Deposed King have held a special place in my affections ever since I chose their superb debut, One Man’s Grief, for my very first music review in The Progressive Aspect. The Budapest-based duo comprises Daniel Kriffel (playing or programming most of the instruments) and Dominique Király, who provides additional guitar and synths. Letters to a Distant Past is their second album and like One Man’s Grief, its concept is based around a journey that is both physical and metaphorical. The evocatively poetic lyrics describe an old, lonely man who writes letters each night to his long lost love. Trapped in an endless cycle of hope and regret, he yearns for the happiness of his past and drifts ever further from reality into the fevered dreams of his own mind. His confused state is powerfully depicted by the music’s evocation of unearthly nocturnal landscapes where familiar features are blurred and distorted by falling snow and swirling fog.
The musical style is richly eclectic. Cinematic post rock soundscapes combine with elements of progressive and art rock, laced with hints of traditional and contemporary classical music, and a touch of world music and jazz. A rich and varied palette of acoustic and symphonic textures blends and alternates with ambient electronica, often glimpsed through a veil of reverberation. Haunting vocal and instrumental melodies emerge and disappear from a tapestry of hypnotically interlocking loops and isolated splashes of vibrant colour. The excellent vocals are used sparingly, often blending unobtrusively into the overall texture rather than providing the main focus. The basic album comprises eight tracks, but there is also a deluxe option offering four extra tracks. If you are debating which one to buy, I would contend that the deluxe version contains some of the strongest music of all, and will certainly enhance your listening experience.
The journey begins with Stillness, a cinematic scene-setter paying testament to Daniel’s admiration for Hans Zimmer. Sighing strings and a tragic cello theme convey a sense of the inevitability of fate, before fading to a gently regretful waltz featuring Daniel’s characteristically layered and otherworldly piano tones.
Moonlight Lullaby is a troubled and enigmatic nocturne, contrasting eerily distorted electronic soundscapes with the warmer tones of acoustic and electric guitar, saxophone and Daniel’s quietly intense vocals. A solitary figure trudges through the snowbound night, his mind dwelling on the lost happiness of his youth. He arrives home, lights a candle and waits for a phone call from the past. Daniel’s album art of an isolated dwelling, its windows bravely glowing amid the pitiless desolation of the wintry landscape, perfectly evokes the mood and imagery of the track, and of the album as a whole.
The reverberated instrumental sonorities of Daymare suggest the surreal atmosphere of a waking dream. Restlessly looping melodies and vocals that cycle obsessively around one note reinforce the lyrical image of being trapped in the past and unable to move on. A more animated, jazz-tinged piano interlude leads to an impassioned guitar break, beautifully executed by guest guitarist Frigyes Sámuel Rácz, before the music fades into a forlornly whispered litany that sums up the central themes of the album:
Dream – Awake …
The instrumental title track, Letters to a Distant Past brilliantly showcases Deposed King’s flair for creating expressive soundscapes. Trance-like episodes merge into one another like the disturbed illusions of a fever, culminating in a nightmarish vision of pulsing distortion and grotesque whirrs of percussion, before unwinding through mesmerising vistas of hazy synth and guitar loops into a transitory glimpse of piano. This is followed by Remnant of Rain, a brief but emotional interlude in the form of a wistful Chopinesque waltz. A nostalgic solo piano, joined later by cello, dances to the delicate accompaniment of a ghostly string quartet. Like a portrait in sepia of happier times, the music resonates with a powerful sense of loss.
Reverie, the longest track on the album, has a more conventionally song-based structure. The shorter single edit is also included on the deluxe CD, offering interesting opportunities for comparison. Daniel’s vocals begin at the forefront of the mix, poignant with yearning, supported by a tender countermelody on acoustic guitar, but over the course of the track various effects are added to the vocals transforming them into phantasmal echoes. An uneasy instrumental passage based on obsessive riffs builds to an impassioned climax, seething with clamorous drums and guitars clanging like alarm bells. An elegiac variant of the original guitar melody emerges from the wreckage, giving way to a series of instrumental episodes that rise and fall like waves on a desolate shore, gradually losing momentum. The track fades to a close with a final wraithlike appearance from the vocals,
Fading away like mist on the silent sea.
