Just as Mr Akerfeldt and crew cut the toe-dipping and fully immersed themselves in their love for prog rock with 'Heritage', Dark Suns have made a progressive rock record too and it's not a bad attempt by any pot-bellied progster's standards.  A good place to start is with vocalist and drummer Niko Knappe, who is perhaps a little Fish-influenced in his quieter moments, especially on 'Ghost' –  yet he's poised to reach higher pitches closer to The Mars Volta frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala.  What's refreshing about Dark Suns is the ambience they play about with – a lovely peaceful, hazy atmosphere has the potential to unfold into a variety of soundscapes.

Take 'Vespertine' as prime example.  The track experiments with sporadic trumpets – flitting like a rockier, less extreme Shining (NOR) where trumpets are replaced with sax.  But the eight-minute track hits softer peaks with a flurry of natural imagery and nice chord progressions, before the 14-minute 'Antipole' hits its ultimate prog crescendo just after five-minutes and finishes 'Orange' very strongly.

Reviewed by Calum Robson
Orangeis out now on Prophecy

You’ll like this if… You were so impressed by 'Heritage' that you went into auto-70's mode, bought a cyber-man costume, a few Camel records, lived under your desk for a week and there's still an inner voice on a loop saying 'need more prog'