Issue 2026-023

Alien Orchestra — Under My Pale Skin

Edwin Roosjen

Alien Orchestra is a band that originates from Oslo and is formed by Jan Batista Mojdis. He plays many instruments and is listed as the primary songwriter, on the album he is using the name EpicAlien. On Under My Pale Skin EpicAlien is assisted by Simon Sandess on drums (Evergrey) and Mats Haugen on guitar on The Last Horizons (Circus Maximus). The soundtrack for the 2017 short zombie horror movie Hope was done by Alien Orchestra.

Alien Orchestra's music falls under ambient cinematic metal. The musicians may have roots in heavy metal, but I must say that on this release the metal part is not really there. I would not classify Under My Pale Skin as a metal release. Under My Pale Skin is an EP album with three instrumental songs on it, not counting the radio version of The Last Horizons at just forty seconds shorter than the Original.

The opening song is as what to be expected when you imply that your band creates ambient cinematic music. Out of the three songs Under My Pale Skin has the most metal elements. The song has a basis of what they themselves call "alienscapes", a layer of keyboard sounds that provide the canvas for other instruments to paint over. Under My Pale Skin can easily be used as a soundtrack for a scifi movie.

The Last Horizon is a bit more laid-back with some great guitar melodies. The same type of alienscapes with melodic guitar solos by Mats Haugen. Svært Mysterium is even mellower and holds some nice piano tunes.

Under My Pale Skin is an interesting release but too short. At the end of the album you just want to hear more. Only three songs is a good way to get introduced to Alien Orchestra, though. It is a teaser for a full album released next year which, as has been revealed, will not be completely instrumental and will be much heavier. I am looking forward to that release.

Daymoon — Wednesday

Andy Read

Daymoon are a Portuguese progressive rock band led by multi-instrumentalist Fred Lessing. They have been around for a good while, with DPRP loosely following their career from the start. Our relationship didn't get off to a good commencement. Our review of All Tomorrows in 2011 concluded that it was "a confusing mishmash of random ideas" not helped by Lessing's "poor" vocals.

Perhaps as a result of that review, we didn't receive a copy of the follow-up, Fabric Of Space Divine in 2013. However, we did get the opportunity to scrutinise Cruz Quebrada in 2016. This time our review was a little more positive, drawing the conclusion that "it has many facets that fans of classic bands such as Pink Floyd, Genesis and early King Crimson might enjoy."

Both of these reviewed albums were written in memory of Lessing's wife who died of cancer. All artist royalties for Cruz Quebrada went to the pan-European cancer association Europacolon.

Despite the positive comments, we didn't get to hear Daymoon's fourth album, the politically-charged Erosion (2022). But as we seem to receive alternate releases, we do get to have a viewpoint on Daymoon's fifth album. This is not an artist that I have come across before. So no baggage nor expectation.

As I open the four-panel digi-sleeve and settle down with the nicely designed lyric/story booklet, I am looking forward with an open mind to see what Daymoon Version 5 has to offer.

Wednesday definitely sits on the more avant side of the prog spectrum. As a composer, Lessing weaves together elements of prog, jazz, folk, world music, classical, theatrical and the cinematic.

His soundscapes are driven by a broad array of instruments. The usual rotating line-up of guest artists this time includes credits for trumpet, bugle, oboe, saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, Catalunyan gralla, acoustic piano, Hammond XK3, Rhodes Mark II, Moog Voyager, electric guitar, 1-stringed violin and a metallophone (apparently a metallic version of the xylophone).

Lavinia Roseiro is credited with lead vocals, although Lessing's voice is constantly present too, along with a cast of backing voices that includes Courtney Swain (Bent Knee) on one track and an "AI lady" talking across another. There are no drums on the album.

The booklet is very aidful in providing some guidance as to the themes and origins of each song. Oceans Of The Moon for example, is a Jules Verne pastiche that Fred wrote when he was 14. It's probably my favourite track.

Side B of the album is the nine-part epic, The Verschickungskinder; a brooding suite of semi-autobiographical memories about Fred's time at a children's sanatorium in 1960s Germany.

Wednesday is an album for those whose tastes dwell on the more experimental fringes of progressive music. However, there is a consistency to the somewhat light-hearted compositional style, which means that as an album, it holds together very well. The use of classical and jazz instrumentation within a prog-rock foundation, and Lessing's meandering, whimsical storytelling, make for challengingly accessible listening.

Half A Band — Moody Weather

Jan Buddenberg

Mathematics is not difficult. Split a group in two and the net result is two times half a band. Apply this relatively easy equation to either Grandval or Pretty Soily Company and you get the two musical halves Henri Vaugrand and Olivier Bonneau, where the latter half is exactly equal to the whole unit that makes up Half A Band. Makes sense right?

