Every Nordic Giants album is highly anticipated. Over the past 15 years, they have delivered music that reaches deep into the soul, exploring sounds of the cosmos and soundscapes of cinematic majesty that transcend mere mortals. Combined with their ever-stunning visuals in their live shows, it is no wonder that the duo of Loki and Rôka continue to command such respect in the post-rock genre.
Nordic Giants – Under Celestial Alignments
Release Date: 13 March 2026
Words: Paul Hutchings
Described as a construction of emotional constellations, there is no doubt that Under Celestial Alignments is a work of master craftsmen who will inspire, confound, and bewitch the listener in equal measure.
Opener Logos, title drawn from the ancient Greek Logos, the ordering principle, begins the sonic journey with a slow building level of emotions with gentle piano and calmly delivered percussion before the song builds into a majestic crescendo. It is the gateway into the rest of the album, and it only gets better from here on.
What this enigmatic duo manages to create on each offering is more than just music. If you have ever seen them live, then you will know that the cinematic feel of their pieces can move you on every plane. Intimate passages weave through shimmering elements that use repetition in a comforting manner. This is music that wraps itself around you and holds you tight. Melancholic but warming in every sense, this is very much the sense of Undertow, a gentle aural massage which you will never tire of receiving.
This mood continues in Torus, the geometric definition of which is a surface or solid formed by rotating a closed curve, especially a circle, about a line which lies in the same plane but does not intersect.
Beautifully layered, the piece is tinged in sadness through which you can draw your own emotional journey. It allows you to draw your own reflections as the song folds back on itself. It should be truly magical when performed live.
Red Falls is evocative, the astronomy flow from hydrogen-alpha emission. It is a track compared to a dying star shedding matter as it collapses. You can create that image as it gently segues into Raith, with its delicate, fragility once more tinged with a melancholy that fades ghost-like in the shadows.
As the Nordic Giants album progresses, so the immersion into it deepens. In the Half Light conjures the breaking dawn, whilst the dramatic elements of Reaper, with its low major key piano, build tension. Once more, there is time to pause, to reflect on the quality that two musicians can bring with their almost orchestral sound.
It is another cinematic masterpiece that swells with majestic intent. At times, the drumming and percussion are intense, yet it never overwhelms. The piano fighting its corner in a tense harmonic combination.
Two tracks to finish, and it is the longest song on the album that is next. Clouded Minds shifts the atmosphere with an underlying urgency that pressures the tempo. Grandiose piano and repeated riffs add depth, the melody seductive and compelling. Epilogue Seren (Welsh for star) provides the conclusion with time and space, a steady passage providing opportunity for reflection, for perspective, and peace.
It is hard to find the right words to describe this musical release, for Under Celestial Alignments is more than just another album. It is a mediation, a passage through the cosmos, providing moments of hope amongst the melancholy.
Immersed in post-rock rituals, it is an experience that will transcend so well live. The Nordic Giants are out on the road very soon. I, for one, cannot wait to experience this with them.
Nordic Giants release Under Celestial Alignments on 13 March 2026. For pre-sales and tour tickets, visit nordicgiants.co.uk.
