The Third Eye

Philly-based rock/metal band Mothman and The Thunderbirds are back with a new record, Portal Hopper, due July 12th. The concept album sees the band melding elements of prog-metal and dream-pop into a new genre they call “dream metal,” which is a fascinating idea.

Initially formed as a prog/sludge metal project, the band’s sound has spanned multiple subgenres throughout its various releases—from doom to thrash to alt-metal to shoegaze. Their 2023 EP Gazer saw the band embracing a mix of psychedelia and metal. And if it isn’t apparent by the band’s name, Mothman and The Thunderbirds love exploring themes of cryptids and other curiosities.

The central theme of Portal Hopper is escapism and the eventual escape from it. The twelve tracks follow the portal hopper’s journey out of the natural world and into a series of surreal worlds accessible through a portal. Once in these surreal lands, the hopper meets a variety of cryptids. His journey eventually leads him to a strange land where homely creatures hold access to a space station to reach another world with all knowledge of the past, present, and future. There’s more to the story, but I’ll let the band tell the rest once you listen to the record.

The new album, Mothman’s sophomore full-length, is an eclectic mix of adventure prog, thrilling hard rock, and dreamy psych. “Portal Hopper is an album that will keep the listener on their toes while maintaining a strong sense of cohesion,” the band says in the liner notes on Bandcamp.

“Ruby Skies” starts the record with dream-laced progressive rock that would’ve felt very at home in the Eighties. It’s a song that sets its sights on the skies and perhaps through one of the aforementioned portals into a wondrous new world. “Polygonal Polliwog” is another track that feels epic in its scope and instrumentation—maybe something similar to Dream Theater.

“Flatwoods Monster” has a darker and creepier feel, and I imagined it would fit nicely on an X-Files episode. I can just picture Mulder and Scully investigating the whereabouts of a creature known as the Flatwoods Monster in one of their paranormal inquiries. “Liminal Spacetime Continuum” feels lighter, like a mix between shoegaze and dream-pop. Alex Parkinson’s vocals are bright and beckon us into these worlds the band has created, and it also feels very much like an alternative rocker from the distant past.

“Squonk Kingdom” is fascinating, for what I could detect was the interesting synthesizer work and the progressive-styled guitar that jumps up and down the scales. The song is also sugary sweet, with Alex’s vocals once again stealing the show. “Akashic Records” is another track where I could see where the band could conjure a term like “dream metal” to describe the sound. This is definitely music for nerds and gamers, and I mean that in a good way.

“Somewhere In Time” is interesting for the use of acoustic guitar, which can’t be found much else on the rest of the record. The introduction of the folksy element is a nice breather from the adrenaline-pumping dream metal of previous songs, and it helps that the song has a bouncy happiness.

“The Zaratan” begins with a guitar riff that feels very shoegaze for some reason. The melody is also hazy brilliance. “So Long (Portal Hopper)” feels like the song that’s perhaps the dorkiest – and that’s a good thing, too! The backing vocals sound like the cryptids themselves are contributors. The record closes with “Attic,” a somewhat melancholy ballad that ties up any loose ends in this thematic album that feels as much like a novella as a metal record.

Portal Hopper is a fun record that should appeal to fans of hard rock but adds a unique dream-pop twist. I’d never heard of the genre tag “dream metal” before, and I think Mothman and The Thunderbirds may have coined it with this new record. If that’s the case, it’ll be interesting to see if it catches on and starts a new underground dream metal movement!

The mixture of metal, beautiful songwriting, and dreamy shoegaze elements on Portal Hopper reminded me of an artist we covered before named BenBen. Even Alex’s voice on the record has the same dulcet tones. If you like what you hear from Portal Hopper, consider pre-ordering the record or checking out the rest of Mothman and The T-Birds’ work, including last year’s EP Gazer. Enjoy!

Pre-order Portal Hopper by Mothman and The Thunderbird on Bandcamp here.

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