The new studio album, “Souls,” by the Israeli prog-metal juggernaut, SCARDUST, is probably one of the best good news to come out from the Middle East in a long while. Released on July 18th, 2025, via the Italian metal label Frontiers Music Srl, this 10-track offering is a worthy addition to both the band’s and the label’s pedigree catalog. As far as I know, SCARDUST has never been stranger to a somewhat maximalist approach when it comes to mixing symphonic metal with progressive flourishes. Still, I reckon this new album marks a new milestone for the band in this respect. While the album is characterized by impressive musicianship across the board, it is nearly impossible not to single out vocalist Noa Gruman‘s powerful contributions – she not only commands the spotlight with both harsh and delicate vocal passages but has also directed the sweeping orchestral parts performed by the TLV ORCHESTRA and HELLSCORE choir. That’s some pretty impressive multitasking right there. Sure, the progressive bombast might overwhelm the unsuspecting listener, on occasion, but I’m pretty sure that the most die-hard prog connoisseurs won’t hold that against the band. In the right frame of mind, at least, this sort of technical prog-wizardry, treading the fine line between awe-inspiring and overwhelming, is just what the doctor ordered.
From the opening bars of “Long Forgotten Song” to the last in the 3-piece prog suite, “Touch of Life,” closing the album, this sonic journey is predominantly marked by the band’s signature blend of orchestral grandeur and progressive quirks. Their Israeli roots also lend the music a unique, somewhat folksy Middle-Eastern frosting, which shines through rather prominently right off the bat in the said opener. I mean, metal and progressive metal, in particular, drop those “vanilla” Middle-Eastern scales, such as Phrygian or Phrygian Dominant, like nothing to it, but I reckon some of the scales used in these proggy beasts are closer to the ones used in Klezmer music and such. I’m a sucker for both progressive extravaganza and Middle-Eastern flavors, so SCARDUST won me over already with the album opener, which beautifully mixes both into a banging, slightly HAKEN-like sonic concoction. Another fine specimen is the high-octane riffer, “RIP.”
For a seasoned prog aficionado, the album stands out not only for its prominent Middle-Eastern flavor but also for its relatively short song lengths. Apart from the 3-part closer, there is only one song that could be considered an epic, in terms of song length. “Searing Echoes,” a song that resonates with the air of a proper prog-metal epic with some violin shredding and all, clocks in around the 8-minute mark, but otherwise, the songs are closer to 3 or 4 minutes – or even barely over 2 minutes! That’s not something you see very often on a prog-metal endeavor (where the song intros are typically longer than that). Maybe this trait is a big factor in why you might feel a bit overwhelmed at times – the band squeezes A LOT of ideas into those few minutes. Then again, these ideas are mostly of a caliber that you wish to return to. So, like a good video game, this album has a lot of replay value – SCARDUST is not musical fast food.
If I were to single out a few highlights, judging by which tracks I ended up putting on repeat upon first hearing them, my choices would be as follows: first, the last part of the closing suite, “Touch of Life III – King of Insanity,” proved just so insane (sic!) that it begged for an instant replay; second, “Long Forgotten Song” is a textbook example of how the “Put one of the best songs first” approach usually works for converting newbies; third, “Searing Echoes,” obviously, because you can rarely go wrong with a song that mixes delicate atmospherics with banging quantum-prog riffs for 8 minutes. Then again, I could not avoid being overly impressed by Gruman‘s vocal gymnastics in the second part of the suite, “Touch of Life II – Dance of Creation.” Okay, it helps that the band also makes the quintuple riffs swing diabolically well, but the vocals in this banger are pretty damn sick, in all the good ways. I reckon Gruman must be classically trained because these vocal chops do not sound like something you could easily pull off.
Without question, “Souls” is an impressive, technical tour de force for SCARDUST, albeit something that’s not for the faint of heart. The band’s unique blend of drama, emotion, and technical skill is something worth checking out if bands such as DREAM THEATER, HAKEN, and the like are your cup of tea. The new album is a tad more symphonic than your average prog-metal offering, while also being remarkably more progressive than the typical symphonic metal affair. I’m pretty sure that this particular type of prog-metal excess will work wonders on stage, too!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Long Forgotten Song
- My Haven
- RIP
- Dazzling Darkness
- Unreachable
- End of the World
- Searing Echoes
- Touch of Life I – In Your Eyes
- Touch of Life II – Dance of Creation
- Touch of Life III – King of Insanity
Lineup
Noa Gruman – vocals
Gal Gabriel Israel – guitars
Aaron Friedland – keyboards
Orr Didi – bass
Yoav Weinberg – drums
guest:
Ally Storch (SUBWAY TO SALLY) – violin on “Searing Echoes”
Ross Jennings (HAKEN) – vocals on the closing suite, “Touch of Life”
Label
Frontiers Music Srl
