Kal-El – Astral Voyager, Vol. 2

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · April 2, 2026

Kal-El is a stoner rock band from Stavanger, Norway. The music is a combination of hard rock and heavy metal with fuzzed out elements of psychedelic, doom, and blues. The band formed in 2012 and consists of: Bjørn Harald “Bjudas” Stornes on drums, Ståle “Captain” Rodvelt on vocals, Kristoffer “Doffy” Ranaweera on guitar, Joshua “Josh” Bisama on guitar, and Bjørn Olav Knutsen on bass. They released seven full length albums to date, including: 2013’s Pakal, 2015’s Ecosphere, 2017’s Astrodoomeda, 2019s Witches of Mars, 2021’s Dark Majesty, 2025’s Astral Voyager, Vol. 1, and their latest, Astral Voyager, Vol. 2. They also released three EPs including 2012’s Dark Moon Voyage (demo), 2015’s Cosmic Void, and 2023’s Moon People. The band has released many singles and songs for various compilations too and put out a live album, 2022’s Live At Sonic Whip. Astral Voyager, Vol. 2 was released on March 20th 2026 on both Majestic Mountain Records and Blues Funeral Recordings. It contains six tracks at forty three minutes long.

In my opinion, Kal-El are one of the best current bands in the heavy underground music scene today. With last year’s impressive Astral Voyager, Vol. 1 record (review here), they are back with volume 2 and it’s equally amazing! The band are incredible live (review here) and I have really enjoyed all of their past releases too (post here). Astral Voyager, Vol. 2 picks up where volume one ended and pushes out six high quality songs of epic proportions. The write up on the Kal-El Bandcamp page states: “KAL-EL return with Astral Voyager Vol. 2, the sequel to the most critically-acclaimed and eminently listenable album in their catalog. An infectious blast of sci-fi metal and soaring desert anthems, Astral Voyager Vol. 2 is a record about the dangers of manipulation and struggling for individuality against the unseen powers who try to keep us compliant and controlled. On the heels of their first full US tour, KAL-EL welcome us back to the Astral Voyager universe with the second half of their epic riff-exploration to the farthest reaches of the galaxy!” The buzz around this album has been huge and rightfully so. Karl-El are on top of their game!

The opening track “Juno” begins with the guitar and rips into a heavy fuzzed-out groove that instantly gives me goosebumps. The vocals are soaring and powerful as one would expect with the Captain’s amazing pipes. The riffs are devastating and the flow of the song is so smooth and satisfying. This is modern day stoner rock at its best! “Juno” is as good as any great lead off track! It hits you hard and direct with crushing rhythms and leads. “The Nine” creeps in next with a dark and doomy beginning with clean and eerie guitars and almost spoken vocals. The song slowly crescendos into full on fuzz with thunderous drums and enchanting singing. The dense and sludgy riffing are felt as the massive tones and melodies soar throughout the body. The just over ten minute song is an instant classic and an epic masterpiece of stoner doom.

The third track entitled “The Prophecy” starts with a jazzy drum beat with the guitars joining up. It kicks into a mammoth riff of chugging groove, enhanced with the Captain’s stellar voice. The song dials in some metal harmonies that break up the stomping rhythms. The tune picks up the tempo and continues to pulverize with cool riff changes of swampy tones and devastating accents. The first single from the record, “Juggernaut” strikes next. The fuzzy bass begins the song and the music cranks in with such ferocity and groove. The heavy stomping riffs are the perfect backdrop for the vocals to express their emotive energy and drive. The pounding drums and brutal chunks of guitar riffing demolishes everything in its path. Around the midway point, the song brakes for some excellent clean guitars and leads that float naturally into the mix. The cosmic flow and rhythm of the music is equally hypnotic and heavy.

The bass drum taps followed by the guitar, begins “Pan”, as it escalates into a fuzz storm of heavy riffing. Karl-El throw down the chunky rhythms with some tremolo picking to coincide with. The execution of their music is epic and the band has such simple but effective riffs and melodies that really drive each and every song into a perfect composition of heavy rock, metal, and doom. The band are not reinventing the wheel but rather polishing the rims with shiny melodies and beefing up the monster tires with tones that are gripping with thick treads. They simply play this style of music better than most and each song is so compelling and instantaneously engaging.

The sixth and final song on Astral Voyager, Vol. 2 is simply called “Asteroid”. It’s another banger with all of the elements that make Kal-El so magnificent, in full bloom. Heavy and fuzz-laden guitars, hammering drums, and vocals that totally captures the listener’s attention. The pile driving avalanche of riffs and melodies are in full effect with this monumental closer. Walking the fine line of hard rock and heavy metal, Kal-El establishes a mind blowing sound that appeals to most people into heavy music in general. Whatever genre you want to categorize them in, their sound of stoner cosmic doom is an enigma in musical excellence, period. Astral Voyager, Vol. 2 is another masterpiece album and it will be in the top echelon of year end favorites, for sure.