Orphaal – Hearts out

This year (2025) in progressive rock and metal found genre mainstays continuing to impress while relative underdogs and newcomers finally seized some of the spotlight. One of these is Orphaal – a French one-man solo project of Lundi Galilao. The entire project, from instrumentation to vocals and production, is the work of Lundi Galilao. Thus, Orphaal is founded in 2022 in Aries Espénan as musical project where the artist navigates between metal and progressive rock, while avoiding overly complex or djent tendencies.

In 2024 Lundi released his debut album Leaving Laniakea. A year later Orphaal returns with Hearts out, containing following eight tracks:

1. Disaster Zone
2. The Fowl and the Snake
3. Easier Said Than Done
4. Where I’m Hiding
5. Star-Crossed
6. When the Devil Rides
7. Hearts Out
8. A Sea to Spill Them Out

Hearts out is entirely self-produced by Mr. Lundi Galilao. Unlike his debut, this time around the music takes on a more rock orientated (even with some pop elements?!) path, while rataining few distinctly metal passages. It feels as he delves deep into the heart of real-life stories, exploring more human territories.

Fronted by enigmatic Lundi Galilao, Orphaal once again brings an unique perspective to the genre, blending beautiful haunting melodies with tales of life and death. The album features a complementary guitar duels, well-harmonized instrumental passages and diverse and varied keyboard use.

Standout tracks and record’s highlights are namely the title track “Hearts out” due to its emotional depth, where the song opens with a melancholic sounds (a slightly downtuned piano) before building progressively towards the grand finale. Another very interesting song is “When the Devil Rides” – undoubtedly the most prog metal track on the album, with its keyboard embellishments and driving chorus. Finally, the epic closure “A Sea to Spill Them Out” featuring some notable and distinctive time signature guitar riffs. All of the songs are pretty lengthy, where he deliberately abandons traditional verse/chorus/bridge pop structures in favor of a more classical or suite-like approach.

Without the immediate feedback of bandmates during the creative process, the sound developed on Hearts out is a bit less organic or spontaneous, though this is being balanced by emotional depth and atmosphere that are to be heard here. Furthermore, the British accent isn’t quite there, which could be a hindrance to the album’s international success.

Despite the stated critique, while listening to this sophomore record three times, I found myself enjoying this unique blend of accessible rock elements and more complex metal instrumentations. As with project’s first release, the eight tracks from this second full-length, aim to provoke an emotional response from the listeners while taking them on an engaging journey through varied musical landscapes. Therefore, I think Hearts out will get well-received and resonate within the progressive music community.

For additional information on this album of 47-minutes duration at project’s bandcamp.