Like most Novembers, this month has felt like a constant descent through increasingly warped layers of an inescapable nightmare. We used to tell ourselves that a tiny group of people controlling the global arc was conspiracy theory, but at this point, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
Is it even possible to break the cycles of madness projected onto us? Yes. With enough volume, we still believe it can happen, which is one of the many reasons we’re stoked to premier this little instrumental suite from At Home With Monsters.
AHWM has always been bursting with feral energy, and over the years it even feels like the project has gotten heavier. Both parts of “Ex Animo” feel more driven than ever to making significant sonic impact – it’s not grind, it’s not slam, it’s not prog, and it’s not math rock, but it definitely has splashes of each.
That unforgiving swing on the first thirty seconds of the second one gets us every time. It reminds us of the bouncy brutality you really only hear with bands like Mr. Bungle and System of a Down, but tweaked in a way that’s hard to describe. It still has the fast and progressive edge that AHWM is known for, just having a little more fun. As a treat.
Fun Fact, this is of course an instrumental suite in the current context, but we have a strong suspicion it’s going to receive a vocal counterpart. We may or may not have already heard part of it. AWHM has worked with Jason Sherman (Circuit of Suns and Mateo Aguiar for vocals before so it’s anyone’s guess who might be assisting, if anyone, but we’ll have to wait and see, and we’ll definitely keep you posted.
(Thanks for reading! If you’re looking for more music, check out our Bandcamp compilations here. If you like us, or possibly even love us, donations are always appreciated at the Buy Me A Coffee page here, but if you’re in a generous mood you can also donate to folks like Doctors Without Borders, the PCRF, Charity Water, Kindness Ranch, One Tail at A Time, Canopy Cat Rescue, or Best Friends Animal Sanctuary that could probably use it more – click on their names above to check ‘em out if you’re so inclined. Thanks again!)