Lune - Into Eternal Sleep (2026)

A mysterious project from the mountains of Austria (or the Danube's valley of Austria possibly, but I wanted to be as epic as the music here). The artist known only as M with no social media as far as I know, released what seems to be his 4th album and filled it with very, very very cinematic, if not pompous metal music.

I have little idea on the divisions between metal genres and, frankly, I rarely care. I usually listen only to the atmospheric ones that border post-metal as close as possible. You can safely say that Lune's two-track album is one of those exceptions. Atmospheric to the core, sounding like a soundtrack to an epic, possible viking-themed (probably because of the title) cinematic production, even if slightly lacking on the quality front, Into Eternal Sleep sounds more like a movie score than a metal album which I count as a big plus. The compositions are interestingly complicated and beautifully unhurried, the more metal passages really seem to underline something important, a pinnacle point that really matters.

The rest of the compositions are more ethereal than heavy, more like a dream played with guitars and keys. The valleys. But when the cinematic ecstasy kicks in, you certainly know it.

Into Eternal Sleep costs 8 EUR.

Check: The Silent Departure

Country: Austria

Genre: cinematic black metal

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Hanry - What Came From Silence (2026)

So it happens that two major contenders to the post-rock AOTY are being posted on this blog right after another. But while Kokomo's already recognized powerhouse within the genre, the French Hanry only just debuted with their album What Came From Silence. Not to mention that they could hardly be more different musically while still being more or less within the same music genre. So after the ruthless guitar heaviness yesterday, it's time for sublime and cinematic electronica-based post-rock.

Among their inspirations, the band lists shoegaze and trip-hop and you can really hear it from the first notes of the album. There is at least a perfect balance between the guitar and the electronic sounds with a heavy emphasis on the synth's presence. I feel like this is the French post-rock's specialty but unlike in Dragunov's and, especially, BRUIT ≤'s chaos, Hanry offer mellower, softer approach to the subgenre. More towards Lights and Motion than The Age of Ephemerality if you catch my drift. This doesn't mean that there is no more intense parts on Hanry's album though. The focus is clearly put more on the cinematic than the noisy.

What I love in their music is the flow the compositions offer: the synth-heavy and noisy parts (Remains! Time's Collapsing!) that capture you and leave you no choice but to follow them until a satisfying closure. The more I listen to it the more I feel like it really is BRUIT ≤ minus the weirdness, making it way easier to appreciate the intriguing soundscapes and electronic beauty the band creates, especially in the synths department. One more great reason to travel to this year's Pelagic Fest in the Netherlands. 

What Came From Silence costs 5 EUR.

Check: Remains

Country: France

Genre: electronic post-rock

Label: Pelagic Records

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Born Erased - Birds Drink My Blood (2025)

Angel Simitchiev has appeared on this blog twice already but never under the moniker of Born Erased. His dark ambient soundscapes are of the best quality and now this is further certified by the fact that the December album was released by Cyclic Law. 

If you wonder what's the deal with the surprising and gory title of the album, its description explains it: the album is inspired by the brutal yet impressive nature of... nature. If you (metaphorically) squint a little, you can hear the album as a distorted soundtrack to documentary movie on the wonders and dangers of [insert any place that is not yet entirely tamed by humans]. Especially the moments where Simitchiev's dark ambient reveals some more ethereal sides (as in Voider). This probably means that, although still in the realm of ambient soundscapes, the tracks here are structured in a cinematic way, making them way more approachable to fans of other kinds of music.

Until, of course, this facade is completely destroyed by the industrial anxiety in Throne of Cages, but I guess it also fits the topic quite well. The nature is brutal, but the humans canbe even more so.

Birds Drink My Blood costs 8 EUR.

Check: Voider

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: cinematic dark ambient

Label: Cyclic Law

Shentov, Simitchiev, Lukanov - Pain and Power (2024)

Angel Simitchiev & Linus Schrab - Airborne (2021)

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Takahiro Kido - INSOMNIA (2025)

The artists around the Japanese Ricco Label have inspired me more or less from the beginning of this blog. Anoice, Mizu Amane, Tokyo Ambient Collective they all appeared here and for a good reason: the label is basically a quality stamp for music revolving around neoclassical and ambient soundscapes. And around Takahiro Kido himself.

