“Days Months Years” is a fully-fledged Concept Album that frames its music around a lone protagonist’s journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape. The band from Sardinia conceived the record as a combined literary and musical project: chapters of a short story are paired with each track to guide the listener through the narrative. The result is an album that attempts to marry narrative intent with a varied palette of Progressive Rock, Heavy elements and Psych-tinged atmospheres.
Pulsar’s new release is a work of contrasts. On one hand there are immediate, Heavy-tinged riffs and muscular rhythmic engines; on the other hand the band pursues more expansive, melancholic passages that unfold in the Progressive tradition. The group’s language sits somewhere between Modern Progressive Rock and Heavy Prog, with occasional detours into Psych and Prog Metal textures. The production favors clarity: guitars and keyboards are given room to breathe, and the rhythm section is recorded with immediacy, which helps the album’s heavier moments land with weight.
The album opens with “The Moving Orchid,” a compact, punchy statement that fuses contemporary Progressive motifs with a harder edge. The riffing is focused and economical; the band uses time-shifts and short instrumental breaks to expand the three-minute framework without overstaying its welcome. It’s a good opener: direct, technical where it needs to be, and effective at establishing the record’s heavier leanings. “Wave Interference” broadens the dynamics. It begins with distorted arpeggios that establish tension before folding into a full-bodied Heavy Prog section where the guitar takes center stage. The vocal delivery here is more restrained and melodic than on the opener, which allows the mid-section to develop a dark, almost cinematic instrumental passage—percussive motifs and layered arpeggios build toward a guitar solo that introduces a clear Prog Metal flavor. The track’s structure demonstrates the band’s ability to alternate between atmospheric and aggressive approaches without losing coherence. “Lacuna Paradigma” continues the balancing act. Distorted, enveloping guitar tones and a firm, inventive rhythm foundation propel the track, while the vocal line interprets the lyrics with clarity and dynamic intent. The middle section leans into a melancholic Progressive Rock mood that contrasts the heavier verses; this dynamic gives the piece a satisfying narrative arc. At times the transitions feel deliberate rather than effortless—there are moments where a more daring arrangement could have amplified the emotional impact—but the band’s individual touch keeps the piece interesting. The centerpiece is the expansive “People Of The Rules,” a seven-plus minute composition that attempts to unite Hard Rock drive with Classical Progressive structuring. The track offers broad instrumental passages and several solo inserts, alternating between vocal-led verses and long instrumental development. While the musicianship is solid and the ideas are worthy, the piece occasionally treads familiar ground; certain instrumental stretches could benefit from sharper melodic hooks or more striking contrasts to raise the overall memorability. That said, there are passages—brief, impassioned bursts—where the group’s energy becomes genuinely compelling. “Plasma” is rhythmically adventurous: shifting meters and crisp interplay between instruments give the song a kinetic feel. The band explores subtler textures here, with tight rhythmic phrasing and selective instrumental ornamentation. It’s one of the album’s more compositionally interesting tracks and shows the band’s comfort with nuanced Progressive structures. The closing mini-suite is where Pulsar’s narrative ambition is most evident. “Days Months Years Part 1” opens with dilated, almost Psych Rock atmospheres—stretched guitar lines, spacious keyboards and a vocal approach that favours intensity in both solo and choral passages. The band harnesses this space to build an immersive mood, and the result is an evocative opener to the suite. “Days Months Years Part 2” evolves the established motif into a more explicitly Progressive movement: here the interplay between incisive vocal lines and elaborate instrumental sections pays off, with guitar solos and textural shifts that develop the story’s emotional climax. That said, the mini-suite could have been more dramatically shaped. Both parts contain strong ideas—melancholic themes, solid vocal interplay and tasteful solos—but occasionally the pacing dilutes their potential. Greater contrast between the suite’s peaks and valleys, or a more decisive thematic reinvention in Part 2, would have made the finale feel truly inevitable rather than merely agreeable. “Days Months Years” is a thoughtful, well-crafted Concept Album that sees PulsaR consolidating a personal blend of Progressive Rock and heavier influences. There are several standout moments—instrumental passages that are evocative, and a mini-suite that demonstrates genuine narrative intent—but the record sometimes errs on the side of familiarity in extended sections. This is not a faultless album, yet it rewards attentive listening: fans of Modern Progressive sounds with a taste for heavier textures will find much to appreciate. The band’s individual voice is clear, and with slightly bolder arranging choices in places, PulsaR could push these good ideas into truly memorable territory.
Tracklist
01. The Moving Orchid (03:22)
02. Wave Iterference 06:11
03. Lacuna Paradigma (05:23)
04. People of the Rules (07:17)
05. Plasma (05:50)
06. Days Months Years Part 1 (05:19)
07. Days Months Years Part 2 (05:31)
Lineup
Away / Guitar, Vocals
The Urge / Bass
Rach / Keyboards
Iorad / Drums