Issue 2026-011

Astral Magic — Into The Cosmos

Jerry Kranitz

In 1998, I bought a CD titled Feed Your Mind by the Finnish band Dark Sun. I fell hard for the accessible songs that existed within a space rock and at times prog rock context. It's a fantastic album and one I still revisit from time to time. Fast-forward to the spring of 2020 and the world is in the throes of the pandemic. Dark Sun bass player Mika 'Santtu' Laakso launches Astral Magic, his first major project since Dark Sun. Deep in space rock territory, Santtu has since released a steady stream of Astral Magic albums with assistance from a fluid cast of contributors.

Into The Cosmos is the latest, which Santtu says was inspired by Hawkwind, Eloy, Chrome, Monster Magnet "and many others telling dystopian stories of a civilization at the end of its life cycle on Earth, forced to find new possibilities to survive in unknown galaxies". Right up my alley!

Besides himself on vocals, bass, synthesizers, keyboards and beats, Santtu has enlisted a stellar cast of musicians for this outing: Fred Laird (Earthling Society) on guitars, Jonathan Segal (Camper Van Beethoven) on violin, Ilya Lipkin (The Re-Stoned) on guitars, Vince Cory (Sonic Trip Project) on guitars, Neil Whitehead (vert:x) on e-bow, and Perttu Lindberg on drums.

Astral Plane Glider is a heavy space rocker that opens the set, recalling Hawkwind circa Palace Springs and Electric Tepee. The bass has that distinctively propulsive Alan Davey styled drive. But though it rocks hard it's drenched in majestic keyboards and peppered with whooshing electronic effects. And the lyrics are like something from a Hawkwind album

You are now entering the astral realm
Be prepared to meet strange entities
Is this true or just a collective dream
Or does it even matter?
I'm an astral plane glider
Can you send me flying higher?
Soon I will reach the dome

Similar but dreamier are The Nameless Ones and Return To Solaris, both of which have a stately space-prog edge. Flying High kicks off with a ripping guitar solo from Ilya Lipkin before launching into a cosmic head-banging hard rocker with an organ driven undercurrent and a characteristic Eloy spark later in the song. I like the 1980s new wav-ish pulse on the otherwise heavy space rocking Replicants, with Neil Whitehead's e-bow adding an eerie glow to the music.

Transmission Rho is a witch's brew of deliriously chattering effects, haunting voices and electronic heartbeat pulsations that acts as a transition to the beautifully melodic rocking title track, which has some of the most intricately arranged instrumentation of the set. Hawkwind meets Chrome on the punky, electronically maniacal Sons Of Light. Dark Waves is a militantly marching yet deep-in-space rocker which is jam packed with battle-in-space effects. And Riders Of Darkness closes the set with a head swaying groove and bluesy trip guitar.

Santtu has released a lot of Astral Magic music since 2020. I've heard them all and Into The Cosmos is a highlight and a great place to start. Prog fans who haven't explored space rock realms should check this out. They'll be pleasantly surprised.

Cea Serin — The World Outside

Andy Read

Germany's Generation Prog record label has never had a prolific output, but I have always been able to rely on its choice of artists as having something interesting to bring to the progressive-metal genre.

I can't recall having seen any releases from this label for many years now; then suddenly two excellent albums appear within a few months. The Reticent album was positively reviewed in last week's edition. Both have similar musical approaches, so you might wish to go forth and order them together.

Formed out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana it must have been around the turn of the century that I began to read enthusiastic words about Cea Serin. It seems the band was the brainchild of a certain J. Lamm. As well as songwriting, he contributed bass, keyboards, lead and backing vocals and that horrible instrument 'digital percussion'. He was ably supported by Keith Warman on lead and rhythm guitars and backing vocals.

The band won plaudits for great guitar work and bags of daring individuality in their compositions. Their musical promise was betrayed by what I can only describe as the most confusing and ill-deployed recording histories I have witnessed.

I think I own most of their stuff, but even with the CDs in my hand, the lack of liner notes, track-listing, track lengths and credits, as well as repeatedly reusing the same tracks, makes their output a puzzle that even Poirot would find déconcertant. In some cases different editions have different tracks. So this is my best effort.

