Heylel - Nebulae (Self-Released)

Heylel is a band from Portugal and they have just released their new full length, Nebulae. The band immerses themselves in the classics of progressive rock from later Pink Floyd to King Crimson, adding a more operatic sensibility and touches of heavy metal and Black Sabbath-esque sludge. The album is massive and breathtaking in its scope, reaching unthinkably far and wide for an album with only eleven songs with relatively short times for a prog rock standards. Nebulae ranges from the deeply layered “The Prophet” to the bare and acoustic “The Sage,” forcing the listener through one majorly emotional and satisfying experience.

Nebulae is a classic prog rock album in every sense of the word. Most importantly is the inclusion of a concept which, to the outside listener, makes absolutely no sense. According to the band, “_Nebulae_is a conceptual vision over life and death, represented in the form of a star life-cycle. The record is presented with eleven tracks divided into four chapters, from a star birth until its extinction, creating intense emotional passages through life’s stages.” But that’s the fun of albums like this. The overlying concept generally doesn’t impede on it being good music, and it’s worth repeated listens alone just to try to figure out what’s going on.

“I Talk to the Wind” is easily one of the most beautiful songs here, showing clearly there’s something for everyone on this album. Nebulae both begins and ends with instrumentals, but indicative of the length this album travels, they’re miles apart. The opener, “Hope,” sounds clearly like a little piece of David Gilmour guitar fiddling while the closer “Embrace the Darkness” seems much more goth and like Bauhaus than anything else. Every moment is unlike the one before and after it, yet a certain spirit for grandeur rarely seen today permeates through everything here. Nebulae is an experience worth immersing yourself in, over and over again.