Kaleikia - Makali (Album Review)

Release Date: December 25th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Makali - Tracklisting

1.Foxos 02:27

2.Ons 04:58

3.Makali 07:23

4.Klopeiner See 02:46

5.Es Vedrá 06:34

6.Zagreb 06:02

7.Toyama 07:41

Members

Pilar Fdez Yuste: Piano & Celtic Arp.

Manuel Kölmel Rodríguez: Drums.

Pablo Senra: Bass.

Manu Méndez: Guitars.

Review

Experimental Rock collective Kaleikia releases their latest record Makali and it’s a stunning fusion of Post-Rock, Psych, Stoner, Prog and Alt Rock that’s played through the creative lens of Instrumental Rock. The sound is quite operatic and superbly haunting with Kaleikia’s delicate use of orchestral instruments and songwriting dynamic which comes through superbly well within the excellent opening track Foxos. This track gives you a brief glimpse on what to expect throughout the album.

Kaleikia do perhaps operate with a Post-Rock/Jazz Rock perspective for the main part of this record but there’s some wicked Post-Stoner melodies bursting out of the seams that gives Makali its HEAVY creative heartbeat. The sound can be quite STOP/START in places but there’s some deep philosophical movements going within the record and that’s told primarily through the excellent instrumental work by Pilar Fdez Yuste who plays Piano and Celtic Harp. This allows the freedom for other members of the bandManuel Kölmel Rodríguez (Drums), Pablo Senra (Bass) and Manu Méndez (Guitars) to focus on the heavier Stoner Rock melodies that do pack quite the meaningful PUNCH that allows the music to drift over into heavier waters such as Doom and Shoegaze.

Makali can be quite thoughtful and melancholic with its reliance on classical music and ethereal strands of Post-Rock appearing on tracks such as Makali, Es Vedrá, Zagreb and Toyama being some of the most original and heaviest compositions written for the whole album. Kaleikia plays an almost free-form and cinematic style of Post-Stoner Rock which is quite grounded and original at the same time.

The album dares you to let yourself go and just enjoy the beautiful music that Kaleikia has written here. The band takes influences from a wide range of different musical artists which will ultimately surprise you. There’s a lot of haunting musical landscapes and ambient soundscapes that delve into emotionally troubled waters that always ends up in a more hopeful and uplifting place before everything is said and done.

Makali is a deeply engaging record and one that offers a more subversive style of Instrumental Rock you may be currently used to. However, give this record a try and this is a superb listen from start to finish that’s filled with highly original instrumental passages that demand your full attention.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

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