Systemic

Australian duo (guitarist/saxophonist and drummer ) make instrumental music with the intention of protesting against colonialism and white supremacy, acknowledging ancestors whose land and culture were stolen, and encouraging people to fight for Black and Indigenous liberation. Their music alternates between punishingly loud, sludgy doom metal and beautifully haunting neo-classical passages, equally mesmerizing and cathartic. The duo worked with producer ( ) on their third album, 2021's , and opened for on their 2022 tour, shortly before 's death. While sound significantly different than , both groups share a similar persistence of vision and devotion to remaining hopeful in a chaotic, unjust world, and they made fitting tourmates. is 's second album with , building on the foundation of the already powerful to create an even more resounding statement. Following "Want," a brief, intriguing intro that sounds like tape loops of a vintage organ, 's multi-tracked, atmospheric saxophone buffers the disarming bad-trip sludge of "Blood Quantum," providing at least a ground layer of comfort in a period of heavy anguish. "Simulacra" starts out with a righteous riff and clobbering drums, quickly piling up and getting more destructive and unhinged until everything combusts, then reaches a slow, unsuspended state that feels like dizzily floating miles above the Earth's surface. "Reproach" applies a similar sort of hardcore ferocity to a funereal dirge-metal crawl. "Indignation" begins with solemn saxophones, bringing to mind 's majestic, otherworldly darkwave moments, then crushes unbelievably hard when the guitar and drums burst in before returning the mournful orchestration to the forefront at the end. , who has contributed poetic spoken-word text to most of 's previous releases, returns on "Kingdom of Fear," a vulnerable plea for acknowledgement and acceptance. On final piece "Desire," 's cascading saxophone arrangements seem to transform into an entire chamber ensemble, providing a heavenly coda to an album filled with intense emotional contrasts. More dynamic and sonically defined than 's earlier albums, is easily their most successful work thus far. ~ Paul Simpson