There was a first demo (Demo) in 1997, followed a year later by a second demo (Exhibition MCMXCIX). A year further on, we had Chiaroscuro a CDr/mp3 'album' that was basically the second demo plus a track off the first demo. It was at this point that I first encountered the band.

In 2001 I got my hands on another CDr demo called The Surface Of All Things. This time we had four all-new songs but just a photocopied cover and a business card.

Then in 2004 When Memories Combine was exactly that; a combination of The Surface Of All Things, plus a track from the 1999 demo, plus a new song, plus two more tracks from the 1999 demo (as bonus tracks) and another new song (as a bonus track). The track list includes different bonus tracks for different continents. It was billed as Cea Serin's full length debut and did at least come with full packaging.

And that was it, until 2014 when their second album, The Vibrant Sound of Bliss and Decay, was released by none other than Generation Prog. This featured two re-recorded tracks from the first demo (released 16 years previously) plus two new compositions. The band did now have a real drummer and the album packaging is great. Oh, and there's also a cover version of Ice by Sarah McLachlan, a Canadian singer songwriter, whose emotional ballads have helped shift over 40 million albums.

Cea Serin's name apparently means 'what you are all about'. From the songs offered across their career, it is rather difficult to place exactly what Cea Serin are all about; but I guess that was the intention.

Upon the release of The Vibrant Sound of Bliss and Decay, Mr Lamm said it was a "stop-gap" disc for the impending all-new album, The World Outside. And despite having had to wait another decade, The World Outside is where Cea Serin have finally fulfilled the promise that got everyone so excited almost three decades previously.

This collection of six songs has a total playing time of 70 minutes. Every track breaks the 10-minute barrier and showcases a considerable range of styles with elaborate build-ups and dramatic shifts.

I am not generally a fan of harsh vocals but Lamm's majestic clean and deathy styles are pleasing to my ears. I'd say his harsh style is more raspy and less barky, which probably explains my tolerance. He certainly has a powerful and versatile voice.

Lamm's guitar work is excellent throughout; again utilising a wide range of tones and styles. Long-time contributor Rory Faciane takes the music to a higher level behind the kit with his ever-changing rhythms and multicoloured percussive textures.

Joining the core duo are eight guests who contribute mainly guitar solos. The album was mixed and mastered by Tom MacLean (Haken, To-Mera) and sounds great. I love the addition of female vocals (Steffi Cannelli) on The Rose on the Ruin. This is probably my favourite track with its extended instrumental sections where keys and guitar vie for control. It even has an extended piano solo!

Criticisms? Despite the dynamic variety, it does offer a relatively similar sound palette and the tracks follow a not-especially-diverse soundscape. It's also very long. I prefer my albums to hover around the 45-minute mark. Certainly anything over an hour is occupying too much of my time. A track could have been removed from this, and would have improved rather than reduced its overall impact.

But I have to say that overall this is a pretty impressive listen with some brilliant riffs and melodies that I will keep coming back to. It is easily the most accessible of the Cea Serin releases. For those who enjoy the traditional style of progressive metal with expanded compositions and a mix of harsh and clean vocals, then this is a pretty essential purchase.

Heath — Murmurations

Jerry van Kooten

A year after my review of the exciting debut by Heath, Isaak's Marble, which saw three non-album single track releases from their Bandcamp page, the band release their second album, Murmurations.

I hear a few differences compared to their debut. From the track listing you see it's just the two long tracks after a brief intro. As if having less to prove this time, they take a bit more time to bring you on their trip. As a result it comes across as slightly more psychedelic than progressive this time. Not that I mind, but I thought I should mention this to the reader-base that is mostly prog-based.

The crazy rhythms and melodies are there, the rhythmic power, the unique guitar style, and the use of the harmonica as a lead instrument. Of course there is the sailing into progressive and proto-prog hard-rock waters. The extra length just gives more time to build up everything. There's Doors darkness, but also Birth Of Joy power. It has a feeling I get when listening to Pink Floyd but the music is quite different.

