“They stopped making a furious racket a long time ago, but they’ve never sounded as elegant or assured as they do here”: Klone’s The Unseen

It’s always reassuring when a progressive metal band display genuine signs of progress. released their debut album just over 20 years ago. Mired in churning riffs and tricky time signatures, it had much in common with the French band’s homegrown contemporaries and Hacride, but gave occasional glimpses of a less frantic and more melodic future direction.

Klone’s obvious potential has been fulfilled many times over in the decades that followed, and their sound has undergone a complete transformation. Continuing the melodic explorations that began in earnest on 2019’s , is a beautiful and sophisticated piece of work. They stopped making a furious racket a long time ago, but they have never sounded as elegant or assured as they do here.



is a serene, spaced-out opener, with spectral shades of , a flurry of sublime saxophone solos and soulful, angelic vocals from frontman Yann Ligner. Perfectly paced and quietly imperious, it sets the tone for an album full of calming, graceful moments. The title track reinforces the point that Klone are now working purely on instinct.

A shimmering squall of post-hardcore riffs and distorted crescendos, it’s a rare nod towards the band’s rowdy past – but delivered with all of the sextet’s customary finesse. In contrast, is simply a very fine left-field rock song, and one of their most succinct and direct creations to date. They’ve never sounded more confident or idiosyncratic.

.. this is smart, soulful and spontaneous modern prog truly blossoms during its second half.

is a dubby, post-rock fever dream with a big vocal melody and an underlying sense of simmering tension; is the album’s only significant curveball, with its stealthy, blues-tinged undercurrents, ghostly vocal harmonies and scratchy, alt-rock overtones; and the reverb-sodden drifts in on waves of melancholy, blending artful chord changes with meandering, cosmic rock momentum. Most striking of the lot is : a subtly psychedelic encapsulation of Klone’s ongoing evolution, it begins as another wide-eyed drift through tranquil waters, before building to a clattering, distorted climax, thereafter dissolving into eerie, ambience, twinkling and thrumming with hypnotic persistence. A band with a relentless hunger for what comes next, Klone have never sounded more confident or idiosyncratic than they do here.

This is smart, soulful and spontaneous modern prog, and the perfect balance between grown-up songwriting and the joys of a limitless imagination. Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s.

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