Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater. The whole band are on top form and deliver an incredible performance Without a doubt, one of the best albums i have heard in a long time and a very strong contender for album of the year.