Deposed King: Letters to a Distant Past (Deluxe Edition)

I’m frequently amazed by what just a few people can produce in the studio. That is the case with Deposed King, a Hungarian duo that released its second album, Letters to a Distant Past, late last year. Daniel Kriffel provides vocals, guitars, bass, keys, drum programming, and most of the lyrics while Dominique Kiraly also plays electric guitar and synths. Frigyes Samuel Racz also provides a guitar solo on “Daymare.�

The band describes Letters to a Distant Past as a concept album “about letting go, accepting our past, and moving forward�"all told through the days of a lonely, abandoned person who tirelessly strives to hope again to find the light. It is also an album of hope and regret, of dreams and memories, the endless love for those who are no longer part of our lives. And above all, it is an album about rediscovering the quiet miracles of life itself.� Not surprisingly, it is a very emotional album, with its themes felt through not just the lyrics but the music, which evokes a variety of feelings.

Kriffel’s vocals remind me a lot of Steven Wilson from the middle period of his solo career, except Kriffel rarely reaches for some higher register tones. Perhaps that should be expected given the topics discussed, but one could also imagine some soaring vocals fitting in at times, as you get with several of the guitar passages. Such vocals also would have fit with the heavier passages throughout the album, of which there are many.

This album is definitely prog, due to its conceptual nature, the ambition of its arrangements, and the quality of its musicianship, which is always of a high caliber, though not ostentatious. (I wish there had been a live drummer, though.) The playing serves the themes, instead of serving itself. I certainly wouldn’t call this “crossover prog,� but I could see it being of interest to non-prog listeners.

The “deluxe edition� contains three additional original tracks, giving you roughly 24 extra minutes of music, as well as an edit of the lengthiest tune on the album, “Reverie.�

I can’t say this is everyday listening. I think it would be too hard to take. But it’s a work of great beauty and power.

Track Listing
1. Stillness (2:22)
2. Moonlight Lullaby (9:17)
3. Daymare (6:57)
4. Letters to a Distant Past (9:46)
5. Remnant of Rain (3:47)
6. Reverie (12:24)
7. Hope/Regret (2:42)
8. Dream/Awake (6:08)
9. Corridors of Fog (11:13)
10. Ashes Drift Apart (8:43)
11. The Snow (3:49)
12. Reverie (Single Edit) (6:25)

Added: April 4th 2026
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Deposed King @ bandcamp
Hits: 28
Language: english

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