Sweden's
Saturn took listening audiences and critics by surprise with their 2014 debut,
Ascending: Live in Space. While dozens of acts imitate the musical terrain carved out by
Black Sabbath and
Led Zeppelin,
Saturn went deeper and wider, adding the stylistic inspirations of
UFO,
Rainbow,
Deep Purple, early
Judas Priest, and the NWOBHM. Calling their sound "heavy metal space music," they sought not only the vibe of the earlier music, but its warm, live sound. That first album was cut in analog, live-in-studio, with only an organ overdubbed sparingly on some tracks. As steeped as it was in the past, it sounded fantastic.
Beyond Spectra follows the same basic template with some key differences: The songwriting is much tighter, but rather than get slicker, the approach is loose, sometimes sloppy. It's also bluesier and more psychedelic. This band is clearly seeking a sound of its own without rejecting hero worship, and it's a tough line to walk.