LUNATIC SOUL: The World Under Unsun (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

For more than fifteen years, Mariusz Duda has been charting a course with Lunatic Soul that runs parallel to that of Riverside, but is more introspective and metaphysical. This project, born in the shadow of grief and reconstruction, has allowed him to explore everything that his band could not contain: fragility, abandonment, the fear of disappearing, but also resilience. “The World Under Unsun” is a synthesis of this journey—an album where each sound resonates like a fragment of memory. It is both a retrospective and a rebirth: a monumental double album that condenses the tension between man and machine, between instinct and thought.

Where 'Through Shaded Woods' delved into the earth and breath, 'The World Under Unsun' looks to the sky and neon lights. The organic gives way to electro, without ever losing its warmth. Mariusz Duda composes here like a sound architect: he superimposes synthetic textures, muffled beats, and breaths, drawing an almost cinematic universe. 'Loop of Fate' sets the tone: a magnetic trance where the bass pulses like a heart while electronic layers open up panoramas of icy beauty. Throughout the album, the structure is conceived as a series of movements—some raw and intense, others meditatively slow—that reflect the complexity of the soul he has always strived to map.

But behind this confident modernity, Mariusz Duda retains what makes Lunatic Soul unique: a visceral humanity. His songs seem to spring from an inner whisper, a voice seeking light through the machines ('The Prophecy'). In 'Good Memories Don't Want to Die', he achieves a deeply moving simplicity: acoustic guitar, an almost medieval atmosphere, raw vocals, expressive bass. A little further on, 'Confession' embodies this same fragility in a minimalist setting; the song seems suspended between prayer and confession, revealing a pure emotion that reminds us that behind the sophistication of the sound, there is a man alone facing his demons.

Conversely, Mariusz Duda does not forget strength. ‘Monsters’ bursts forth like a tidal wave: a massive, 'fat' and vibrant track, where the bass rumbles with an almost animalistic intensity. This contrast between the softness of the ballads (‘The New End’ and ‘Torn In Two’ piano - vocals) and the harshness of the more tense pieces (‘Mind Obscured, Heart Eclipsed’, ‘Hands Made Of Lead’ with its chilling saxophone passage and beautiful percussion) forms the breath of the record. It is in this alternation that 'The World Under Unsun' finds its coherence: each piece responds to another, each tension calls for a lull. The whole unfolds with surprising fluidity for such a long album; the length never weighs heavily, as the sound narrative keeps the thread going.

Beyond its musical richness, “The World Under Unsun” appears to be a pivotal work in Mariusz Duda's career. By embracing electronic modernity without denying his melodic sensibility, he brings together all the facets of Lunatic Soul—the mysticism of the early days, the melancholy of “Walking on a Flashlight Beam,” the rhythmic clarity of “Fractured,” and the organicity of “Through Shaded Woods.” This eighth chapter, sometimes rawer but paradoxically more peaceful, seems to conclude a cycle. Above all, it confirms that Mariusz Duda, far from repeating himself, continues to explore the fragile link between technology and emotion ('Parallels'), between solitude and transcendence.

“The World Under Unsun” is not just an album: it is a mirror. That of an artist who, after exploring the forests of his unconscious, now contemplates the reflection of a reconstructed inner world. A dense, moving, and sincere work, where each note speaks of the beauty of continuing despite everything. - Official website

LUNATIC SOUL

THE WORLD UNDER UNSUN

INSIDEOUT MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE ROCK