A member of all of the above and a founder of the label comes back to releasing music under his name, after almost a decade since the last album, "The New World". And it's a great thing he does so. The music on the album is lead by piano keys, but a great deal of the fantastic atmosphere is created by string instruments (violins, violas, and cellos) played by the members of Anoice. There is a certain drama felt in the compositions, the spine-thrilling and unnerving at times passages are far from the relaxing or melancholic atmosphere often associated with neoclassical music. This time, it keeps the heart beating and the mind wondering what'll happen next.

And it's not a surprise since the album was inspired by insomnia, as suggested by its title. It is focused on a simply, yet captivating question: "Where is the boundary between reality and dream" which people suffering from this sleeping disorder may need to ask themselves more often then not. It also leads to the atmosphere, unnerving as I said but also dreamy and airy. Given the artist's background, it won't be a very novel thought that this music is basically a movie score without the movie, but it really describes it so well.

INSOMNIA costs 6.98 USD

Check: The Liquidator

Country: Japan

Genre: atmospheric neoclassical

Label: Ricco Label

Anoice - The Hidden Forest (2021)

Tokyo Ambient Collective - Healing for Damages (2020)

RiLF - My Beloved Farewell (2020)

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Tethered Hands - Tethered Hands (2025)

Pianist Joseph D. E. Phillips and guitarist Daniel Rickards teamed up and released one of the best post-rock albums of the first months of 2025. The cinematic instrumental music in which guitar doesn't play the central part is a great proposition for fans of the genre, who look for names outside of the post-rock mainstream.

Even the artists themselves call it "some of the best post-rock of their career", and, while I don't track their discographies, I can say there's a good chance that's true. The compositions, while sounding somewhat minimal at times (perfectly natural for a post-rock duo), strike with well-thought-through structures and great focus on the darker, more solemn atmosphere. The piano keys and violin strings are the perfect fit for this kind of music and, I admit, I'm a sucker for this combination. This track list could easily be a movie score, for some kind of noir and slightly pompous movie, but unlike most of movie scores, it has no moments of boring, schematic shallows.

I understand that it's not easy to achieve GY!BE-sque grandeur as two people, but the British-American duo is certainly close.

Tethered Hands costs 6 USD.

Check: Darkened Skies - Our City in Ruins

Country: Indiana, US/UK

Genre: cinematic post-rock

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Bad Pritt - Debris (2023)

The Italian artist appeared already on my blog, beck in 2018 with this self-titled album. It's the highest time to mention him again as the music on his new album, Debris, should make a lasting impression on anyone.

The musician uses various means to create his gloomy, unnerving soundscapes. The neoclassical bits in his compositions can be equally beautiful and nerve-wrecking (as they are in February 6th). The deep industrial electronica surprises the audience from time to time with the clear bass lines. The overwhelming noise that can bring madness and make you lose all the peace in your soul. Everything here is intense and I feel like this is where the "cinematic" part of Bad Pritt's music description comes to place: there's no cinematic grandeur here, but a lot of emotions and very cinematic way of expressing them. I would love to see the movie for which this would be a good soundtrack.

Debris costs 7 EUR.

Bad Pritt - Bad Pritt (2018)

Check: September 27th

Country: Italy

Genre: cinematic neoclassical

Label: Shyrec

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Ef - We salute you, you and you! (2022)

The fifth album in the Swedish band's discography came after a long, almost a decade-long hiatus. But it was worth waiting for as We salute you, you and you! brings what best in the Nordic way of approaching post-rock music.

In their music the lively guitars and beautiful strings coexist with the Immanu El-like atmospheric vocals. The single's Moments of Momentum is the perfect example of this brilliant way of building compositions, the best way to end up with an instant post-rock hit in my opinion. There's a healthy dose of the music mystery and atmosphere without being too bland. And while the opening track is mostly focused on the mood, the Swedish prove that it's also possible to use guitars and string in more energetic, louder way.

I can't say if what strikes in their music the most is the airiness or the energy. Even the most ethereal tracks like Hymn of... can very quickly transform into almost post-hardcore passage of gloomy aggression (which is a nod to the artists' past in hardcore music). The whole album is a bag filled with various moods with an ambient Leuven added for a good measure, and this is what makes it a spectacular comeback. It is such a bliss that, also thanks to the uneventful life in the times of the pandemics, the band decided to come back together.

We salute you, you and you! costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Moments of Momentum

Country: Sweden

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

Label: Pelagic Records

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Bethlehem Struluckt - Daphne (2022)

Ambient/neoclassical musician but also a photographer and artist in general (as can be witnessed on his Instagram account), Bethlehem Struluckt comes from Central Mexico and brings a good dose of music magic. His new album, Daphne, seems to be his comeback to music making after a decade-long hiatus and it's a good thing he came back too.

