Sweden’s Hällas takes us on a dazzling journey through their adventure rock cosmos on Panorama.
Release date: January 30th, 2026 | Äventyr Records | Webstore | Instagram
As we’re a few long weeks into 2026, I don’t think it’s too dramatic to say most of us would direly love to turn back the clock. Of course, life doesn’t run that way, and we all need to carry on, but music… music might hold the key to some throwback escapism. I personally found that escape by way of Swedish rockers Hällas and their forthcoming fourth album Panorama. And friends, it’s been a very warm trip to the past.
Hällas has crossed my path a couple times over the years, but I feel I’ve always approached them the wrong way. Namely, as a supplement to fellow Swedish rockers The Night Flight Orchestra. Those bands may share a few reference points, but Hällas is a more organically classic-sounding band. Blending the approach of classic progressive rock with classic hard rock and ’70s metal elements, and awash in gloriously vintage production, Hällas‘ self-described ‘adventure rock’ feels like lost music straight from the ’70s as opposed to winking shoutouts in a modern package.
Even as rooted in the past as they are, Hällas still managed to pull some fun surprises right off the bat when I first fired up Panorama. Not so much that the band was bold enough to throw the 20+ minute epic “Above the Continuum” right at the start of the album, but more that they dedicate the first several minutes to groovy sci-fi Italo disco. An unexpected, but delightful, twist right off the bat. Beyond that point Hällas gets into more expected territories, all handled with aplomb. Dueling guitar harmonies! Dazzling synth leads! Narrations of a father describing a world long gone to his son! All while winding across a monolith of orchestrations and good old-fashioned hard rock. For folks like me who first became true music lovers via prog rock, “Above the Continuum” is just a delightful trip down memory lane and lives up to that ‘adventure rock’ description perfectly.
Of course, one of the big risks of opening an album with an epic is that it’ll cast too much of a shadow over the rest of the album. For every Close to the Edge, where the ‘shorter tracks’ live up, there’s always been a handful of albums like Tarkus that just don’t maintain as well. Hällas does their damnedest to avoid falling into that trap on Panorama, and while I wouldn’t say it’s pulled off perfectly, there proves to be plenty of great material after “Above the Continuum” bows out, and Hällas even provides some nice variety.
Lead single “The Emissary” and closer “At the Summit” hew closer to what one would expect from “Above the Continuum” dealing in guitar harmonies, vocal hooks, and some nice mood shifts. “At the Summit” in particular stood as my favorite song in Panorama‘s back half for its beautiful acoustic intro and Uriah Heep-esque Hammond organ presence. Meanwhile, “Face of an Angel” makes good on the promise of that Italo disco groove early on by being a straight dance rock banger with pumping bass and a great chorus hook, while “Bestiaus” gives the album a pretty, emotive piano ballad as well as some unexpected tension with the increasingly loud ticking clock in its outro. And while no individual track matches up to the grandeur of the opener, they all work together to guarantee that Panorama doesn’t just fizzle out.
All told, Hällas once again prove themselves to be one of the more reliable and effective throwback rock bands going. There’s not a lot on Panorama you won’t have heard elsewhere, but the band clearly has put a lot of love into their craft and delivered some excellent songs across Panorama. And even better, the album is never burdened with excessive flash or flair, playing exactly what each moment needs and never once feeling showboaty (no small feat when you’re writing prog epics). It may be a chaotic world out there, but Panorama is a lovely escape to earlier days in rock, the sort of band that sees any number of clickbait ‘rock is dead’ YouTube channels and flatly says ‘hell no, it isn’t‘. I applaud Hällas for their wonderfully crafted nostalgia without a shred of irony, and here’s hoping adventure rock is here to stay!
