New albums emerge from the ever-expanding planet commonly known as Heavy Metal, but like a tiny piece of space dust, few make any real impact. They are like meteors, flashing across the sky, a brief, highly intense glimmer, and then gone in a flash. Then there is Dead Kosmonaut and Retrospectre.
Dead Kosmonaut – Retrospectre
Release Date: 26 June 2026
Words: Steve Kenton
The Swedish Metallers are possibly one of the best bands that you have never heard of. However, their new album, Retrospectre, will well and truly put them on ye olde map of the stars.
Featuring Pelle ‘Hellbutcher’ Gustafsson on vocals, Mattias Reinholdsson on bass, drummer Henrik Johansson and the double guitar attack of Fredrik Folkare and Peter Hallgren, this album will surprise and delight in equal measure. With seven stratospheric songs, there is something to please everybody.
First out of the traps, Wake Of Aquarius features some rather satisfying bass and a rocket-fueled riff. It has the feel of a track which could be featured on one of Iron Maiden’s last three albums. The vocals are exceptional, and lyrically, it is compelling to listen to.
Out Of The Shadows Rising blasts off with an understated, relatively gentle guitar, which then gets punctuated by a vital urgency. The way the song is constructed throws you off-balance and goes in a direction that you cannot really anticipate. Again, group founder Matthias Reinholdsson’s bass really is the driving force behind this song.
View From The Future and Eyes Grow Old seem to dock onto each other like the Shuttle to the International Space Station. They come at you like a double-team. With some rather tantalising key changes, the vocals take you hurtling through Dead Kosmonaut’s own personal universe.
Clever, punchy and with some exquisite fretwork, you can hear many a classic NWOBHM group’s influence within these two tracks.
The Battle Is Over then follows with an element of the staccato and yet strangely plodding feel to it. You do not just hear the drums, you feel them, but they are not overpowering.
Although they pilot this track, they are unobtrusive. This is another track which is heavy on the bass, but they do not dominate the song. As for the vocals? They are wonderfully operatic in parts and a joy to the ears.
The Lies is a mid-paced number with some rather nice fretwork from Messrs Folkare and Hallgren. This is another ‘out of this world’ piece of work. It draws you in with its dark and highly descriptive lyrics, before breaking out into what could only be described as an upbeat sound from a West End musical and then reverts back to that plodding Metal sound.
There is a real sadness which emanates from the very soul of this number. It comes across as highly personal. It really is an off-kilter track and I love it.
Retrospectre, the title track on the album, has a haunting, low-speed opening, with some beautiful musicianship from the guys. Again, as in the previous track, it depicts a sadness or longing, although it does eventually accelerate at a rapid rate.
It has something of a film-score feel about it, which accentuates its appeal. Then there is the twin-guitar attack, which really makes this track special. As with previous tracks, it has that NWOBHM feel that we all know and love.
Overall, there is a melancholic beauty to this album. The band are clearly influenced by the likes of Maiden, Priest and Sabbath, but they are not shackled by those influences. They embrace them, they strip those influences back to their stem, and then the band build on them, using their own experiences, imagination and sheer talent to create something rather special.
If there is one criticism to be had, it is that the album was so good it left me wanting to hear a couple more numbers. Seven tracks are just not enough.
Dead Kosmonaut release Retrospectre on 26 June 2026. Find out more at Bandcamp.
