Lunatic Soul VI: Under the Fragmented Sky

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Under the Fragmented Sky 

  • Released: May 25, 2018 
  • Colour: Violet–it is also the only album without the “ls” logo in any form. 
  • My ranking: 5

Generally when an album is made, not everything written will make it onto the finished product. This was true for Fractured: some of the music Duda created did not fit that album’s theme and mood. However, there were some very powerful pieces that were left over, songs that begged for release, and so he decided to complete them and make a kind of “companion album” to Fractured. The result was Under the Fragmented Sky, and the two albums could not be more starkly different. UtFS is bright, forward-looking, almost upbeat–there is still an undercurrent of anxiety but you can feel the struggle to overcome it. It is also very strongly electronic–in some ways it is a precursor to the electronica project that became Duda’s fourth “musical world” in 2020. 

It is mostly instrumental, sparse and powerfully melodic; lyrically it is closer to the Lunatic Soul story than anything on Fractured. Interestingly it seems to be in two parts: the first half is open and more acoustic, the second becomes darker, more electronic-driven, yet somehow it all hangs together. It is difficult to believe that the songs came out of the same sessions that produced Fractured. The album ends with the brilliant “Untamed”–the “wind-up” song is not perhaps Duda’s strongest skill, but “Untamed” is one of his best and a just plain great track. It doesn’t hurt that it is anchored by Dramowicz’s spectacular drumming, the only song on the album on which he appears. 

It was at this time, just before UtFS was released, that Mariusz revealed something else: The Circle of Life and Death, a graphic that illustrated the relationships that each of the Lunatic Soul albums was to have with each other. He had first thought of the idea with WoaFB; when it became clear that the project was going to continue he needed to plan out the rest of the releases. Since the overall theme was life, choices, and rebirth into a new reality, the albums would follow a cycle, ever repeating. The Side of Death was where the original project began, with LS I, II, and Impressions (as a side branch); the Side of Life held WoaFB, Fractured, and UtFS as a supplement. The music also had different characteristics for each side of the Cycle.  

Upside: Bright, electronic and quite experimental at times, and yet much closer in feel to Lunatic Soul than Fractured is. Brief, laser-beam focused and miraculously cohesive, the album has the “flow” (even Duda admits this to be true) that Fractured did not quite achieve. 

Downside: it is difficult to place this in the Lunatic Soul narrative sequence, since the lyrics are not like those on Fractured. So far it is a “supplement” in the way Impressions is, but it is not equivalent to Impressions: you can’t just ignore the words. 

Lunatic Soul V: Fractured

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If you have not read the other entries in this series, you can use the links at the bottom of this post. The Introduction to the whole set is here.

Fractured 

  • Released:  Oct. 6, 2017 
  • Colour: Dark red
  • My ranking: 7

If WoaFB arose from a depression rooted in personal events and difficulties, Fractured was the result of tragedy on an entirely different scale. The ‘ls’ logo on the cover is so deliberately splintered to be almost unrecognisable. 

This was–and probably remains–the most deeply autobiographical of all of Mariusz Duda’s work. It was the spring of 2016, and he was almost destroyed by the sudden death of Piotr Grudziński, Riverside’s guitarist and his closest friend, followed three months later by the sudden death of his father. One of the ways he kept his sanity in the dark months that followed was to work–and for Duda, “work” was creating music. Fractured is an album of words, a story of the struggle to regain the light. There is only one short instrumental track; all the rest of the songs give a disconcertingly intimate look at a man determined to get himself back on track and shake off–with variable success–the overwhelming grief and pain of profound loss. At first he considered releasing it under his own name, MD, but ultimately chose to situate it as a Lunatic Soul album, a prequel to Walking on a Flashlight Beam. 

Musically the album also departs: the lush atmospheric washes of the previous albums are almost entirely absent, replaced by a sound that is stark, open, ragged, with lots of acoustic guitar, sparse electronic accents, and even an orchestra. Most importantly though, we are introduced to something brand new: the sound of the piccolo bass. This is not a modified bass but a bespoke instrument, created by Mariusz’s Polish luthier especially for him, and it has proved to be a game-changer. It allows him to play in his beloved higher registers and create heavy, buzzy sounds somewhere between bass and guitar without violating his promise to never use electric guitar in the project. This instrument has taken on a significant role in the sound of both Lunatic Soul and Riverside, and it may well be unique in prog. 

Upside: Fractured introduced many Riverside fans to Lunatic Soul, and it is among the most popular of the LS releases. It is a beautifully conceived, deeply emotional album and I can fully understand how so many fans engage with it, both musically and especially lyrically. One of my favourite songs across Mariusz Duda’s entire output is “Anymore”, a heartbreakingly intimate glimpse into a family relationship. 