It's great how the anticipation is built up while never letting you become restless. The first time I heard the album I was hoping for the heavier parts to come sooner but that surprisingly was never felt again from the second time. My mind had shifted, this is not music to expect anything, this is music to be taken, to surrender to.

Storytelling, building up intensity, then everything goes loose, and then flows into a long, psychedelic but melodic guitar solo. This is wonderful fly-away stuff. Like Pink Floyd could do, but to me this has more different influences, more crazy things, more varied.

I love how they are playing with the stereo mix part of the arrangements. The mix really adds to the whole experience. You'll discover little things every time you listen to this album.

It seems a bit like the first time was to surprise and overwhelm us where this one lets you come along on their trip. The brilliance of this second album took some time to come to the surface but this album has now fully grabbed me. It's 33 minutes but the concept of time takes a leave of absence when experiencing this wonderful album.

Ines — Hunting The Fox / Eastern Dawning

Jan Buddenberg

You learn something new every day...

This phrase is often said after acquiring new knowledge. I had no prior knowledge of both Hunting The Fox and Eastern Dawning, so it is therefore on point for these albums. Discovery of their existence through Hansi Fuchs's Facebook feed also taught me another valuable lesson: always check if an album has already been reviewed on DPRP before I let excitement get the better of me.

Now that I've listened to these previously reviewed albums I'm trying to forget this lesson, because this newly remastered 30th Anniversary Edition is absolutely worth rediscovering. If not for the overall 80s neo-prog then certainly for the contributions that Harald Bareth (Anyone's Daughter), the main reason behind my overenthusiasm. The captivating Eloy meets Anyone's Daughter delight of Earth, Sound And Moon being a fine example of this.

Fortunately, there are a few differences from Mark's review worth noting. The first one is that this time a physical copy was received with an informative 20-page booklet with lyrics, photos, and a full list of participating musicians. The second difference is more personal and concerns both the passing of time and my own experiences.

In recent years I've had the pleasure of reviewing several Fuchs albums. Taking these albums into account, it would seem that Hansi Fuchs (lyrics, partner of Ines) picked up quite a few tricks of Ines' trade over the years. In well-crafted songs like Mother Moon and Hold On The Dream I for instance hear elements in composing and arrangements that some 25 years into the future I also identified on Fuchs records. The fact that Fuchs' vocalist Baggi Buchmann sings these composition strengthens this recognition effect even more.

The personal aspect has everything to do with the production values in question. Remastered by Hansi Fuchs, this new edition generally sound refreshing and clean-polished with the instruments placed beautifully in the mix.

As for the other songs on Hunting The Fox I'm fairly on the same page as Mark. Nothing short in ideas and song smithery variety, Overture is indeed the excellent album opener featuring flashy virtuosity, energetic performances, and dynamic interplay. Songs like In The Distance and Innocent Girl do strengthen the impression that Ines did study the music of IQ. An aspect also encountered in Wasteland where memories of their Nomzamo era come to full fruition before melodies and Hansi's vocal resemblance transforms this to recollections of Pendragon.

I equally sense a disconnection in In The Dark Of Night, if it weren't for the swiftly recurring opening melodies in the song's beautifully worked out finale. A unifying aspect that also escapes me for Union Part One and Union Part Two, despite their rewarding succession of acoustic guitar play and harmonious melodies that hint at Genesis. I also reluctantly have to agree that song endings through a fade out, the guitar-driven coda of Hunting The Fox in particular, do tend to be rather underwhelming.

The release of Eastern Dawning shows excellent progress to this anticlimactic facet. With tighter arrangements and compact, well-thought-out song structures that have a clear beginning and end.

The odd IQ influence is still found in Tramonti and Cover Me. The latter envelopes listeners with earworm melodies vaguely reminding me of Mike Oldfield. As before there's a splendid acoustic moment to enjoy (Lonely Child), as well as atmospheric chamber music (New Age Dawn prelude) and neo-prog's rousing response to Hair's Age Of Aquarius (New Age Dawn). While Eastern Dawning adds catchy melodies on top of vibrant rhythms embellished by swirling synths surely brings Landmarq to mind.

