Progressive Rock

29 May 2026

“Ombius” runs seven minutes and thirty and is where the Dutch trio shows everything it has: a thick fuzz guitar with the tone Stefan Koglek settled on in Colour Haze, a science-fiction synth melody over the top and a rhythm that sways without ever picking up speed.

Mantra Machine describe themselves as “interstellar fuzzed out instrumental psychedelic jams from beyond”, and the third full-length arrives with a new member: Selwyn Slop, on bass, guitars and Mellotron alongside Paul Geerts (guitars and samples) and Jeroen Schippers (drums and synthesisers), both in the band since 2012. On “Numerando” (5:56) the two guitars and the bass work at once and the group sounds twice its size.

The title track (6:57) spends half its length on a contained threat, with drum hits spaced wide apart, and doesn’t break loose until the final third. “New Horizons” starts fast and symphonic and lands in a finish of fuzz and drone.

The way the thirty-three minutes and fifty-eight seconds are shared out works against it. The first four tracks take up twenty-six minutes and a bit, and the last two split the seven and a half that are left, so the album spends two thirds of itself building and then finishes in a hurry. “Circulation” (3:36), the track that strays furthest from the rest with its psychedelic folk air, is also the shortest of the lot.

It is the group’s third full-length: they put it on Bandcamp themselves on 1 May and it reached the platforms on the 29th.

Rating: 7/10

Text by Guillem Cardós