Downside: However…I must admit that this is not my favourite Lunatic Soul album, and that is because it does not feel like a Lunatic Soul album to me. The Hero and the author have become inextricably intertwined with each other: it is so clearly about Duda himself that the connection to the original protagonist is lost. It is an album that works in isolation, but not so much as part of the project. 

Lunatic Soul IV: Walking on a Flashlight Beam

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Walking on a Flashlight Beam 

  • Released: Oct. 13, 2014
  • Colour: Deep blue
  • My ranking: 2

Four years after the Hero was apparently abandoned, fate unresolved, Mariusz Duda took up his story again. On the fourth Lunatic Soul album we would learn something of the protagonist’s past: how and why did he come to die? In other words, Walking on a Flashlight Beam became the prequel to Lunatic Soul I, recounting a tale of self-imposed isolation, loneliness, and longing, picking up the clues left in the song “Transition” from Lunatic Soul II and turning them into an album unmatched in the entire Lunatic Soul discography. 

It was an album that came out of a very difficult time in Duda’s life both personally and creatively, and this is reflected in a shift in the narrative style. The lyrics turn inward, examining the psychological state of the protagonist–we see the Hero’s deepest fears and yearnings, and begin to understand the reasons for his actions. The personal darkness that Mariusz Duda was experiencing form the foundation of the words he would write. 

Walking on a Flashlight Beam is the first album on which electronic elements make their appearance, and the sound of the album is sparser, stark and less ambient, evoking emotions of loneliness and anxiety, terror, and finally calm, as the Hero makes his way through the songs. The words are heartbreaking; the instrumental pieces redolent with disquiet. The only guest is drummer Wawrzyniec Dramowicz.

WoaFB is clearly Duda at the top of his game; many fans consider it to be the best Lunatic Soul of all, and I agree with them. The structure of the album exemplifies what Duda calls ‘flow’: the trajectory of the songs, the music, the arrangements all work seamlessly together as we accompany the Hero on his terrifying psychological journey. WoaFB is Inspiration at its finest; however, the emotional and psychological cost of making the album may well have been too much for him to ever contemplate repeating. The words of the remarkable “Gutter” are autobiographical: for a while Mariusz truly feared that in order to accomplish something great, he must excoriate his soul and live in psychological darkness.

Upside: see above. It’s a tour de force.

Downside: <shrugs>

Lunatic Soul III: Impressions

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The introduction is here. The arrows at the bottom will move you from post to post: brief bios of Lunatic Soul I and Lunatic Soul II are already published.

Impressions   

  • Released:  Oct. 17, 2011
  • Colour: Grey
  • My ranking: 1

This album wasn’t supposed to exist. Duda had written the songs but he had done so with a much different plan in mind: he wanted to rerelease Lunatic Soul I and II as a set, and include these new songs as bonus tracks. However, the label (Kscope) stepped in and insisted that the songs were too strong and needed to be released as a separate album, otherwise they were likely to be overlooked.

Impressions is an album of 8 instrumental tracks that riff off of and extend musical ideas found in the first two albums: roughly, “Impression I” to “IV” are taken from LS I, and “V” to “VIII” from LS II. However, they are not revisions or alternate versions of any of the songs from the original albums, but entirely different pieces. It is not obvious which impressions are inspired by which original songs, and this gives the album a unique identity. Being completely instrumental, its power must rely on atmosphere and mood, and it is a masterwork in this regard, drawing on a skill set Mariusz Duda does not get to show off frequently in Riverside or even Lunatic Soul. His considerable chops in this area are probably underappreciated. There is no story to tell, so it acts as a musical supplement to the project. 

Upside: Kscope made the right call. This is a phenomenal album, captivating and immersive; even though Duda initially resisted the label’s suggestion, he concedes that, yes, this album works, far better than anyone expected. 

Downside: Are there any? Some people might not like that it is instrumental, I suppose. It is my favourite LS album despite the fact he doesn’t sing on it–and keep in mind one of the reasons I was so struck by LS and Riverside was the quality of Duda’s voice. 

Lunatic Soul II: The White Album

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I’m posting up teasers and sketches of each of the Lunatic Soul albums, in anticipation of the new album out this year, and as previews for my upcoming biography of Mariusz Duda. You will find much more discussion when that is published. 🙂  If you have not read the introduction, please do that first.

The Introduction is here.  The sketch of LS I is here.  The arrows at the bottom of each post will let you move from post to post.