The captivating guitar work recalls Steve Rothery (Marillion), and opener Friends already signals though that the musical path chosen on Eastern Dawning is of a more commercial, pop-orientated nature. This is evident in the quietly rippling ballad You And I, and in Castles In The Sand in which the tribal texture recalls the A-Ha and Phil Collins feel of 80s. To all this consistent song crafting, Eve Of The Night brings outstanding progressive closure with beautiful harmonies from all vocalists involved.

However, for me the magnificent Winter surpasses this attractive momentum many times over. Its warmth echoes Barclay James Harvest. The instrumental teamwork and Bareth's melodic delivery adds deeply rewarding Anyone's Daughter feelings. This wonderful composition stands out among everything else that's presented on these two fine albums. Not only does this song remind me how much I've missed Bareth's voice over the years. It simultaneously teaches me to fully appreciate my unbridled enthusiasm in discovering new, previously reviewed, music.

Ines would go on to record The Flow and Slipping Into The Unknown with an almost identical line-up of musicians. Hopefully these albums will someday soon be awarded with a celebrating edition of their own, as I'm eager to learn more about these two too. A 25th anniversary celebration could be happening this year.

The original album remasters of Hunting The Fox and Eastern Dawning offer a great selection of worthwhile songs that I'll return to frequently.

Lunar Clock — II

Greg Cummins

Lunar Clock is yet another band whose music was unknown to me until the physical CD landed in my letter box. The band is lead by Robin Boer (keyboards, lead vocals), with Achille Regazzoni (12-string guitar, keyboards, bass, FX) and Karsten van Straten (drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals, FX). Being from The Netherlands was a bonus for me as I have often enjoyed plenty of great music from this region including Ayreon, Kayak, Focus, Finch, Earth & Fire, Knight Area, Lady Lake, 5 Bridges and plenty of others.

This is a band that knows how to create atmosphere, and they do it exceptionally well. The opening textures feel suspended in reverb, as if the band are testing the acoustics of a cathedral on the moon. There's a clear confidence in how the record unfolds with long-form structures, patient harmonic shifts and an almost cosmic sense of space.

It is quite an introspective album and does not contain very much in the way of built up aggression or complex time signatures. If anything, it probably suffers a little from too many soft interludes and could possibly benefit with a few sections where the band let loose with some muscle. The keyboard work however, is exceptionally good and the guy is a monster on the widdly widdly bits which I happen to always enjoy, if done well. No complaints from me! The overall mood and ambience from the keyboards is really what makes this album shine and is one area, any potential listeners should concentrate on first, as your future enjoyment of this album will surely be well directed by those initial impressions.

On early listens, I found it genuinely absorbing. The band's use of layered synth pieces and subtly shifting rhythmic figures creates a kind of slow gravitational pull. The arrangements feel deliberately expansive — phrases stretch out, motifs recur in altered form and themes evolve rather than repeat verbatim. It's the sort of album that encourages you to sit still and let it wash over you rather than cherry-pick tracks.

However, after about six dedicated listens, a curious thing happened: some of the magic receded. The album's immersive quality — initially its biggest strength — became something of a double-edged sword. When you hear compositions with such consistent atmospheric density, the peaks and troughs begin to feel more like gentle gradients rather than the previous dramatic climaxes that stay lodged in your memory.

It isn't that the music becomes bad — far from it — but moments where I was expecting structural tension or harmonic surprise often resolve in ways that feel a little predictable if you're listening analytically. Allegro sections that once felt expansive now hover, somewhat suspended, without the payoff I subconsciously hoped for.

For example, Life Through Corridors has rich textural work and some lovely counter-rhythms, yet its cyclical progressions begin to blur together across repeated walks through the track-list.

If you're the sort of listener who loves progressive transitions, ambient layering and moments where mood outweighs a formulaic verse/chorus structure, II will feel like a late-night conversation with your own imagination. Fans of art-rock, slow-burn prog, and bands that let timbre and space do the heavy lifting, will find plenty to savour.

