Artwork by: Elizaveta Porodina (photography) and Raakel Puukko (graphic design)

Style: Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, stoner rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Elder, Slift, Pink Floyd
Country: Finland
Release date: 4 September 2026

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I respectfully disagree with one of my co-reviewers who said in a recent well-penned piece that autumn was still a few weeks away in Canada. In the far North, fall has been in full swing since late August. The few birch leaves around have turned yellow; there’s frost outside my door in the morning, and I can see my breath in the air. That being the case, when I saw the beautifully bright cover of Polymoon‘s Mariposa Magic!, I grabbed at it hoping to cling to any summer vestiges it could impart. 

Thankfully, Polymoon delivers, taking one on a technicolor journey through fuzzy stoner guitar work and shimmering synths. Mariposa Magic! carries listeners along on a ride that’s more akin to the sweeping ascent of a magic carpet than the sudden jolts of a rollercoaster. Polymoon clearly understand the push-and-pull that keeps listeners engaged, but repetition saps some of the energy the band is so good at building. 

Opener “Ultra Bloom” is both a great example of what to expect on Mariposa Magic!, and an apt description of the song itself. A minute of cymbal swells layered over sustained synths and ethereal vocals make for a blooming cosmic soundscape. Crashing cymbals, a space-rock riff, and a hard left-to-right pan then launch listeners into a celestial sphere inhabited by the likes of Elder. After a couple of minutes, things calm down as restrained polyrhythmic drums and light, twinkling guitars start building, and building… and building… and… building… (are we there yet!?). Finally, the opening groove returns, but rather than take us to new heights, it stagnates and nearly overstays its welcome. 

Overall, Polymoon deftly avoid getting stranded in a stoner haze or crumbling under proggy ambition. On Mariposa Magic!, melodies gradually rise, cohere to a climax, and dissolve into a greater sonic atmosphere. Except for the punky quickness and brisk end of “I End, You Begin”, this structure is common across most tracks. However, the tools the band uses to signal these transitions vary: compelling tom work will give way to a propulsive snare pattern (“Glass House, Mortal Rooms”), or the dual guitars will play off each other as one soars into a solo and the other drives home a song’s main phrase (“Welcome to Another Dimension”). These clear touchstones allow listeners to get pleasantly lost in Polymoon’s expansiveness without ever feeling totally unmoored. Sprinkling in one or two more immediate numbers could further help the band break its structural mold. 

The worst victim of repetition is undoubtedly “Velvet Rain”. Throughout the tune, listeners suffer whiplash in the best possible way—bouncing along on bubbly bass before being pulled through a drum roll wormhole. Polymoon pull off this back-and-forth repeatedly, and manage to make it fun every single time. Unfortunately, following one last rush through the wormhole, the opening synth line swings back in and is impossible to escape for the song’s final two minutes, leaving one annoyed at its piercing insistence. It’s a shame because it overshadows one of the most potent blends of unfettered prog rock that the band unleashes on the entirety of Mariposa Magic!. 

This tendency of shaky endings extends to Mariposa Magic!’s overall construction. The drawn-out fade of penultimate track “Glass House, Mortal Rooms” would serve quite well as the album’s finale. I believe Polymoon even thought so, because there’s ten seconds of actual silence tacked onto the end. I wouldn’t fault anyone for moving on, and they might even be better for it since closer “Harvest of Stars” is the weakest of the bunch. Every time it starts, I can’t help but feel like it’s a misguided bonus track. Unlike the rest of Mariposa Magic!, it stays stuck in a boring mid-tempo, and the synths—a crucial part to Polymoon’s sound—take a back seat to underwhelming radio rock. Still, I commend the band for sticking to a tidy 45 minutes as the sheer scale of cosmic, psychedelic prog that Polymoon play could easily get out of hand; I just wish they’d use that runtime a little more effectively. 

There’s little to fault in the production, led by Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu). Whether it’s the synths (Jesse Jaksola), guitars (Jaksola and Otto Kontio), or drums (Tuomas Heikura), each instrument gets its moment to shine in the mix. While the guitars certainly sparkle and Kelle-Erik Kosonen’s vocals possess a reverb-drenched airiness, the satisfying low-end under it all anchors the band in stoner territory similar to Howling Giant.

With Mariposa Magic!, Polymoon says it has completed its transformation from quiet caterpillar to boastful butterfly. Like its entomological inspiration, the album is a great estival ambassador, and the band is confident in its warm sound, playful rhythms, and colorful atmosphere. Sharpening its songwriting a hair would truly allow Polymoon to take flight. As leaves crunch underfoot, and I count down the days to snow, Mariposa Magic! is a welcome shot of hazy summer fun straight to my system—one I’m likely to return to whenever I want to stave off cooling temperatures and encroaching darkness.

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Recommended tracks: I End, You Begin; Velvet Rain; Lost in Sound, Found in Color
You may also like: Howling Giant, Pelegrin, Bask
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Vesperian

Polymoon is:
– Kalle-Erik Kosonen (vocals)
– Otto Konto (guitars)
– Jesse Jaksola (guitars, synthesizers)
– Marco Menestrina (bass)
– Tuomas Heikura (drums)