REZN are a psychedelic stoner/doom band from Chicago who have returned after less than two years with a new full-length album titled „Cycles in the Infinite Dream”. The group has never been interested in standing still, and on their latest release the Americans lean into dreamlike atmospheres, doomgaze expanses, and a distinctly post-metal chill. The music on the new album feels like a journey through liminal spaces inside a dream, constantly stimulating the imagination at almost every turn.
Despite all that dreaminess and its distinctly unreal atmosphere, this is still a heavy album. The riffs crush, while the bass constantly reminds you that REZN remain a band built on weight and massive low-end. None of that gets in the way of melodies capable of lighting up the listener’s mind or of the enormous spaces the band creates. The album feels like an expedition into the unknown through mysterious sounds, mystical moods, and abstract landscapes. On this new release, REZN have achieved something genuinely difficult: through sound alone, they make it feel as though you are coming into direct contact with another dimension.
If I had to somehow define what REZN are playing on „Cycles in the Infinite Dream”, I would probably call it psychedelic post-stoner doomgaze. To make things even more interesting, the band expands its instrumental palette with a rainstick – yes, that really is an instrument – synthesizers, lap steel guitar, saxophone, flute, keyboards, violin, and cello. The album is therefore rich not only stylistically, but instrumentally as well. I also get the impression that the music here bends space-time. None of the tracks, with the exception of the closing piece, are particularly long, yet the album somehow leaves the impression of lasting far longer than it actually does. That only makes this strange journey even more compelling.
The opening track, „Rites of Passage”, immediately transports the listener into REZN’s mysterious world. Heavy, drawn-out riffs resting on a powerful bass foundation blend perfectly with mystical melodies and an almost celestial atmosphere. With every passing measure, the song seems to become increasingly transcendent, like another line in a mantra or prayer. It is an extraordinarily poetic piece that somehow lets you reach toward the heavens while simultaneously making you feel the weight of an avalanche. „Transient” is a track that truly REZNates, sending tremors through both heart and soul. As if its ritualistic atmosphere were not enough to ignite the imagination, a beautiful saxophone solo gives the entire piece an almost cosmic dimension. Taken as a whole, the song pulls the listener into a genuine trance. „Cloudfall”, meanwhile, wraps you in dreamy, oneiric motifs on the one hand, while on the other it is never afraid to disrupt – or completely destroy – the state of balance it has just created. The contrast between dream and waking life, heaviness and gentleness, psychedelia and crushing weight is deeply affecting.
„Aerial Birth” carries an enormous amount of melancholy, with even a few shades of outright despair. The song feels like a story being told by some entity from another dimension, one you can never fully understand, and yet the way that story unfolds draws you in completely. It captures both the weightlessness of a silver-lit dream and the unbearable weight of existence. „Devotion” is an interlude built not only around beautiful melodies, but also around sounds that make me think of a journey during which the traveler undergoes some kind of transformation. „The Vessel” is rough and heavy on one side, dreamlike and mystical on the other, before gradually merging both qualities into something remarkable. It is also one of those songs I experience very intensely on an internal level, almost as if the sounds themselves were gently running across my nerves.
„Escher” has a certain ballad-like quality to it, but also a post-rock flavor and an irresistible, unhurried groove. Slow-moving psychedelia with the strange beauty of watching a caterpillar transform into a moth. „Primal Thread” combines power with a mysterious, spacious backdrop. The track moves seamlessly from its gentlest, most liminal melodies into crushing heaviness. When the higher-register sounds enter, I feel as though they are touching something directly inside me, while the low end makes it impossible to sit still. „Terra Preta” – meaning tropical black earth – feels like the scent of sea air in the early morning. Except this is a morning when dark clouds are gathering overhead, growing thicker by the minute. Eventually, though, the sun breaks through: slowly, cautiously, almost shyly, yet still providing the light that was needed. A beautiful ending to an extraordinary album.
„Cycles in the Infinite Dream” is remarkable on virtually every level: from its sound and atmosphere to the sensations it creates and the richness of its instrumentation. The way all of these elements work together to create spaces filled with dreaminess, melancholy, psychedelia, mysticism, and liminality deserves every possible form of recognition – and a deep bow to the people who created it. The sheer richness of the sound makes this an album I can play over and over again. An incredibly strong contender for the very top of my 2026 album-of-the-year ranking.