However, if your musical appetite leans toward catchy hooks, dramatic rhythmic shifts, or jaw-dropping moments of genre blending (say, sudden time-signature flips or high-contrast climaxes), you might find the album deliberately subtle — great for introspection, perhaps less so for repeated hit-play sessions.

Lunar Clock sit somewhere between progressive art-rock and ambient-inflected post-rock, but they're not derivative. The very melodic synth sections also create a strong symphonic, almost pastoral effect which really suits when in a pensive mood. Under decent headphones and a glass or three of your favourite poison, the effect is really enhanced.

Technically, the album is impressive. The production is polished without being sterile and there's careful attention to dynamic contour. The band clearly understand tension and release — though sometimes they seem almost too polite about it. It's not that the album loses quality — it's that it reveals its blueprint. And once you see the scaffolding, a bit of the mystery evaporates.

I certainly enjoyed this band's music for the most part but the overall excursion has been a little bit lost on me and it's definitely not the fault of the music. I will simply put it down to discovering yet another otherwise unknown band whose magic needs to keep working its way through my grey matter. I'm sure it will eventually penetrate deep into the darkest regions of my data processing confuzzler.

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed II, especially in those early listens where its sonic world felt fresh and immersive. It's a carefully constructed, sonically rich album that shows real compositional maturity. But after six spins, I found myself wishing for sharper contrasts, a few more unexpected harmonic detours, or a moment of unapologetic boldness — something slightly messy or risky to offset the elegance.

Still, it's an album I respect. And on the right evening — lights low, distractions gone — it still has the power to pull me back into orbit.

Moorder — III

Owen Davies

Now for something quite different!

I've always had a soft spot for music with a clear unique selling-point, and the unusual instrumentation of Moorder makes them instantly recognisable. Some admirers might even argue that their sound isn't just unusual, but is genuinely unique.

I first encountered this band from Bologna while reviewing their second album II many years ago, and I was quickly bewitched by their rhythmically rich compositions.

The bulging low-end pulse of the tuba underpins everything, richly embroidered with colourful guitar textures and swept along by twisting trombone flourishes.

Moorder III has been a long time coming, but on the strength of pieces such as, Mitra & Chernobyl, Melting Bob and Big Graves, the wait has clearly been worthwhile.

While the band's core sonic identity remains intact, the new release ventures into fresh territory and arguably offers a broader appeal. Vocals appear on a handful of tracks ,most notably Cupola and Lynx In Love.

Cupola is particularly striking, built around the wink-eyed repetition of bassist Cinzia Zaccaroni's wordless vocal stylings. Lynx In Love, by contrast, is more conventional. It is charming, gently uplifting, and is a graceful closing statement.

Guitarist and band leader Alessandro Lamborghini excels throughout the album. His explosive playing frequently expressively decorates, or collides with the brass elements, giving many pieces a distinctive bite. The excellent sound quality highlights the fervent interplay between instruments and there is an admirable spontaneity to the performances.

Rhythmic intensity drives much of the record. This foot-tapping energy is established immediately in the opening track Mitra & Chernobyl. It is driven by gritty, Dr. Feelgood styled guitar rhythms and punctuated by the brass section's sharp interjections. As the tune unfolds, an eye – watering guitar solo lifts it further, making for a superb opener that sets the bar for what follows.

Three Eyed Hawk opens with a riff that unmistakably echoes Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. Whether that resemblance feels comfortable, or is a distraction may depend on the listener, but it undeniably creates an immersive atmosphere, rich in tension and fiery interactions between the guitar and the trombone.

There is noticeably less rhythm-driving tuba than on previous releases, yet 'Tubby's exuberant spirit still lingers. The instrument's gruff, bulbous voice remains a defining presence in several pieces.

Melting Bob is a prime example. It opens memorably with trombone player Simone Pederzoli, before the tuba's deep, resonant tones emerge. The track is quirky and knowingly playful, complete with a delightfully twisted guitar solo. As it gathers momentum, the piece unleashes a rhythmic barrage powered by the bellowing of the thickset brass instrument and its svelte sliding companion, the trombone. Its simply great!

With this release, Moorder once again deliver something genuinely distinctive. Long may that spirit continue, though I can't help wishing the experience had lasted just a little longer.