From its opening note, the title track Moody Weather radiates a palpable psychological tension and immediately lifts the listener into higher stratospheres with dreamy ethereal guitar textures. The scene staged, it follows through with a movement of groovy bass and sparkling synthesisers driven onwards by tight drumming that showers sunny memories of Eloy's colourful heyday during their Planets era. A nicely arranged passage that shifts through various melodic intensities and moods finally settles in atmospheric post-rock conditions that echo with essence of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd.

Starting with softly glistening keyboard sounds, Distant Sparkling Star brings rhythmic dynamics and gracious guitar movements that glow brighter as memories of Dark Side Of The Moon surface. Side A is rounded up with the well-crafted, progressive beauty of The Sea The Night. Rhythmically tight and engineered with lots of enjoyable organ / guitar moments. It is here that Bonneau's voice stimulates imagery of vintage Barclay James Harvest, sections that draw parallels with Woolly Wolstenholme's Maestoso, and Spirit-like proto-prog psychedelia.

Mellotron in Lonesome Soldier opens the slightly darker shaded B-side of the album. This changes like the weather into a sensitive downpour of synths and guitar melodies akin to Nektar's Desolation Valley / Waves that perfectly captures the soldier's loneliness in both feel and voice. Which is followed by emotionally stirring, bluesy guitar and a magical climax where the combination of Mellotron, guitar, and Bonneau's masterful drumming becomes far greater than the sum of their parts.

Then, like a sudden bolt of lightning, my mind drifts off into the direction of Lorenzo Bedini and Airbridge's Return, thanks to the darkly brooding atmospheres created in Drifting Away In The Night. Formulated from psychedelic layers, comforting vocal warmth, and melodies of shimmering softness, this composition wanders through well-construed structures with meticulous smoothness in arrangements. Until it finally ends with a delightful passage of pleasing guitar that mystifies the atmosphere with further enchantment congruent to Pink Floyd.

Finally, Gloomy Weather arrives. Impeccably reflecting its title and with references to Floyd and Eloy, this outstanding instrumental branches out through beaming synth arrangements and a wonderful guitar solo reminiscent of David Gilmour.

The album continues to grow on me. Balancing musicianship and introspective passages with moments of understated grandeur, it's the kind of album that generously rewards repeated listens.

Offering plenty of memorable melodies, thoughtful lyrics, atmospheric depth, and musical diversity to keep forecasters constantly at odds and evens, Moody Weather is a highly recommended effort, fully worth checking out for those who enjoy the referenced names. Here's hoping a solution will present itself one drizzly day so I can linearly explore all of Bonneau's past products.

The Jupiter 4 — TJ42

Jerry Kranitz

The Jupiter 4 are the quartet of Brian Fowler on guitars and bass, James Dunn on drums, Sloan Leavens on keyboards, bass, synths, and voices, and John Pack on oscillators and sound generator, plus Steve Hayes guesting on synths and guitars. TJ42 is their second album (released in 2024 and now re-issued) and my introduction to the band. I am, however, well familiar with Fowler, Pack, and Hayes, whose space rock pedigrees include Secret Saucer, Spaceseed, Spirits Burning, and much more. Hayes' résumé also includes the Hawkwind tribute band Sun Machine, Star Nation with Hawkwind alumni Richard Chadwick and Jerry Richards, and he played in Hawkwind at the 1998 Strange Daze Space Rock Festival in Ohio. He was also in the prog band Ultra Violet Rays.

Are you getting a space rock vibe here? Except for a few moments of spoken word the music is all instrumental. Behind The Veil is an introductory whooshy swirly spacescapes piece that leads into the heavy space rocking Solar Sails. This is a smoker, with psychedelic guitar leads, tasty bass riff fills, and plenty of alien action from the oscillators and sound generator. The drumming is in the forefront, starting off relentlessly tribal and later veering into high-octane jazz-rock territory. These guys are rockin' and swingin' in space.

Smoke Rise dials down the intensity, being a floating, tastefully melodic space rocker, with lulling acoustic guitar and an angelic keyboard melody. Escape Velocity amps up the energy again, with its surf swinging rhythmic pulse and differing dual guitars that create an awesome contrasting parallel. Cosmonaut sets a balance between slow and steady while still rocking hard. And once again we're treated to those dual competing guitars that crank out slowly ripping leads. And I like how the bass asserts itself with an upfront lead role along with the guitars. Ninety Five Moons slows the pace again, shepherding us through deep space acoustic and electronic dreamland.