There's so many different vibes on this album, the artist clearly wanted to try a lot of things and combine them into one whole. And I'd say it worked: the subtle electronic sounds (Agnosthesia) go together with the beautiful piano parts and very ethereal notes in the backgrounds. The latter are so omnipresent that I could safely say it's a dream ambient music, especially where background choir-like vocals make the composition extremely cinematic too. And there are parts that remind me of my favourite soundtracks - a good example would be Volver atrás y no sentir perdón with piano keys resembling the ones in Clint Mansell's works.

Daphne costs 7 EUR (150 MXN).

Check: Volver atrás y no sentir perdón

Country: Mexico

Genre: neoclassical ambient

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U137 - Imagination (2022)

Almost a decade after the huge success that turned out to be the project's debut album Dreamer on the Run, the Swedish U137 comes back with the third album in discography. Imagination contains tons of cinematic post-rock music with a great taste for overwhelming grandeur moments.

With the help of new instruments (including church organs for instance), Oscar Gullbrandsen, who is now the sole member of the outfit, created the "biggest sounding album to date" and it's no joke. There's so much grandeur on this release that it could fill one or two more with ease. Deep Elm Records that released the album, state that it aims at "generating a feeling of pure euphoria in the listener" and this is the emotion that clearly comes first to mind while listening to this music. Also, it can't be a coincidence that the label is known for working with Christoffer Franzen (aka Lights & Motion) as the flavour of their music is similar: luminous and inspired, a bit bombastic and very much filled with hope (one of tracks is literally called Have Hope too). And also extremely cinematic: if there's music that clearly deserves to be tagged as cinematic, it's this one, no doubts.

Imagination costs 8 USD.

Check: Run Towards the Sun

Country: Sweden

Genre: cinematic post-rock

Label: Deep Elm Records

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Peter Bjärgö - The Translucency of Mind's Decay (2021)

The Swedish artist makes music for almost 30 years now, his discography is impressive and now it's time for its next part. Released with Cyclic Law, the new album The Translucency of Mind's Decay brings some of the darkwave nostalgia in a surprising form.

It is opened with very cinematic sounds of the title track - ones the epic vibes of which make you feel like you suddenly appeared within a completely different realm that surrounds you entirely. Especially that the vocals here have those folk/fantasy vibes with very darkwave twist within them. And this is the general ambiance of the release: there's a lot of ghostly backing vocals, Medieval-like instrumental sounds, and this general feeling of being in a very epic dream, which is true especially for tracks like Honoré de Balzac-inspired Séraphita.

The Translucency of Mind's Decay costs 8 EUR.

Check: Séraphita

Country: Sweden

Genre: fantasy neoclassical

Label: Cyclic Law

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Lost Films - Vauxhall (2021)

Lost Films is a duo (or at least it seems it is) out from Russia focused on making very cinematic music that feels like a great and climactic soundtrack to a movie that never was. Their new album called Vauxhall brings a lot of nostalgia to the audience and this is its best side.

The music here is mostly instrumental ambient/post-rock with clearly old-school vibes: there's no fast pace, no heavy sounds, it's mostly reflective and relaxing while still hugely atmospheric. There's a place for accordion sounds, for violins, a lot of keys. And the most outstanding elements: movie-like samples with dark voice reciting in Russian. It does sound a lot like movie music and it's no coincidence but the project's theme. They introduced themselves saying "cinema starts with the arrival of the train. Old vauxhalls where we used to have our promenades listening to the music before setting on a journey to the outermost region of the country and self" - these words show the main ideas behind the music here: retro vibes, slow pace and fascination with cinema. 

Vauxhall costs 7 USD.

Check: Moskva

Country: Russia

Genre: slowcore instrumental

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Simon Goff - Vale (2021)

The English violinist and composer Simon Goff on his first solo album (the two previous ones were collaborative works of Goff, Aidan Baker and Thor Harris) shows us a neoclassical view of what his home region, Vale of York, looks like.

Goff is an experienced musician and sound engineer who worked also with such huge artists as Jóhann Jóhannsson or Hildur Guðnadóttir. His music "conjures dynamic sonic landscapes where acoustic and electronic sounds meet". While the live gigs "merge these worlds harmoniously and shift effortlessly between intimate fragility to expansive cinematic soundscapes" - and this last phrase is the key to Goff's music. Although it is mostly string-based neoclassicism (that's supposed to be very intimate), the sense of being part of something big (like a movie for instance) is very tangible here. Especially that the tracks are so different moodwise with the unnerving feeling of danger in Wooden Islands, the soothing ethereality in Murmur, the peacefulness in Now. And the one combining all of it, I Filled my Lungs with the Necessary Air, and Yelled!. This is the soundtrack, we need a movie now.

