Release Date: March 20th 2026. Record Label: Blues Funeral Recordings / Majestic Mountain Records.. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Astral Voyager Vol. 2 - Tracklisting
1.Juno
2.The Nine
3.The Prophecy
4.Juggernaut
5.Pan
6.Asteroid
Members
Captain - Vocals
Josh - Guitar
Doffy - Guitar
Bjudas - Drums
Knutsen - Bass
Review
Stoner Metal Heavyweights KAL-EL return with the blistering second part to the Astral Voyager saga with a record originally titled Astral Voyager Vol 2. Nothing much has changed since Vol 1 with KAL-EL playing their highly addictive style of Doom, Psych, Space Rock, Sludge and Stoner Metal grooves. The record does allow KAL-EL to inject some mellow Post-Stoner melodies along the way with lead vocalist Captain’s undeniable vocals steadying the ship or SPACESHIP as we say.
There’s an extra level of Desert Rock detail which is more amplified compared to their previous album which comes across quite quickly and most significantly within the excellent opening track Juno. The band are in full on SPACED OUT ROCK EXPLORER mode with the constant shift moving between Heavy Psych, Cosmic Doom and Stoner Metal soundscapes. You can hear echoes of Grunge forming behind the scenes with KAL-EL taking a cerebral approach with the main storyline of the whole album.
KAL-EL demonstrate a destructive fuzzed up SLUDGE METAL attitude within the second track of The Nine which pushes the band into heavier waters with surprising results whilst keeping their core STONER sound. The production values are off the scale that easily matches Vol 1 with both albums being the perfect counterbalance to each other. Sometimes the music can be quite slow-paced which allows the listener to take everything as there is a lot going on within the whole musical journey which continues throughout the whole album.
Astral Voyager Vol. 2 is superbly melodic and once again sees KAL-EL demonstrating why they’re such a force to be reckoned with especially on tracks such as The Prophecy, Juggernaut and Asteroid which are my favourite parts of the album. The music is constantly engaging, emotionally satisfying and most importantly, the RIFFS are out of this world.
The most interesting dynamic is KAL-EL’s great use of trippy sound effects which they’ve used throughout their entire existence but this time round, they have real importance into how the story of the album fully plays out. This keeps the record quite grounded and allows the other members of the band to play some outstanding musical passages of their own making like they did on the previous album.
It was probably a great decision from KAL-EL to release these albums as two separate volumes as they wouldn’t have had the same lasting impact if they were released together. This means you can judge each album on its own merits. The hardest part I have to admit I prefer Astral Voyager Vol. 1 slightly to Vol. 2. However, this is still an outstanding album of the highest order which will no doubt rank as one of the standout Stoner Rock/Metal albums of the year.
KAL-EL are one of the greatest STONER METAL bands the scene currently has now. As every album they’ve released can be considered classics and this will be no different with the whole Astral Voyager saga.
Play this album LOUD when you get the chance. You won’t be disappointed!!!.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.
Astral Voyager is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via the links below:
