From Pelagic Record’s website, “TÖRZS is the biggest instrumental post-rock band in Hungary. Their last album was recorded at a UNESCO World Heritage cave 500 meters below ground. Released by A Thousand Arms (US) and Golden Antenna Records (GER). They were featured at showcase festivals at Moscow Music Week (2020), Budapest Showcase Hub (2021) and Changeover Festival (2024). Their live shows are meant to inspire self-reflection, a trip within. They face each other on stage to create a more intimate atmosphere. Not performing, but simply creating music. Their audience tends to listen to the band with their eyes closed.”

“Egy Pillanatban a Végtelen” is first, and it is an emotional offering. The clean guitars build a bleak and hopeless landscape that becomes more vital as the song plays. It drops again, and what we have here is a constant reminder of how something so barren can overtake even a person with the strongest constitution. Sometimes, nature has the final say in things. “Levegővétel” has firmer tones out of the gate, but there is a constant struggle between good and bad, light and darkness, belonging and isolation. Sometimes, just one note of the guitar suggest it leans one way or the other, only to be dashed by the next one.

“Átfordul” is a ray of hope in an otherwise dreadfully dark place. That ray however has to fight for every inch of light, and every chance it gets to rise above. There are some grandiose passages here as well that strike a chord with me. It’s almost akin to asking the question that can never be answered, “why are we here.” I would rather ponder the beauty of the world than take on that question. “Földet Ér” has a slower pace with many shades of melancholy…grey if you will. It begins to build, and then retreats again, and it’s a suspension…a holding back. “Otthon” closes the album, and the tones suggest an end…or perhaps a new beginning, and they are overflowing with subtle layers of melody.

At first glance, you may find this collection of five songs to be melancholy or even sad offerings. That is true, but the depths that they explore seem to know no bottom. Each song does indeed inspire self-reflection, and sometimes, with just a few notes, your eyes are opening to endless possibilities. You need a full set of breaths to explore what the band has laid out for you here, so take in a deep one, and take the plunge.