Reflection Of A Memory is a little different and the most compositionally intricate track of the set. At just over nine minutes it's also the longest. The guitars and bass work together to generate a variety of separate yet cooperative leads that create a continually developing theme. But it's balanced by a freeform jamming quality that at times reminds me of space rock veterans F/i. Polar Radius is a mellow journey into interstellar Shangri-la. The bass melody leads the way, the guitars solo in the background, and it's all surrounded by an aura of gently drifting soundscapes. Finally, Behind The Veil Part 2 is pure space exploration that brings the album in for a landing.

In summary, TJ42 is a scrumptious set of instrumental space rock. My favorite parts are when the dual guitars create contrasting yet seamlessly melding parts, and the lead role played by the bass is a welcome addition.

Needless — Premonition

Calum Gibson

Formed in 2004, Hungarian quintet Needless have been manifesting — in their own words — “forbidden worlds with metal music”. With three albums and an EP under their belts, the group aren't strangers to the scene and have spent 22 years (at the time of writing) crafting a trail of progressive thrash/death metal, with their third album Premonition being released on Inertial Music last year (2025).

Blistering leads and high-intensity blast beats throw themselves at you from the first second and do not stop. Deep, harsh growls soon follow to add to the weight of sound. It is fast, ferocious, and tight. As an opener, Derelict is a brutal assault that covers all the finest parts of technical death metal. This sonic onslaught continues with the very melodic and catchy (dare I say poppy?) Metatrons in Sunken Arks where the guitar work of Dániel Márton and Kristóf Katona is the standout feature.

Twilight Cradle is the follow up and features a superb bass bridge that helps add to the darker tone of the track. Side 1is rounded off by Constellations which presents a shift to a more melancholic and progressive side. Brooding tones and lamenting music is pushed through the song, despite still being incredibly heavy and technical – it is brutal still, but in a more metaphorical way.

Side 2 begins with the sinister sounding As Out Citadels Burn. This continues the slightly slower pace and has some touches of black metal sprinkled on it for good measure. Next, Dark Epiphany comes across the airwaves with unexpected softness, and some well-rounded clean vocals. More pop sensibilities follow in terms of the structure and patterns, while the harsh bleak atmosphere is still maintained. The saxophone solo from guest Sára Erdei is a lovely touch as well.

The Outer Reach sets us up for the end with spooky keywork and leads, adding a touch of doom to this otherwise fast paced album. With the unrelenting nature of this track, it feels like a perfect blend of apocalyptic despair and hopelessness of doom metal, but with the blood of tech death flowing through it. Worlds Forgotten, Dreams Undone brings the end to us. And what an end it is – This one is packed full of crushing riffs and rhythms, undercut by unstoppable sorrow. Melodic and heartfelt, it makes you want to both weep and headbang in equal measure and is the perfect microcosm of the album, combining all the strengths.

If you are fan of technicality, face melting guitar work, and well-crafted brutality that combines ferocity with mature song writing – I implore you to grab this album. It is superb.

Duo Review

Bjørn Riis — Lifandi

Mark Hughes

Norway's Bjørn Riis follows his outstanding Fimbulvinter album with a relatively live EP recorded at the Cacaofabriek, Helmond in the Netherlands on 17 October 2025. Lifandi, which means "Alive" in the old Norse language, contains two tracks from the Fimbulvinter album alongside two older tracks from his second solo album 2017's Forever Comes To An End.

Considering the whole concert is available in good quality on YouTube (although not posted by an official source) perhaps it is somewhat of a false economy to only release such a limited highlights CD.

Performing alongside the singer and guitarist are Simen Valldal Johannessen (keyboards), Arild Brøter (drums) and Øystein Sootholtet (bass). Things kick off with the excellent Gone, the crunching bass riff driving the song along with force. Riis's passionate vocals and excellent guitar solo along with its memorable chorus make this a powerful opening gambit that is every bit as good as the studio version.

The instrumental Getaway is a fluid piece that is a bit more psychedelic than the album version with greater use of a guitar effects pedal on the main riff, and the reverb on the drums in the middle section of the song sounds great! Although a relatively simple piece of music, it is nevertheless kept engaging by the different solos, and the heavier ending still comes as a surprise.

Where Are You Now? is the only song that differs substantially from the studio recording in that it is considerably shorter and entirely acoustic, just piano and acoustic guitar. The original scorching electric solo has been excised and quite frankly is not missed. Not that it was in any way superfluous, just that in a live setting it provides a nice contrast and adds a bit of a breathing space to the proceedings.

Fimbulvinter, another instrumental, was a highlight of its parent album and is no less engaging on stage. A definite nod to Black Sabbath can be heard on one brief riff, but it is Johannessen who takes the laurels for enhancing the keyboard parts with some different sounds, although the Mellotron is kept intact! A final Gilmouresque solo brings the EP to a close.

Although it would have been great to have the whole concert officially released, these 30 minutes are worth anyone's time and money.