Vale costs 11 EUR.

Check: I Filled my Lungs with the Necessary Air, and Yelled! 

Country: UK

Genre: cinematic neoclassicism

Label: 7K!

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Minus Pilots - Daydreaming in Patterns (2020) PL

Minus Pilots to duet Adam Barringer - Matt Pittori z Londynu, a ich ostatnie wydawnictwo... oficjalnie ukaże się dopiero w grudniu. Niemniej na Bandcampie można je już odsłuchać. Ale w sumie to nie wiem czy już w całości. Dużo niewiadomych natomiast z całą pewnością Daydreaming in Patterns warto się zainteresować. 

To co rzuca się w oczy od razu to obecność na płycie niezwykłych gości. Mamy więc ambientową czołówkę UK w postaci Scanner, Run Logan Run i, dla mnie przede wszystkim, Good Weather for an Airstrike, a także holenderskiego artystę Rutger Zuydervelt czyli Machinefabriek. Do tego dochodzi też cały tłum muzyków grających na klasycznych instrumentach takich jak skrzypce, klarnet czy saksofon. Brzmi ciekawie? Zdecydowanie.

Kawałki na płycie brzmią jakby orkiestra zapragnęła pograć sobie instrumentalny ambient. Brzmi to i odświeżajaco i efektownie, trochę jak ścieżka dźwiękowa do jakiegoś oryginalnego filmu, trochę jak zapis koncertu na festiwalu Sztuki przez duże S. Wysublimowane, piękne i nastrojowe.

Daydreaming in Patterns kosztuje na razie jakieś horrendalne sumy po to by nie kupować przed premierą. A ta, przypominam, pod koniec roku.

Sprawdź: We Dream Dreams And Scribble Stars

Kraj: UK

Szufladka: cinematic instrumental ambient

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Minus Pilots - Daydreaming in Patterns (2020) EN

Minus Pilots is a duo of Adam Barringer and Matt Pittori from London, and their newest release... will officially come out in December. But we can already listen to it on Bandcamp. But perhaps not the whole thing? I don't really know. Still, what's certain is that Daydreaming in Patterns is worth checking out already now.

What catches the eye instantly is the list of the guests on the album. We've got the leaders of the British ambient including Scanner, Run Logan Run and, for me the most important one, Good Weather for an Airstrike, as well as the Dutch artist Rutger Zuydervelt known as Machinefabriek. And then there's also a small crowd of people playing classical instruments like violins, clarinet or saxophone. Sounds interesting? Absolutely.

The tracks here sound as if an orchestra decided to play some instrumental ambient. It sounds both refreshing and impressive, like a soundtrack to a unique movie or recording from an Art festival with a capital A. Sublime, beautiful and moody.

Daydreaming in Patterns costs as for now some colossal sums to prevent buying before the release date. And it comes, let's say that again, at the end of the year.

Check: We Dream Dreams And Scribble Stars

Country: UK

Genre: cinematic instrumental ambient

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Chris Joye - Lure of the North OST (2019) EN

Chris Joye is multi-instrumentalist dealing usually.with soundtracks and one of them was just released recently. And Lure of the North is definitely worth listening to, no matter the visual side.

The album is used as soundtrack to Jonathan Chapman's short movie and, as could have been guessed, it's about dogs, snow and the people amongst them. That's why Joye's music has a lot of the Scandinavian sensibility and beauty. Clear and loud piano keys are the music's engine and the backgrounds are made of sad strings and other sounds reminding people of the harsh North. As the album's title suggests, the North lures with them even more.

Lure of the North costs 6 USD.

Check: Instincts

Country: Washington, US

Genre: melancholic neoclassical

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Chris Joye - Lure of the North OST (2019) PL

Chris Joye to multiinstrumentalista zajmujący się ścieżkami dźwiękowymi do filmów. Jedna z nich wydana została niedawno i Lure of the North warto przesłuchać niezależnie od mediów wizualnych. 

Album to ścieżka dźwiękowa do filmu Jonathana Chapmana i, zgodnie z przewidywaniami, opowiada o psach, śniegu i ludziach pośród nich. Stąd muzyka Joye'a ma w sobie dużo ze skandynawskiej wrażliwości i piękna. Wyraźne i głośne klawisze pianina są motorem napędowym kompozycji, a ich tłem smutne smyczki i dźwięki przywodzące na myśl surową północ. Tak jak chce tego tytuł płyty, Północ kusi dzięki nim jeszcze bardziej.

