Style: Power metal, progressive metal (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Seventh Wonder, Symphony X, Unleash the Archers, Kamelot
Country: Norway
Release date: 28 August 2026

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Musical genres defy simple definitions. Not merely describing the surface-level sound of the music or the techniques used to produce it, genre labels inevitably also include elements of the history behind the style’s creation and its continuing relationships with other genres. At The Progressive Subway, we focus our coverage on progressive rock and metal, but even those categories are impossibly broad and ill-defined. Naturally, we end up covering some avant-garde or experimental groups (especially since the ethos of reinventing music crosses over with progressive music) as well as a whole bevy of post-rock and metal, which blend in well with their long, convoluted song structures. When it comes to progressive power metal, the line can be even more fine. Although some bands undeniably contain aspects of both genres at their foundation, like Symphony X, most others lean heavily one way or another, whether they focus more on intricate songwriting (like Seventh Wonder) or on the pure emotional bombast of their performance (like Kamelot). For a lesser-known artist like Triosphere, active since the mid-2000s but silent for roughly twelve years since their previous album The Heart of the Matter, the question of their core identity can be harder to pin down.

Although Triosphere lean more heavily on their power metal hallmarks than on progressive staples, their impeccable musicianship and compositional talents nevertheless produce a depth and complexity of sound that should satisfy most fans of prog-power. Every song pretty much consists of two verses, two choruses, an instrumental bridge frequently featuring a guitar solo, and a final chorus—your classic ABABCB structure. Now, if we’re being honest, fewer prog bands break out of this mold than fans would like to think. Once you start looking for it, it’s easy to notice the same trend even in albums that otherwise feel pretty complex, like Sunburst’s Manifesto. By that same token, the presence of consistent and straightforward songwriting isn’t necessarily a flaw, but rather a focus on the elements of composition that really matter to the audience. Triosphere’s composition continues to exude excellence, their tracks full of catchy riffs, stirring vocal anthems, and fresh, unexpected shifts in key or chord progression. Singer and bassist Ida Haukland remains a highlight of the band’s style, switching seamlessly between gruff heavy metal barks and the soaring yet tightly controlled belting characteristic of power metal, and excelling at both.

Although not as complex as other examples from progressive music and its surrounds, Triosphere’s music carries enough depth that it continues to unveil new layers the longer a listener engages with it. While “Of Tyrants” grabbed me initially with its feverish momentum and frenetic guitar riffs, it wasn’t until the fifth listen or so that I felt fully aware of all the highly skilled components of its careful assembly. Every element comes together to drive the excitement higher and draw the tension tighter. From the precise, unrelenting opening drums and guitar to Haukland’s poised and lofty vocals—especially for the intense and emotional chorus of ‘Now! Deliverance, now!’—the track in its entirety gives no quarter for the listener to lose their focus for even a moment. Granted, this is the undeniable peak of Oceans Above, Stars Below, so you would hope for such a level of excellence. However, as a distillation of Triosphere’s musical prowess, it also provides a signpost for where the material stands up to those early high expectations, and where it falls short.

As with so many strong-but-not-world-class artists, the problem lies in consistency. For each of the songs’ common elements—the verses, the choruses, the solos and bridges—some parts of Oceans Above, Stars Below flourish, while others languish and stagnate. The incredible chorus in “Of Tyrants” finds its opposite in “Cadence of Chaos”; the latter track still gets the blood pumping later on with its infectiously thrilling bridge, while the matching segment in “Orpheus’ Bane” grows a bit tiresome with its repetitions. And so goes the whole album: for every brilliant melody, an equally unremarkable one slithers into view later on, only to be overshadowed by the next emotionally charged transition. All told, there’s no track¹ so underdeveloped that it lost all enjoyment for me, even after all my time listening in preparation for this review. Each one is at least good, but each also struggles to rise from good to great. For one last flourish, the closing track “Gjenklang” showcases snippets of seven of the other tracks in a final instrumental medley of strings and piano. This concentration of all of Oceans Above, Stars Below’s highlights in one place underscores the pattern of its development: despite all the individual instances where the music carries the listener away with its excellence, few last for more than about thirty seconds.

Even with a dozen years from their last outing to this one, Triosphere have hardly changed. Power metal enthusiasm still rules their sound, barely restrained behind clever and carefully considered songwriting. While the emotional highs found throughout Oceans Above, Stars Below are unforgettable, they also don’t rule the day unopposed. Despite never falling so far as to be offputting, Triosphere’s output can’t quite maintain consistent greatness. In the end, there’s little to recommend against checking out this talented return to the scene, but neither do I expect it to feature highly in year-end lists.

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Recommended tracks: Of Tyrants, Monster’s Ball, Through the Phantom Wall, Orpheus’ Bane, Gjenklang
You may also like: Course of Fate, Sacred Outcry, Sunburst, Divine Ascension
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Official Website | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Frontiers Music s.r.l

Triosphere is:
– Ida Haukland (bass, vocals)
– Marius Bergesen (guitars)
– Tor Ole Byberg (guitars)
– Kenneth Tårneby (drums)

1. As always, I’m discounting the ninety-second intro “Premonition” from this commentary, because realistically what can it contribute? ↩︎