The last time we wrote about Coma Rossi (five whole years ago), they were a five-piece band based out of Bangalore making some solid, long-form, well thought-out progressive metal. Now, in 2024, they are a duo, based out of Europe, making an atmospheric variant of prog that has more in common with shoegaze and post-rock. So, yeah, everything that could possibly be different, is. And you can hear it on their new album ‘Void’.

Even though the creative mind behind the project (Gaurav Govilkar) is still around, it’s much easier to compute when this new album is treated as an entirely separate experience to the band’s earlier work. So that’s what we’re going to do. The duo is completed by Diane Galen on drums. In terms of sound, we are living squarely in the world of mid-tempo walls of sound with no real ‘lead’ sections or designated ‘hooks’; this is the atmosphere fans of the abovementioned post-rock and shoegaze have come to treasure, especially this century. The reason this approach is compelling continues to apply here too; there isn’t much isolated instrumental showboating or displays of technical complexity to grab you, but there is an overall experiences that causes emotion through just the scale of the instrumentation. ‘Void’ has that.

There are 9 tracks on the album, and for the most part, they all have a combination that works. You’ll find a big drum sound, a zillion layers of guitars, synths and ambience, and a cavernous mix that completely fills your ears. ‘Waves Of Time’ is a particularly good example of this, though it could potentially do without some of the vocal melodies that occur in its ‘softer’ moments. In fact, ‘Burning’ does the job a lot better, using an even more plodding groove to take every possible of the quiet-loud thing that’s a genre hallmark. The same goes for ‘Oblivion’ too, actually.

‘Small Ideas’ does something fun by ducking out of this template halfway through into an acoustic bridge of sorts before jumping back into wall-of-sound territory. It’s a good break for the ears and gives the tune a lot of personality. However, ‘Falling Apart’ is basically just an acoustic ballad and does stick out a bit on the tracklist. It’s just a bit flat in terms of mood; the same cannot be said about ‘This Red Sky’. Definitely a standout on the whole album, the band does a much heavier, crisper, aggressive and almost riff-based take on their own sound, and it’s quite excellent.

There are a few other ideas to find here. ‘Farm Of Lights’ does the ‘Falling Apart’ thing of being a low-key arrangement but succeeds, mostly due to some highly dramatic synths and a much more layered presentation. The closing track ‘In Circles’ adopts the more straightforward ideas of ‘This Red Sky’ and ends up a clear, well-defined booked to the album. But ‘Void’, for all its variety and strong production, does feel like it lacks a bit of a through-line.

Coma Rossi as a band have always been known for being thoughtful, deliberate and detailed, and this completely new project that has retained the name still has those things. You will still find really good part-writing, solid performances, a nice sound and interesting arrangements (barring a few missteps vocally, especially when they’re up front in the mix). But on ‘Void’, there sounds like there is something of ideas not being fully locked in. It’s like how if you take a walk without knowing where you’re going in an interesting city, you will find interesting places, but at random. This album has an element of that, so it does not end up being the most cohesive album experience. But there’s plenty of solid music to find, which is probably good enough.

Listen here.