The brief but eloquent Hope/Regret is a deceptively simple song in lilting 6/4 time. Hushed vocals murmur tenderly over a delicate tracery of acoustic guitar, embellished in the chorus with magical, folk- like harmonies. Like the shooting star in the lyrics, the music offers a glimpse of the fragile rebirth of hope, rising from the ashes of regret and ending like a glimpse of heaven, with softly reverberated layers of wordless vocals and a swirling shimmer of guitars.
The basic album ends as it began with an instrumental, Dream/Awake, which opens gently with a series of mysteriously reverberated post rock soundscapes. A flute flutters, birdlike, above sighing strings, the solemn tones of a church organ gradually morph into a luminous wash of pulsing synths, muted drums putter in the background like distant fireworks. A brief but heartfelt electric guitar solo emerges like the moon breaking through the clouds, fading to a relaxed, hypnotic groove from keys and electronica. Just as we seem to be drifting into sleep the distant ringing of a phone enters our consciousness, recalling the lonely old man awaiting a call from his past. Whether the sound is real or part of his dream is a decision left to each listener’s interpretation. The track closes with bittersweet harmonies from a distant, ethereal piano, melting imperceptibly into the winter chill.
Corridors of Fog, the first ‘bonus’ track, is in my opinion one of the strongest on the album. With its episodic structure and surreal, dreamlike atmosphere it recalls the title track, but its use of folk scales and ethnic instrumental sounds creates an exotic world music vibe that brings greater diversity to the listening experience. Sophisticated programmed drumming and percussion effects lend an extra dimension to the tonal palette as well as enhancing the music’s rhythmic momentum, which is reinforced by the prominent bass lines. Angular melodies and distorted soundscapes reminiscent of Porcupine Tree establish a palpable sense of menace, like nightmarish forms looming out of the enshrouding fog.
Ashes Drift Apart was composed before the band began work on this album, but fits the mood perfectly. The track opens in a more traditionally melodic and folk-tinged style, with mellow flute and harp-like acoustic guitar rippling over lush synth harmonies. Distorted guitars and bass disturb the reverie, ushering in a thrillingly sinister section in 7/4, darkly suspenseful with lopsided rhythms and ominous leaping bass pedals. A strummed guitar signals the entrance of the vocals, veiled in reverb and shrouded in spectral harmonies. The breath of fate is evoked by starkly sombre piano chords which gradually thaw into a richer and warmer harmonic landscape, finally resolving onto a serene major seventh chord before dissolving into a murmur of electronica.
The gently hypnotic closing track, The Snow, with its lilting 6/4 time signature, strummed guitar and modal harmonies, flows naturally from the previous track. Wordless harmony vocals and a wistful melody on synth strings create a mysterious but peaceful atmosphere, and the album ends with distant birdsong, suggesting perhaps the first stirrings of spring, or a new dawn of hope.
Letters to a Distant Past shows Deposed King developing and building upon the strengths of One Man’s Grief, adding further warmth and depth with the introduction of a vibrantly realistic and expressive symphonic palette. Once again we are transported on a profound emotional voyage, this time through the relentless wintry landscapes of regret to the first frail shoots of hope. The subtle beauty of Daniel’s voice is enhanced by the strategic addition of an ethereal halo of harmony vocals, and the standard of instrumental performance remains unobtrusively excellent throughout the album. Daniel’s mixing and mastering is testament to his exacting standards and sensitive ear for detail, with each complex texture and delicate instrumental colour carefully balanced, but clearly audible within the mix. Once again, Deposed King have gifted us with an outstanding album fit to stand alongside the best of this year’s releases, offering immersive, dynamic and captivatingly beautiful musical landscapes that will linger in the memory and haunt your dreams.
TRACK LISTING
01. Stillness (2:22)
02. Moonlight Lullaby (9:17)
03. Daymare (6:58)
04. Letters to a Distant Past (9:46)
05. Remnant of Rain (3:47)
06. Reverie (12:24)
07. Hope/Regret (2:42)
08. Dream/Awake (6:08)
~ Bonus tracks [Deluxe Edition]
09. Corridors of Fog (11:14)
10. Ashes Drift Apart (8:44)
11. The Snow (3:50)
12. Reverie (Single Edit) (6:25)
Total Times – 53:24 | Deluxe Edition – 82:56
MUSICIANS
Daniel Kriffel – Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Synths, Keyboards, Drum Programming
Dominique Király – Guitar, Synths (3,4,6,9 & 10)
~ With:
Frigyes Sámuel Rácz – Guitar Solo (3)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label – Independent
Country of Origin – Hungary
Date of Release – 7th November 2025
