Great review of Lyra-La on Betreutes Proggen

25. April 2026 by Marc in Reviews

Review by Florian Fischer

“Indie pop goes prog” – at first it sounds like something cobbled together from a press-kit cliché generator. But Lyra-La by the Karlsruhe-based band Naria surprisingly turns it into something that actually works as a concept.

The opening immediately makes an impact: “They Can See Nothing But Sea” and “Dreams, Candles And Batteries For Breakfast” are real earworms. Alternative-prog earworms, somewhere between indie, early Genesis-style acoustic moments, a touch of Haken affinity, and a pleasantly cerebral catchiness – with subtly woven-in post-hardcore twists à la Dredg. Not dominant, but always present as a point of friction.

The vocals: an indie/emo variation of Ross Jennings – less polished, more edge. It fits.

In general, this is an album that refuses to be pinned down. Indie, prog, folk, bubblegum punk, emo – it’s all there, but none of it settles into a single category. The title track “Lyra-La” forms the calm core: somewhere between Bon Iver, Steven Wilson, and the softer moments of The Mars Volta.
“Adrenaline Drip And Outer Walls” tips things toward math rock and post-hardcore, while “On Waves From Below” almost drifts entirely into indie folk territory. “Eucaryota” feels like a deliberate collage experiment, blending indie, punk, and a latent King Crimson spirit.

Between these poles sit the two interludes “Epiphany Of A Drowning Man” and “Archaeon”: short, atmospheric transitions that feel more like states than songs – and precisely for that reason help stabilize the album’s structure without drawing attention to themselves.
And then comes “Three Kelvin,” which fully goes its own way: offbeat, with hints of Balkan, klezmer, and who-knows-what, structurally escalating – somewhere between Gazpacho, Between The Buried And Me, and a brief visit from Mike Patton in full loss-of-control mode.

Not everything is equally strong. “Wax Phobia I” gets a bit lost in its own expansion, while Part II feels much more focused. Lyrically, everything remains within a space of water, dreams, and memory: fragmented imagery, loss of control, reality as something permeable. There’s no clear thread – more a conscious drifting.

All in all: not a polished album, and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling. To me, one of the most intriguing alt-prog releases of recent years, precisely because it constantly dares not to know what it wants to be.”

Rating: 12/15 points