Lunatic Soul II 

  • Released: Oct. 25, 2010 
  • Colour: White
  • My ranking: 6

The second part of the Hero’s story was released two years after the first album, with Lunatic Soul II. The cover was white, the vinyl was white, and the sound was somewhat different from the first album: brighter, sharper, more jagged–although it still retained its trance-oriental feel. The contrast was deliberate because the story of the Hero had changed. He had made his decision (to keep his memories) and had moved into a terrifying place of illusion and hallucination, where he began to question his choices: not only did he keep his good memories, but all the unpleasant ones as well, including how and why he died.

Musically, there is once again a mix of songs and instrumental pieces but it feels as if there is less variety. There is ambience, there is a ballad, and there remains the eclectic mix of instruments, but the overall mood of the album is one of anxious disconnection and foreboding, even in the last track “Wanderings”, which sounds bright and optimistic until one reads the lyrics. 

Unlike with the first album, Mariusz did not go into the studio prepared with ideas and songs (beyond the overall theme of course)–he had to compose and record while he was there. Perhaps this is why the album does not seem to quite live up to the debut: less variety overall, less “flow”, somewhat less satisfying. Only Maciej Szelenbaum and Wawrzyniec Dramowicz remain as guests. 

Upside: well, it is Lunatic Soul, and it has a couple of strong, ambient and atmospheric tracks, as well as one solid heavy stomper (“Escape from ParadIce”). 

Downside: see above–lack of variety in the song styles, especially obvious compared to the first album, and it feels less cohesive. Finally, there is a lack of real resolution for the Hero, who is simply left to wander eternally in limbo. Remember: at the time, this was the last album of the project. We were not supposed to learn any more about our unfortunate protagonist. 

Lunatic Soul I: The Black Album

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Below is a sketch of the first Lunatic Soul album in the project. If you haven’t read the introduction (which gives a brief explanation of why the project itself exists), you can read it here. Feel free to comment!

Lunatic Soul I 

  • Released: Oct. 16, 2008 
  • Colour: Black  
  • My ranking: 3

Lunatic Soul I is an album jammed to overflowing with ideas, which is not surprising since they had been accumulating for years. Mariusz Duda had been collaborating with musician and friend Maciej Szelenbaum since before he joined Riverside and they had recorded a lot of material together. Some of these songs, as well as other pieces written after Riverside was established, had not been suitable for the band (in fact, there are several tracks on the Reality Dream albums that perhaps would not have been there had Lunatic Soul existed earlier). There were songs that Duda loved and was very eager to release, and a separate project was the only way he was going to be able to do it. 

Continue reading Lunatic Soul I: The Black Album →

Lunatic Soul: Searching for the Light

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This long overdue summary is something I’ve been trying to accomplish for a couple of years now but somehow I couldn’t get the feel of it right. The format I used for the Riverside reviews didn’t really work for Lunatic Soul. So I’ll try it this way: I’ve written a brief biographical sketch of each album in order of release date, and included what I think makes it work, what doesn’t work, and how I rank it. I will post up these sketches over the next week or so. Once I set up my Substack they will appear there as well. 

The rankings: this is not a matter of liking/disliking anything. I love all the albums but to somewhat different degrees, and for different reasons, which I have tried to explain. I expect I am in the minority for some of these, so if you agree or disagree, let me know! 

First though–a (very) brief introduction to the project. A complete and detailed history of Lunatic Soul will be found in my upcoming biography of Mariusz Duda. 

Continue reading Lunatic Soul: Searching for the Light →

The Music of 2025 So Far

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What have I been listening to this year? A few things have come out that I might go so far as to recommend. I have to say, what I’ve heard up to this point is better than a lot of what I heard last year; 2024 was one of the more mediocre years for music I can recall. I  have a lot of hope for 2025. 

The way things are going so far, this year looks to be one of those instrumental years. Not everything obviously, but there seems to be a fair amount of post-metal/post-rock, prog/jazz fusion, and atmospheric ambience/electronica in the pipeline. Speaking of upcoming albums, of course the BIG anticipatory release for 2025 is the new Lunatic Soul, which, last I heard, is supposed to be long enough to make into an old-school-style double album, 90 minutes worth of music (as opposed to a regular-length album stretched over two discs) and will hit in the fall. I expect we’ll learn more about that at some point (trust me…I’m a LOT more excited than I sound here!).

For some of ya, the BIG album is already out, the new Steven Wilson solo. Yeah, I’ll say some words about that.

Continue reading The Music of 2025 So Far →

Progress Report–Update on the Book

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Book Update

Hello folks, it has been a while since I first announced that I am writing a biography of Mariusz Duda (back in August if you missed it). I want to give you some more recent information. Sorry for the length.

First… well, I made a mistake. I worked on the manuscript over the summer of 2024 when I had a lot of free time (I was a teacher, so summers off) and got to the point where I felt I could reveal that this project existed.

