Two people, three years and a pile of laptops spread across three continents became ‘DYAD,’ the double album from Trope, out now worldwide. The Canadian-Australian progressive rock band works between Montreal, Toronto and Brisbane. At its core are vocalist and songwriter Diana Studenberg and guitarist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Moonhead, who wrote 17 songs about the same thing: love, and how badly it can hurt.
The album is split in two. ‘DYAD I’ gathers seven tracks of progressive rock that swing from fragile, atmospheric passages to crushing, darker arrangements. Studenberg moves with them, from the hushed intimacy of Kate Bush and Tori Amos to the snarl of Alice in Chains, Metallica and Pantera. ‘DYAD II’ strips the songs down into 10 direct alternative rock tracks, with Moonhead taking lead vocals on several. It pulls from ’80s New Wave, Toto, Queens of the Stone Age and ’90s Seattle.
“Not every answer to a question has to be complex,” says Moonhead. “Side B explores simplicity in delivery and basic structure. We are both huge fans of pop music and understand the challenge and talent it takes to write a really good song and deliver it with levity. Side B shows us sharing stories without complexity, sometimes a simple hug and an affirmation is all you need.”
The lyrics don’t flinch. On “Here’s to the Lonely,” Studenberg sings about running from “the only home that I ever knew before,” a place that “was never warm to me at all.” Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson drives the song on drums. “Sigil,” the album’s centrepiece, arrives at the line the whole record seems to be built around: “Only way out is through.”
The most personal moment may be the one Trope didn’t write. The band reimagines The Stranglers’ 1982 hit “Golden Brown” with Puscifer drummer Gunnar Olsen. For Moonhead, the song is tied to a hard childhood.
“I’ve had a haunting obsession with Golden Brown, and this reimagining is taking back some control from a tumultuous childhood. It was the soundtrack to those times,” he says.
The album was made the hard way. Moonhead produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered it, and played all the guitars, bass and piano. Studenberg co-wrote the lyrics and melodies and engineered her own vocals. Young drummer Max Botco, an Instagram find, recorded the rest of the drums. With no budget for big studios, the pair recorded on small laptop setups in London, Ontario, Montreal, Toronto, Bulgaria and Mexico.
“It was a result of need basically, we didn’t have the funds or ability to use expensive studios, so we had to make do,” says Moonhead.
That do-it-yourself grit is already getting noticed. Loudwire named ‘DYAD’ one of the most anticipated progressive rock and metal albums of 2026. Five singles are already out. The band is also releasing the album differently on Spotify, adding one track a month so the full record arrives there over the next year.
‘DYAD’ carries love on both sides: the epic and the simple, the screaming and the hug. Three years after they started, Studenberg and Moonhead have found what their own lyrics promised, and the only way out was through.
‘DYAD’ Track Listing
DYAD I
“Spoiled Leaves”
“Callous”
“Fever Dream”
“Walk On Water”
“Sigil”
“Here’s to the Lonely”
“Past”
DYAD II
“Lie”
“Golden Brown”
“Seven Winters”
“Incurable”
“A Mare’s Nest”
“Glory”
“Slipping Away From Me”
“Happiness”
“What I Want”
“Use”
ABOUT TROPE
Trope is an alternative progressive rock band. Their debut album charted at #1 on rock radio in Bulgaria where they were invited to perform live on Breakfast Television. The album was engineered by Mike Fraser, mixed by David Bottrill and mastered by Ted Jensen.
Trope have opened up for Sevendust at Summerfest, toured all across North America and Europe supporting bands including HAKEN, The Pineapple Thief feat Gavin Harrison, Soen, Kings X and Symphony X.
They have headlined several festivals in Eastern Europe and have shared stages while based in LA with Mike Mangan, Nuno Bettencourt, Randy Cooke and opened up for comedians Bryan Callen, Iliza Shlesinger and Harland Williams.
Their upcoming double album DYAD was in Loudwire’s ‘Top 11 Prog Rock and Prog Metal Most Anticipated Albums of 2026’ and drops November 6, 2026. Trope have welcomed Nic Ross on drums and Andrew Taylor on bass in late 2026 with extensive touring expected in 2027 and beyond.
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