Band: Saint Vayu | Album: Eternal Returns | Genre: Progressive rock, Neo-prog | Year: 2025
From: Los Angeles, USA | Label: Wave Racers Collective
For fans of: Spock’s Beard, Wobbler, Marillion
I’ve dipped my toes into electronica a handful of times on this site. I often feel somewhat out of my depth, but there is the occasional act which crosses into my wheelhouse. One of the first electronic acts I covered was Vayu and their 2021 album, Wrath. That was solidly an electronic album with prog-rock influences, and the vocals were performed with a Vocaloid synthesizer. I liked it overall, and obviously, so did Pope Francis, hence the canonization and name change.
(Note: I started writing this review before Pope Francis died.)
(Second note: Francis contributed to a progressive rock album in 2015, which is fucking wild. Wake Up! is actually an alright record. Not amazing, but alright.)
In the four years since Wrath, more has changed in the band than just the name. Where Wrath was primarily electronic, Eternal Returns is unquestionably a rock album. Vocaloid has been eschewed, as well, with the sole member of this band contributing his own vocals.
The album starts with “Delusions (Moon & Sun)”. Groaning keyboard and guitar tones give this a weary, exhausted feel at the beginning, but once the percussion comes in, things become much livelier. Hints of this act’s prior electronic form are evident in some of the synth tones and dreamy atmosphere, but there are some wonderfully crunchy bass tones and biting guitars for contrast.
“Indra’s Net” again dips into spooky atmospherics in its first moments, but it’s counterbalanced with some bright keyboard and guitar tones. Things are airy and buoyant, but there’s also an underlying sense of discord, even as things ostensibly ascend. The vocals are buried in the mix, but they’re warm and soulful, if a bit rough from a technical standpoint. About halfway through, things really pick up with a sudden infusion of bold synths and energetic percussion.There’s a lot going on here, and things can get somewhat muddled, but there are a lot of good ideas.
Gentle plinking opens “The Core” for a nice reprieve after the preceding cut. However, this is probably my least-favorite song on Eternal Returns. It meanders and takes too long to get going. The second half of the song has some very fun and bouncy instrumental moments, but the path to get here was circuitous.
“Where the Vultures Glide” is the longest song on the album. After a brief, airy introduction, the song moves into an odd, lurching passage. Certain parts of it remind me of the slower parts of “Heart of the Sunrise”. It’s slinking but jerky at the same time. Electronic percussion eventually kicks this song into a higher gear before being stripped back. By the time this song hits its second half, it is suffering from a bit of kitchen-sink syndrome. There are a lot of neat ideas here, but they can feel thrown-together.
The final song here is “Processional Way”. It starts off with a sunny and energetic passage that draws from this act’s electronic past. The instrumental tones here shine and glimmer, and the structuring feels cohesive. This is a strong way to end the album.
Eternal Returns is an interesting evolution for Saint Vayu. The transition from electronic to rock music went fairly smoothly. There is definitely room for improvement, especially in the structuring and vocals. But overall, this is a fun record that stands out from the prog scene at large.
Score: 79/100
The Elite Extremophile 