I stupidly assumed that I would continue to write the book once I returned to work in September–that is, work during the day, write in the evenings.

Hahahaha….Yeah, no. That didn’t happen. Writing for me (at least writing well) is very mentally taxing: it takes a lot of brain effort. Things had changed at work, I had a longer commute than before, so I had to leave earlier in the morning and got back home later in the evening. I would sit down, open the book files, and then write very little. My brain was too fried by the end of the day. There were other things happening as well. That means for the fall of 2024, not much got done. It was stressing me out.

As a result I’m behind, and the hoped-for release in or near September ain’t gonna happen. That was pretty tentative anyway, because I know that the whole process of writing, editing, etc. etc. always takes longer than you think it will, but yeah–it definitely won’t be ready by then. That actually may work out better for the book, though. See below.

So…I made some changes. The biggest one is simply that I retired from my job. I’d always enjoyed my work but not lately, growing stresses and anxiety had stripped the fun away, and it was time to leave. This happened at the end of January.

I certainly have the time now, and I am writing a lot.

The book itself: where are we?

I didn’t tell you the title the first time because it was probably going to change. It did change, but I’m still keeping it a secret for now because it might change again.

You have a glimpse of chapter titles though–you might notice a pattern. At the moment there are 8 plus an Introduction and a couple of Interjections. Not sure how stable that is; a couple of the chapters are very long and might have to be broken up.

Some of these chapters are pretty complete (in terms of information), but the later ones need a lot of work. The last couple of chapters especially that deal with the most recent few years are very incomplete. I am waiting on the last Lunatic Soul album of course, and other information. I want the book to be as complete as I can get it for 2025. Of course at some point I will have to stop writing.

The Introduction, Chapter 1, and a part of Chapter 2 have been formally workshopped: that is, other writers/potential writers (who have no knowledge at all of the subject of the book) have read them in an academic setting, and provided feedback and critiques. Overall the response has been positive, with some even saying they would like to read more about this person they have never heard of. That is a small win.

Next steps: for the book is fact-checking. Someone else gets to read it to make sure I haven’t made up too much of it.

Looking for a publisher: that is a terrifying and difficult and soul-destroying process. I will be focusing on small, independent, probably specialist publishers–no big house will be interested in such a niche topic. I probably won’t be successful (most people aren’t) in which case–self-publishing and Print-On-Demand. Ugh. But that’s how it works these days.

Completion and a first copy-edit passthrough by me (that is, correcting as many grammar, spelling, sequence mistakes that I can find. There will be a lot of those).

Then off to what are called “beta readers” – people who will read closely and make critiques and comments and recommendations. Please don’t ask me; I have folks in mind.

Then a developmental edit by an actual professional editor. That is a very important edit that looks for overall flow and sequence and makes sure that things are in a sensible order and everything that should be in there is in there.

Eventually: cover design. That’s also a big deal and will need a professional.

Will there be photos inside? Not sure yet–most of that is not up to me. Getting hold of interesting ones, and permissions yadda.

Now for the important part–you guys. Quick question:

The way Meta is going… well, all I will say is that it is hard to find anything worthwhile showing up in feeds lately. I will be posting about the book on other platforms in addition to here. Possibilities include:
Bluesky

Substack–it would be free, no worries, and it allows me to create a mailing list, so you wouldn’t miss any news.

Anywhere else?

I will NOT be using Xitter…. ; I’m not a video person so probably not TikTok

So…stay tuned!!

The Year In Music: 2024

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Every year I complain that I didn’t really listen to as much music as I wanted to, and every year I manage to scrape together some sort of list of music that I did listen to. This year was not different except that I was even more distracted than usual for most of the year and I often found that I was not in the mood, or did not have the opportunity to really explore new music. Work and some personal matters were kicking my ass, and when I was in the proper headspace a much more important project took my focus. Somehow though I ended up with a long list of about two dozen albums, so I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

However, I have to say that I found this year’s crop of releases less than compelling. Nothing really blows me away. This is not to say that there aren’t good albums on the list, but overall The Year in Music feels a bit underwhelming. However, it is also The Year of the Vocalist: man, there are some great singers on some of these albums! Manuel Gagneux, Yann Ligner, Patryk Zwoliński… you guys killed it.

In terms of genres: 2024 has made up for last year’s dearth of metal. I heard quite a bit of it this year, along with prog and prog-related, industrial, and some art-rock. There was no Steven Wilson this year, so no pop. (/jk)

I have nine solid contenders, and if I had to pick one more to make it an even 10… well, there are four leftovers of roughly equal merit so I might say something about those, too. I’m still not real sure about the order though, or which album I would make “Number 1”. There are two or three that could take that spot.

Continue reading The Year In Music: 2024 →