Transition II by Lunatic Soul

Initially, a version of the Transition II suite had been included only as a bonus track on a limited CD edition; in 2026, Duda decided to revisit that material, enrich it, and turn it into a fully fledged solo album.

The title “Transition” perfectly reflects Duda’s recent story: the move from leading one of Europe’s most important prog bands to a solo career that shifts from a side project to something fully independent.

The album’s highlight is the title track, an evocative instrumental suite lasting over 20 minutes.  The album also includes unreleased tracks and versions reworked specifically for this 2026 release:

Realm Of The Weeping Willows (previously unreleased track)

Hylophobia (2026 remix)

Vyraj (2026 remix)

Transition II (the main suite)

The original versions of the remixed tracks also come from Through Shaded Woods.  Initially, Vyraj was a bonus track on the second disc of the Deluxe double-CD edition, while Hylophobia was also a bonus track from those sessions, released as a single with an official music video in 2021.  Duda took these two instrumental pieces and remixed them completely from scratch.

So why this album? Duda himself explains it to us Duda.

With the release of “The World Under Unsun” at the end of 2025, Duda put the final seal on the conceptual cycle of the first eight albums, known as “The Circle of Life and Death”.  He explained that his previous works focused on themes such as grief, darkness and loneliness, while the project’s future looks brighter, warmer and full of hope.  Duda himself stated that this album arrives at the right time, acting as a bridge between past and future, since “Transition II” already contains these more positive elements.

The original “Transition II” suite lasted almost 28 minutes.  That made it technically unfeasible for a single vinyl side without compromising sound quality, which is why it had remained exclusive to the few owners of the limited CD.  Collectors had been asking for a vinyl version for years, so Duda decided to revisit the suite and “reshape” it down to 23 minutes, finally allowing it to shine on 33 RPM analog format.

Through his socials, Duda admitted he also released the record to give new life and a chance to tracks he loved a lot but that had remained confined to the role of mere “bonus tracks”.  By rearranging the songs, remixing them from scratch and completing the unreleased “Realm of the Weeping Willows” (left unfinished since 2020), he managed to create a fully self-contained and coherent instrumental work.

Musically, Transition II is the quintessence of Lunatic Soul’s instrumental “folk-forest-melancholic” style.  Continuing the path begun with Through Shaded Woods, the album keeps a strong link to rural and woodland atmospheres, yet ventures decisively into more electronic, ambient and cinematic territory.  As is customary for Mariusz Duda’s solo project, lead electric guitars are completely absent, replaced by layers of synths, deep bass lines and hypnotic percussion.

Driving, percussive rhythms evoke the dark folk of Eastern Europe, with an ancestral, ritualistic flavor. The heavy use of loops, electronic textures and drones creates a sense of isolation, giving the tracks a strong cinematic, contemplative and nocturnal edge.

Duda’s voice is used sparingly, almost like an additional instrument, through distant, whispered and ethereal vocalizations that heighten the melancholic, introspective mood. 

A special mention for “Realm Of The Weeping Willows”, the unreleased track and one of the album’s best pieces, with vocal harmonies and very dark ambient sections, ideal for nighttime listening or solitude, in which Duda manages to convey deep emotions using very few words.

Despite being largely made up of reworked archive material, the record does not aim to be a simple commercial move or a collection of leftovers, but a complete studio album in its own right. In my opinion it succeeds brilliantly: both the unreleased track and the remixes of the already released tracks are beautiful, even if it remains an album, as the title suggests, in transition between a masterpiece like The World Under Unsun and an unknown future that looks very, very interesting. Excellent album!.

My Version

Label: Kscope – Kscope1306
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 26 Jun 2026

Tracklist

A1        Realm Of The Weeping Willows    11:41
A2        Hylophobia - 2026 Remix    3:21
A3        Vyraj - 2026 Remix    5:32
B1        Transition II - Condensed Version, 2026 Remix    23:00

LineUp

Mariusz Duda