From the brutal to the sludgy to the experimental to the symphonic, we raise our horns in welcome and warning to the coming week: we are here to ROCK.
Technically, Andromeda Anarchia’s Dark Matters EP is some kind of experimental jazz excursion. But, heavy is as heavy does. And with “Demons on the Wall,” what heavy does is to twist common metal language about fallen angels and hellfire into a progressive panorama of the interior of a terrified mind.
The track is a slow builder, the musical intensity carefully matched to each section’s lyrical descriptions of…well, demons on the wall. This is tentative and even pretty at first, but takes a left-of-left turn with a carnival-haunting demon’s giggling of call menu options that include pi, the golden ratio, and yes, the number of the beast itself. As the mood erupts in existential torrent, so too does the band. Anarchia accomplishes all this without a guitar, employing just drums, bass, piano, vocals, and a bit of atmosphere. Do not listen in the dark—you might hear something you didn’t realize was behind you.