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INSANE: Cardiacs | Vintage Vibes

“Surely it’s the greatest psychedelic rock song ever recorded… It makes the whole God thing seem plausible!” Kavus Torabi’s Guide To Cardiacs

Guitarist recalls his first stint in the late Tim Smith’s band via five of their songs chosen by Prog

Louder

“I was struggling at home and struggling on tour. I’ve had a real problem with alcohol again”: Inspired by a Neil Peart quote, Napalm Death’s Shane Embury embraced his prog tendencies to search his soul

The bassist’s desire to “jump into the unknown” inspired Bridge To Revolution, his most progressive album yet, as the Rush fanatic continues work on his Cardiacs-inspired project

Metal Hammer

Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: April 13, 2026

Eight songs you need to hear right now, from Erik Grönwall, Castle Rat, The Black Crowes X Whiskey Myers and more

Louder

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read the most diverse news in one place.

“It was not possible to get a left-handed Jazzmaster in this country. Fender told me, ‘You might as well be ringing Ibanez – we just don’t make them’”: Mike Vennart on the Squier Strats that are simply unbeatable – and why he hates acoustics

The former Oceansize and long-time Biffy Clyro touring guitarist on his love of off-the-beaten-path six-strings and why you've got to try before you buy

Guitar World

“I think we met with his approval. If I find him haunting me, I’ll know I did something wrong”: Tim Smith left an unfinished Cardiacs album when he died. Five years on, his bandmates released the finished version of LSD

A brother who took over the band, a singer who struggled to keep the secret and a determination to do exactly what their late leader would have wanted led to the end of an 18-year journey

Louder

"Someone spat at our saxophone player, so Tim kicked this guy in the mouth – absolutely perfectly in time to the music": A brief history of Cardiacs, the UK's most adored detested band

Cardiacs defied classification for decades, but new album LSD – finished five years after the death of creative lynchpin Tim Smith – was widely hailed as one of the best albums of 2025

Louder

Debate: What’s the best prog album of 2025?

Steven Wilson, Dream Theater, Solstice, Cardiacs and IQ have delivered strong records this year. But what’s your number-one choice?

Louder

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The story of Porcupine Tree's Deadwing is on the cover of the new gift-packed issue of Prog, which is on sale now

Prog 165 also features Peter Hammill, John Lodge, Cardiacs, Gazpacho, Steve Morse, Solstice, Atomic Rooster, Crown Lands, The Utopia Strong, Barry Palmer, Cate Le Bon, Amorphis and loads more...

Louder

“There’s no such thing as coincidence. It’s about being in a flow state. Joining the band I tripped to as a teenager… it all makes sense”: Gong may have lost some humour and older songs, but Kavus Torabi says they’re still supernatural

Daevid Allen’s appointed replacement on keeping the spirituality alive without becoming overwhelmed, the respectful use of acid, and the late band leader’s similarity to Cardiacs’ Tim Smith

Louder

Cardiacs announce live dates in support of new album LSD for March 2026

Art rockers Cardiacs released LSD, their first new studio album for 26 years in September

Louder

“Brought back to life with tremendous care… instruments pop out that even diehard devotees may have previously missed”: Cardiacs’ On Land And In The Sea

The late, great Tim Smith’s prog-punk magnum opus returns on vinyl for the first time since 2007

Louder

“Sleep Token are big fans of what we did, and they’re the biggest rock band in the world right now. That means a lot”: From Oceansize to Biffy Clyro and now Cardiacs, Mike Vennart is one of the UK’s greatest under-the-radar guitar talents

With a style somewhere between shred, Slayer and Pavement, Mike Vennart has headlined some of the world’s biggest festivals, played with Dave Lombardo, and now he’s fronting his all-time favorite band. He attempts to make sense of the many twists and turns in his career

Guitar World

Cardiacs announce that their final album, LSD, will be released in September

The late Cardiacs frontman Tim Smith's final album has been completed by his brother Jim, Kavus Torabi, Mike Vennart and more...

Louder

“All the time he was ill, he had it in his head that he was going to finish it when he got home. He never made it home. I guess we owed it to him”: Tim Smith’s Cardiacs story will end with final album LSD

Members of the band who influenced Steven WIlson, Radiohead, Opeth, Andy Partridge and more explain what they did and why it mattered

Louder

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Louder

Jethro Tull grace the cover of the new issue of Prog Magazine, which is on sale now!

Plus Kevin Godley, Ghost Of The Machine, Mike Ratledge, Can, Cardiacs, Amplifier, Karmakanic, Envy Of None and more...

Louder

“As pictorial histories go, it’s as smart and surprising as Cardiacs themselves”: A Big Book And A Band And A Whole World Window by Aaron Tanner

The idiosyncratic English art-rockers’ history is detailed in a pleasingly DIY limited-edition chunky read.

Louder

“Captain Beefheart possessed an unrestrained imagination and a totally eccentric form of creativity… I’d have lasted five minutes in The Magic Band”: Colin Edwin’s prog world includes Magma, Cardiacs, Gong and more

Former Porcupine Tree and current O.R.k. member on seeing Daevid Allen live, falling under Tim Smith’s spell, messing about with plastic cameras and, well, Lonnie Donegan

Louder

Fully authorised visual history of Cardiacs to be published

New Cardiacs biography, A Big Book And A Band And Whole World Window, will be published in January

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Louder

“Surely it’s the greatest psychedelic rock song ever recorded… It makes the whole God thing seem plausible!” Kavus Torabi’s Guide To Cardiacs

Gong and Knifeworld guitarist recalls his time in Tim Smith’s band via five of their songs chosen by Prog

Louder

“Everything from Between The Buried And Me to Duran Duran. There doesn’t seem to be a distinct barrier in terms of what we believe we can funnel into Kyros." The sound of UK prog rockers Kyros and new album Mannequin

Pop-friendly, shape-shifting prog quartet Kyros discuss their fourth album Mannquein

Louder

“Daevid Allen was always throwing a grenade into situations… Tim Smith was quite benign, although very driven. They both had the same sort of presence:” Kavus Torabi compares his late Gong and Cardiacs bandmates

Briefed to keep Gong going after Allen’s death, the new leader pursues the same aim with a different vision. How have the fans reacted?

Louder

“I knew how to play the whole of Misplaced Childhood when I was 12. I can’t bear to listen to it now – it reminds me of being a miserable 12-year-old”: How former Oceansize member Mike Vennart grew up and moved on

The band that made his name was a “troublesome, difficult” experience, but becoming a dad helped him put it all behind him

The Guardian - UK

‘I organised coach trips to see them’: readers on the forgotten musicians of their home towns

Following our feature speaking to musicians about the local acts they think should be better known, we asked you for your own recommendations

Louder

Cardiacs first full-length album gets four disc reissue

Cardiacs A Little Man And A House And The Whole World Window will be reissued in September

Louder

Abstract Divinities: Charlie Cawood's solo adventure

The Knifeworld, Mediaeval Baebes and Anathema musician Charlie Cawood discusses his first solo album The Divine Abstract

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