Two of Australia’s most compelling voices in Progressive and Post-Rock territory have joined forces for a striking cross-genre collaboration. The Orphaned Bee — the Synth-Prog project helmed by sound engineer and multi-instrumentalist Brett Tollis — has reimagined “Mountain Of Madness,” a track from Melbourne Post-Metal outfit Treebeard‘s 2024 album “Snowman,” released via Bird’s Robe Records.
The result is “More Mountains More Madness“: guitars stripped away, replaced by throbbing atmospheric synths, psychedelic textures, and emotional vocals navigating a sound world that sits somewhere between Dark Synthwave and introspective Prog Rock. Lyrically, the track explores polar exploration as a metaphor — isolation, the terror of the unknown, and the mental weight of traversing extreme environments.
Watch the official video for “More Mountains More Madness” via the YouTube player below:
Produced by The Orphaned Bee, mixed by Ron Pollard at Studio Sleepwalker’s Dread (North Dandalup, AU), and mastered by Tim G Carr at Gnomelabs (Sydney, AU). Music and lyrics by Patrick Cooke (Treebeard).
— Biography The Orphaned Bee —
The Orphaned Bee is an Australian Prog Rock, synth-rock project spearheaded by renowned sound engineer and multi-instrumentalist Brett Tollis. Their highly acclaimed debut EP “Thinking Without Language” was released in February 2025 through Bird’s Robe Records. In November 2025, The Orphaned Bee released their most successful single to date, “18oh4,” a re-working of ‘1804’ by Australian Post-Rock band Solkyri. The band played their first live show on Dec 7th 2025 at the Bird’s Robe 15th Birthday show in Sydney, sharing the stage with sleepmakeswaves, Caspian (USA), Closure in Moscow and more.
— Biography Treebeard —
Cathartic Post-Rock // Post-metal from Melbourne, Australia, drawing from Post-Rock, Post-Metal,Prog & Shoegaze, Treebeard‘s music involves lengthy & dynamic songs, ranging from the peaceful and emotive, to the destructive and furious. The band released their debut album “NOSTALGIA” in 2021, garnering praise for its fresh approach to the genre, as well as its potent sense of atmosphere. In 2024, Treebeard released their follow-up “SNOWMAN,” another epic concept album but with a much heavier and emotionally cathartic approach. ‘Snowman’, alongside their debut ‘Nostalgia,’ was treated to a vinyl release by Dunk! Records in Belgium. Since their formation in 2019, Treebeard have gone strength to strength, signing with legendary label Bird’s Robe Records in 2023 and Full Contact Safari Records in 2024. They’ve also shared the stage with staple bands of the genre, including Russian Circles, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, Solkyri, We Lost The Sea, hubris and God Is An Astronaut. Treebeard also joined the 2025 edition of Dunk! Festival in Ghent, Belgium, headlined by Mogwai, Cult of Luna & Year Of No Light, receiving an emphatic response and further establishing their presence as a leading force in the next generation of Post- music.