adg211288 As much as a good instrumental section can really get me going on an album, I rarely find myself too interested by fully instrumental releases. That's why, for me at least, an artist such as Germany's The Spacelords are a rare find; an instrumental artist who not only enthral with their music, but do it in such a way that adding any sort of vocals to it would most likely ruin the entire experience. Liquid Sun (2016) is their fourth album.

While The Spacelords primarily play space rock, they can actually be pretty heavy and hard rocking while doing so. This is more evident in the second and third of the album's three tracks than in the opening title track, which features a gradually building atmosphere that initially gives no clue about the band's hard rock influences but steadily increases in heaviness until it fully emerges in its latter stages and from there until the album's conclusion The Spacelords find a perfect balance between spacey atmosphere and delivering some great riffs as well. With just three songs their writing tends towards a longer mark on Liquid Sun, but even with some aspects of the music repeating many times over as they move their compositions forward I don't feel as if any ideas outstay their welcome.

Liquid Sun will no doubt continue to stand out as one of 2016's biggest surprises for me; the kind of album that comes out of nowhere and ends up ranking among the year's best releases. The Spacelords are clearly well versed in their cosmic craft and have created something really captivating here; it's a very easy album to sit back and just allow it to carry you off into the cosmos, while also being something for fans of hard rock to appreciate. Vocals very much not required.