The Unknown Voyage was originally released as Chaos Over Cosmos’s debut in September 2018; a passion project of Polish multi instrumentalist Rafał Bowman. In April of the following year the album was reworked and released again under the same name. A veritable space opera, the album is a mere five track album that still spans 50 minutes, so there’s plenty of length, girth and depth to every piece herein, which is both good and problematic. Something for Keldian fans, Chaos Over Cosmos takes the route of melodic power metal and hurling it into a supernova and into space, often wearing its influences on its sleeves. Dance of the Silver Blade has vocal melodies just screaming of Sonata Arctica, while the synth laden presence throughout is a throwback to Iron Maiden’s classic Somewhere in Time (1986) clapped with the poppier stylistics of Judas Priest’s same era albums.

There are heaps of sweet melodic pieces strewn throughout some drawn out runtimes and self indulgent instrumental pieces. Opening piece de resistance Armour of the Stars is a 17 minute behemoth that takes all the neon glowing Blade Runner stylistics and blends them with melodic power metal combined with a Dream Theater-y prog metal presence. Bowman, being the man with the plan, handles guitars, synths and drum programming, and the band is completed by vocalist Javier Calderon, who adds a definite depth to the soundscape. Theatrical and dramatic the album has a great production, slapping the focus on the spacious vocal delivery of Calderon as well as the heavy focus on Bowman’s multi faceted guitar playing which is the constant deliverer through the album. Apparently, the two guys have never even met, making the passion shining through in all nuances all the more impressive.

That melody from Armour of the Stars is super efficient and definitely gets stuck immediately, and its first ten minutes is just stellar progpower from the stars. It’s flourishing with blazing solos and thick bass lines in great intensity, interspersed with small additions from Calderon. Everything just clicks to set the world on fire, but unfortunately the rest of the album fails to capitalize properly on its phenomenal beginning and it gets to the point that you kind of zone out and lose focus around the poppy Neon Nights. Thing is, the album drawn out too much, with every song being bloated with some filler sections to pad the runtime, and the songs - shortest of which is over seven minutes - still lack that massive crescendo and the majestic choruses to soar on cosmic winds. The album is definitely stronger than the demo it’s based on, and an enjoyable ride on neon glowing progpower. Even with its flaws it shows great promise that deserves to unfold and set the stage for greater things to come.

Standout tracks: Armour of the Stars, The Compass