Lure of the North kosztuje 23 złote (6 USD).

Sprawdź: Instincts

Kraj: Waszyngton, US

Szufladka: melancholic neoclassical

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Anoice - nothing there / missing / unknown error (2019) PL

Zespół, którego muzycy zaangażowani są w wiele fantastycznych projektów, które na tym blogu już się pojawiały: RiLF, Films., czy Mizu Amane. Teraz powracają do szyldu Anoice i pokazują trzy single połączone rybim tułowiem.

W dodatku granice przynależności zespołowej są płynne, słyszymy więc miedzy innymi Yuki Muratę z Films i Mizu Amane, która w zaczynającym rybę nothing there,  dostarcza przejmujących smyczków. Reszta utworu natomiast to bardzo żywe, kinowe granie o wysokim tempie i wciągającej melodii. missing jest dużo spokojniejsze i delikatniejsze z płaczliwymi klawiszami i melancholijnymi skrzypcami. unknown error z kolei łączy te dwa nastroje w epicki i nadzwyczaj gitarowo-głośny finał.

EP-ka osładza czekanie na piąty studyjny album Japończyków, który ukazuje się już na początku sierpnia. Czekamy!

nothing there / missing / unknown error kosztują tyle, ile chcesz zapłacić.

Sprawdź: missing 

Kraj: Japonia

Szufladka: cinematic neoclassical

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Anoice - nothing there / missing / unknown error (2019) EN

The band the members of which are engaged with a handful of fantastic projects that have already appeared on the blog, like RiLF, Films., or Mizu Amane. This time they are back to their Anoice persona showing three singles connected with each other with a fish body.

What's more, the band line up's boundaries are liquid, so in those tracks we can here Yuki Murata of Films. and Mizu Amane, who in the fish's start in nothing there provides us poignant strings. The rest of the song though is made of cinematic music with high pace and involving melody. missing is way calmer with its crying piano keys and melancholic violins. unknown error on the other hand combines the two vibes into an epic and extremely guitar-loud finish.

The EP makes the waiting for the new album by the Japanese better, and it comes already at the beginning of August. We're ready!

nothing there / missing / unknown error cost whatever you want to pay.

Check: missing 

Country: Japan

Genre: cinematic neoclassical

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NNRA - INCARNE (2019) EN

NNRA is a project behind which stands Louis Lambert better known from Ddent, a band we really like on this blog. His solo persona brings some interesting approaches to his work and is very different from the band's music. Check it out on INCARNE.

Divided into seven tracks album makes a masterpiece of somewhat cinematic and somewhat industrial and very guitar post-rock. The drums (automatic drums maybe?)'s heavy pace gives this industrial flavour to the whole thing (especially in the second piece), the strings brings the cinematic and the whole rest, especially the modern way of composing, the intriguing. Especially in places like the 4b track with its modernist catchiness. But the last two tracks are the very essence of epic, monumental post-rock with complex string section and massive drums. That's what I like.

INCARNE costs how much you want to pay.

Check: Incarne Movement 4b

Country: France

Genre: cinematic post-rock

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NNRA - INCARNE (2019) PL

NNRA to projekt Louis Lambert znanego z zespołu Ddent, którego na blogu bardzo lubimy. Jego solowe wcielenie wprowadza do twórczości dużo nowatorskich zabiegów i z pewnością jest zupełnie inne od muzyki całego zespołu. Sprawdźcie to na INCARNE.

Podzielona na siedem kawałków płyta to kawał trochę kinowego, trochę industrialnego a bardzo gitarowego post-rocka. Szybkie tempo perkusji (hmm, automatu?) nadaje całości właśnie industrialnego wrażenia (utwór drugi), okazjonalne smyczki cynematycznego, a cała reszta, przede wszystkim nowoczesny sposób komponowania kawałków intrygujacego. Zwłaszcza w takich miejscach jak kawałek 4b z jego modernistyczną przebojowością. Ostatnie dwa utwory to już kwintesencja epickiego, rozbuchanego post-rocka z rozbudowaną sekcją smyczkową i masywną perkusją. W to mi graj.

INCARNE kosztuje tyle, ile zechcesz zapłacić.

Sprawdź: Incarne Movement 4b

Kraj: Francja

Szufladka: cinematic post-rock

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