Review by Michael on May 31, 2026.

A kosmonaut is another term for an astronaut, mostly used in the Russian language. Having a look at the cover, the (dead) kosmonaut looks pretty much like Vladimir Putin with that half-balded head and the color of his hair. So did the Russians do what some other countries also should do with their "great" leaders? Oh, what wishful thinking but this is unfortunately only imagination.

Now we're coming to the hard facts on what Dead Kosmonaut have created with their third full-length "Retrospectre". First of all, the first two tracks "Wake Of Aquarius" and "Out Of The Shadows Rising" sound a lot like Iron Maiden when they got reunited with "Brave New World". Vocally and also from the instrumental arrangements there are many parallels to that work. I guess that is not the worst start for the band and everybody who was quite disappointed with Maiden's latest output "Senjutsu" might be happy with these songs. Of course it isn't the biggest surprise that the guys sound like the Brits if you consider that Per "Hellbutcher" Gustavsson is part of the band and if you know his background. Although I think that he probably loves "Senjutsu" because it is the Maiden album with the longest running time so far (and in an interview he once said that he loved "X-Factor" most, because it had the longest running time).

After these two tracks we get some more doomy stuff like Candlemass or Black Sabbath from the Tony Martin-era and with "The Lies" some sort of more modern metal tunes (okay, when you sit in your time machine and travel back to 1996 or something like that) which appears to be a little bit confusing with all its woven arrangements. This track is maybe the one that falls off behind the rest because of its modern sound. It's not really the vocal lines, they are quite okay but the guitars are much too hip and modern for the rest of the album. What might have worked here was the chorus if it had been more consequent. So there is the feeling that something is missing here.

"The Battle Is Over" is a very calm and somewhat epic song that needs a lot of its running time to unfold. It starts like a Frank Sinatra song when he would have done heavy metal but after about four minutes it starts getting a little bit heavier. The guitars are more intriguing, giving the song fresh Iron Maiden vibes and also the vocals are highly inspired by Bruce Dickinson. But also this one might have become a little bit more interesting with some more heaviness and catchier melodies.

But fortunately there are some other tracks that fill the gap. "Eyes Grow Old" is another doomy stomper with a basic riff quite similar to "Heaven And Hell" but with the chorus the Iron Maiden vibes set in once again but in a more doomy way. And "The Retrospectre", which is the album closer, needs some time to unfold, starting very atmospheric and slow, almost like a ballad. But from the middle it gets heavier and more dramatic, turning into a straight-forward heavy metal song with cool breaks, hooks and a certain drama in it.

So what can we conclude for "Retrospectre"? There is light and shadow both on the album. Most of the songs are rousing and really good heavy metal but two tracks are more filler than killer. Nevertheless the album is really worth checking for every heavy metal maniac, but don't expect any black metal influences here only because Hellbutcher is involved.

Rating: 7,9 out of 10