Minipony // Ajna // Album Review

I hold my hands up here and say right off the bat that I had never heard of Minipony before nor listened to a whole lot of experimental metal until this little gem landed in my inbox, so I had no idea of what to expect, needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard.

After the initial track “.”, which is a just a blend of noises, comes the first full-on track, “Irresponsible”, this is an absolute banger with a bombastic bass line, crashing drums and Emilia Moncayo stretching her vocal cords to the limit as she growls and screeches her way through the track. Lead single “Kill Like A Human” follows hot on its heels and if you thought the last track was a showstopper this one will leave you drooling; a kicking beat sets the tone of the track, backed up by sharp riffs and a thumping bass while Moncayo manages to control the pace of the song with her killer vocals, this for me is one of the best songs on the album, a really well put together track.

On “Quaggas” they manage to change things up a little by blending a strange groovy beat with their brand of brute force to take you on one hell of a trip. “Filippos Lullaby” is set to a backdrop of buzzing bass and slowly laboured growled vocals from Moncayo, the track rarely picks up in tempo but as the title suggests it lulls you into a hypnotic kind of trance, a strange but intriguing number. “Breathe” is a scattered mix of brutally heavy grinding riffs and some techno sampling with a touch of SOAD lyrically, a little bit different. “..” gives you a little break in the form of some very odd sniffling and breathing before “Song For Fiona” comes thundering in with a massive drum and bass beat that drives the track, ably assisted by possibly Moncayo’s strongest vocal performance on the album, the hypnotic beat throughout is relentless and it draws you in, a killer track. “Don 18” takes some time to get to the meat of the track but when it does holy shit it takes off,  Moncayo’s vocals and sampling battle with a monstrous drum beat and rumbling bass trying to see which can come out on top, spoiler alert neither do, as the track comes to a close with a big crescendo. “Shadow” shows the doomier side of the band, heavy bass and riffs with guttural vocals adding to the heaviness, the track closes with a mixed vibe of melodic guitars and pounding drums as Moncayo vocalises quietly in the the background. The slow breather “…” paves the way for the final and title track “Ajna”, a techno sort of opening that makes way for a brutal death style with some savage vocals, the drums for me are the mainstay of the track with a monster pulsating beat that simply mesmerises you.

Not knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised by the sonic assault, really well put together and had a killer crisp sound, the only downside was the three “.” tracks that for me were just over my pretty little head. 

“Ajna” is out on the 24th of June via Subsound Records and is well worth a listen

Review: Conor.