KSCOPE 13th March 2026
With this, their third album in this formation, Gong are more stable than they’ve ever been. With Kavus Torabi taking the figurehead place from mercurial Daevid Allen, gone ten years now, the band are a five-headed, ten-handed, uni-minded creature, forging paths through the psychedelic jungle.
With strong pieces that are both typically Gong and also of a piece with the previous two post-Allen albums, this is a great listen for hippies, space-pilots and prog fans alike. There is really strong ensemble playing and a special flavour from Ian East’s sax. A unifying link to the old days is their all-riff-at-once crescendos, often going on for some time, with that sax winding on top and a groove bumping along beneath. Then there are the smilingly trippy lyrics, with Kavus Torabi a genial and ever-hopeful lyricist, accepting the cosmos and inspiring as he beams warm thoughts.
‘Dream Of Mine’ opens the set with riffing and wonder before the instrumental ‘Mantivule’, which opens in an Ozric Tentacles swirly way before hitting a Hawkwind-esque space groove accompanied by noodling and hitting a Rush flavour of shifting internal tempos. ‘The Wonderment’ is a lovely floating piece with the lyric “spirit bright” carrying thought through the melody. ‘Stars In Heaven’ has Beatle-y chord progressions, as did a few songs on the last couple of albums but the phrase “bright spirit” pops up again and accompanies the ultra-Kavus line, “every breath we get is a miracle”. And it is but sometimes we need a grinning man to remind us.
After a Beatles ‘Revolver’ opening, ‘Fragrance Of Paradise’ is a huge riffing psych monster, all the band riffing at once while the lyrics are the first love song from this incarnation of Gong (unless you count cosmic love…). And we close on ‘Eternal Hand’ – a big tune with a hopeful message and a return to the ‘spirit bright’ theme. It’s a unified album of wonder and hope.
With Gong, I’d always say you should hear the band live to bask in the metaphysical experience but this album runs the live show a close second with the band tight and real, a lysergic beast.
Ross McGibbon
Here’s some previous reviews:
https://www.vanguard-online.co.uk/gong-live-in-leeds-2025-the-band-is-a-mind-altering-drug/
