It happens. You fall head over heels for a band, something so tuned into your wavelength you can’t believe some act of kismet of the Fates didn’t draw you two together earlier. And then, they release their latest offering, and this is it – this is you all caught up and ready to experience the fire of a new release with everyone else and…it kind of fizzles? Is it you? Is it them? Maybe it’s a little of both, because a new release from Hällas is something I’ve been waiting a long time to get. Was Panorama what I was waiting breathlessly for all this time? Did expectations trip me up? I haven’t given the album up yet, but I admit it’s not hitting me like I think it should.

The time it took to even get to Hällas is easily explained. For the longest time – since the Swedish quintet’s full-length debut in 2017 – I thought they were another “modern” black metal band. There was so much else to listen to, sometimes you just shrug something off. So yeah, it took until 2022’s Isle of Wisdom for me to catch on to the unapologetic analog ’70s prog worship the band was laying out on tracks like “Birth/Into Darkness” and “Elusion’s Gate.” And the news that Panorama kicked off with the group’s longest track to date had everything coming up roses as far as I was concerned.

Then I got the promo.

It’s not even that Panorama is bad, or unexpected from what I wanted out of the band. But where I was hoping the 21 minutes of opener “Above The Continuum” would open up their sound and let them fully come into their own, instead I find myself counting off the touchpoint: here’s a Genesis arrangement, here’s some angular rock riffing reminiscent of Van de Graaf Generator…here are some keyboards that would fit right in with early Asia. The extended musical passages limp along, never breathing fire into sections I would expect any other prog band to light up.

“Face Of An Angel” does take a chance, amplifying the 80s yacht rock (I really hate that term, but the pulse of this song calls for it) in a soporific pop/rock hit that wilts. I can understand a lot of metal listeners finding small connections they can use as a bridge to appreciate this, and I’ll give the band some credit for how catchy the chorus is here, but the utter ’80s of the subsequent solo leaves me flat.

It’s not all sadness, though. Even though I don’t seem to be aligned with a lot of the other outlets out there, I come around when things pick up on “The Emissary” with its twisty opening that recalls ’80s Jethro Tull circa A and I really like how the keyboards work with the guitar lines to bulk them up. There’s some pad work that also recalls Angelo Badalamenti, never a bad thing.

Another chance taker is “Bestiaus” which really embraces its melodrama and works it to the song’s benefit. It culminates in the closing track “At The Summit” which might be the most reminiscent of the kind of progressive attack that made me fall for Hällas in the first place. If you’re familiar with the band, or a fan of prog in general, don’t go in expecting Panorama to be anything revolutionary and you might find some worthwhile rock to carry you along.

– Chris

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Panorama is available now independently from the band. For more information on Hällas, check out their website and Facebook/Instagram pages.