Herman Martinez returns with UltraTerrestrial, an original album released on August 19th, 2025, and it’s nothing short of a fever dream made audible. Written and performed entirely by Martinez, with production polish by Ahmed Mahmoud and engineering from Chase Cassara, the record dives into forgotten memories and alternate frequencies. Recorded on the outskirts of Atlanta, the sessions were fueled by chaos and creativity, Martinez himself calls it a collection of “nostalgia for places you’ve never been,” and the music carries exactly that kind of haunting familiarity.
The opening track, “Uncanny Valley,” wastes no time in setting the tone. It begins with scraps of chatter, almost like a transmission from another world, before guitars come shredding through the haze and drums pound with a dizzying intensity. Martinez’s vocals enter heavy and dazed, as if stumbling through the fog, echoing over sizzling cymbals in a hypnotic swirl. Then later, “Unreliable Narrator” brings a change of pace with its rumbling slow, drenched drums, while glistening low melodies creep beneath. The rhythm keeps shifting, never quite steady, but always compelling, while layered vocals haunt the track, with layers of voice rising together in soulful echoes, like a choir dissolving into the horizon.
By the time we reach “Photographic Reflexes,” the dreamlike essence of UltraTerrestrial crystallizes. Chiming guitars shimmer like starlight, pianos drift softly beneath, and faint strings simmer in the distance. Martinez’s vocals float as though half-asleep, drifting in reverie, until the drums arrive late, like a heartbeat rejoining after a long silence and give the piece a final lift.
Altogether, UltraTerrestrial is an unpredictable, surreal, and strangely intimate. Martinez offers listeners windows into worlds just out of reach. Listen to it on Spotify.
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Review by: Naomi Joan