Tribe3 – Scars | Progressive Rock Central.com

“Scars,” is the third studio album by the Welsh progressive rock trio Tribe3. It was officially released on October 16, 2026; marking their debut with Rob Reed’s highly regarded White Knight Records.

The band members include: Jon Kinsey (vocals, drums, and keyboards); Chris Jones (guitar); and Steve Hughes (bass and keyboards).

The band celebrated the release with an intimate, official album launch gig on October 24, 2026, at The Black Cat in Bridgend, South Wales. They were supported by fellow Welsh prog-outfit Ash Wing.

“Insomniac,” opens with cool spacey keyboards, before the full soundscape bursts onto the stage. Heavy electric guitars, bass, and drums rock loudly, as Jon Kinsey sings, “The sun it rises high in the sky. Marks the start of the day. It doesn’t matter to me. All the same. For I have risen long ago.” A very difficult situation to have trouble sleeping. Most of us go through it sometime during our lives. Maybe its that test you didn’t study enough, or that project you have to present to your boss tomorrow. But this insomniac makes the most of it and prefers gazing into the stars. The music sounds a little like early Arena or Pallas. The music is very challenging and full of memories of the height of the Neo-Prog Age of the 1980s. Harder edge, but filled with great progressive rock sounds. Throughout the over 10-minute opener, the lead guitar riffs soar into the sky like a Steve Rothery launch. The drum salute towards the end took me back to some of Phil Collins’ playing on “Second’s Out.”

“Sown Seeds,” opens at a faster pace, with ice – like keyboards, bass, guitars and drums. The intricate guitar playing and chords are wonderful on this song. One of those, ‘close your eyes and remember,’ kinds of prog songs. The keyboards are inspired and exceptional, throughout this album.

“Praying to False Gods,” opens like an 80s hit from the band Europe. It is full of great drum playing and those mighty keyboards. The over 12-minute song provides a free stage for all band members to perform at their best. The lyrical content discusses how much human behavior moves in the direction of money and its appropriation. They also discuss current times and the control of information technology and its rising wave which may someday overwhelm us all.

When I saw the title, “Over the Garden Wall,” all I could imagine was an ode to the Genesis pub classic, “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).” The song opens slowly, with sound effects, until, the guitars join in with the keyboards to build a soundscape. A 2020’s version of what is going on in the UK since Genesis made their unforgettable pub classic. This song is more regal, with high level keyboards and magical guitar playing. I hear a little influence from Steve Hackett, but, then again, how can you not be influenced by his playing. One of my favorite songs on the album.

“Scars,” is the over 14-minute album closer. It is full of awesome keyboards and Genesis – like guitar playing at its opening. I hear so much wonderful music from the past. Pallas, Marillion and Arena. Then, they pause everything with a wonderful piano interlude. It is at this moment that the stage becomes quiet as Jon Kinsey sings. The lyrics take you right back to early Arena and Marillion, with a different voice. The keyboards near the end of the album take you back to Tony Banks’ “The Lamb,” Era sounds so well. You can almost hear him playing. The Emerson – like keyboards later on in the song, are just as dynamic, and add to the wonderful memories of these bold melodies.

Production: Mixed and engineered by Tim Hamill at Sonic One Studio, who previously handled the band’s first two records.

Tribe3’s “Scars,” is the kind of album many fans of Neo-Prog have been hoping to hear for so long. That is one of the secrets to its success. They have re-captured the sound of that Arena, Collage, Satellite, and Sylvan era; that all of us dearly miss. It is wonderful music that we all want to hear again, so much. Jon Kinsey’s voice is different from all of the lead singers from those bands I just mentioned, bringing to the music a different sound and vision. The subjects seem similar, but now applied to the world which we move through daily. The world is much more desperate than it was at the time of the Neo Prog Era, despite fears of nuclear holocaust and East-West political relations. If you want to take a trip back to that era with a new voice and sound, this is the album for you. Get Tribe3’s “Scars,” and wander over the garden wall, to the new reality we all face…together.

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