Six years after their last release, Los Angeles’ Ancestors return with their fifth full-length, Suspended in Reflections, out August 24th on Pelagic Records. For a band long celebrated for their sprawling blend of doom, prog, and post-metal, this new chapter feels both like a culmination and a reinvention.
Since 2012’s ‘In Dreams and Time’, Ancestors have undergone a major transformation. What was once a five-piece has become a leaner trio: Justin Maranga (guitar/vocals), Jason Watkins (keys), and new drummer Daniel Pouliot (HORSE THE BAND, ex-Silver Snakes). The lineup shift hasn’t diminished their scope — if anything, it has sharpened their focus.
“We’ve grown exponentially as songwriters,” says Maranga. “But the biggest change was removing ego from the process. We stepped back from our instruments to create the best record we could. We made a beautiful record as a team.”
Heavy, Dreamlike, Expansive
‘Suspended in Reflections’ embodies everything Ancestors have built so far, while boldly exploring new terrain. Across six tracks, the band craft a seamless journey that feels less like a collection of songs and more like a single grand statement.
Opener “Gone” sets the tone with echoing vocals and dense guitar layers that cascade into “Through a Window,” a track of surging crescendos and haunting collapse. “Lying in the Grass” offers a delicate piano-led interlude with vocoder textures, while “Into the Fall” layers mournful strings into a sweeping, emotional climax. The unexpected, jazzy turn of “Release” shows Ancestors’ refusal to be confined by genre before the record closes with “The Warm Glow,” a cathartic eruption that leaves nothing in reserve.
The instrumentation broadens beyond the typical metal arsenal: jazzy bass lines, prog-inspired strings, and even the tones of an Aeolian-Skinner church organ with nearly 2,000 pipes. These flourishes are no gimmick — they are essential landmarks on the album’s carefully mapped sonic landscape.
A Demanding, Rewarding Listen
Patience is key to unlocking Suspended in Reflections. Its deliberate pace and dynamic restraint make it an album to experience fully — ideally loud, in the dark, without distraction. The moments of explosive release carry weight precisely because the band resists overusing them. Rather than rely on repetition, Ancestors build and reshape themes, crafting a journey that grows richer with each listen.
Arrival
With ‘Suspended in Reflections’, Ancestors sound not only reborn but fully realized. It is a record that places them in the company of artists like Elder, Om, Ufomammut and King Crimson — bands who transform heaviness into something more transcendent.
For longtime followers and newcomers alike, this is a powerful reminder of what makes Ancestors unique: their ability to fuse doom, prog, and atmosphere into music that is as emotionally affecting as it is sonically massive. After six years of silence, ‘Suspended in Reflections’ confirms what many hoped — Ancestors are back, and they have never sounded more vital.
