We often brand records as adventures on this site, and that’s a good description, if I might pat my own ass. Sometimes the music you’re hearing is more cinematic than most, or it makes you take a physical or mental journey that you didn’t expect, and that helps it stand apart from a lot of the other music we hear.

As for The Mosaic Window, a project helmed by vocalist/guitarist/bassist Andrew Steven Brown, their albums aren’t just a collection of songs, but conceptual pieces that stitch front to back. On the new record “Hemasanctum,” the entire human experience is detailed end to end over eight tracks and 42 minutes, the beginning exiting from the womb and the finale detailing eyes closing forever. Brown gets drum work from Gabe Seeber, and the legendary Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) adds solos to this record that is thought-provoking and punishing from a musical standpoint, but that puts a new perspective on existence, including parental relationships, life milestones, loss, mental issues, etc. The emotional certainly bubbles underneath this record, making it a heavy document no matter which way you consider it.

“Incantation to Summon the Unstable” opens with a child crying, the beginning of life, and that eeriness is gutted by guitars rampaging, roars smashing and adding savagery to the melody. The leads go off, the pace dusting brains, driving through mashing drums that end the track in chaos. “The Pounding of Hooves” is equally fiery, demonic howls picking apart your mental faculties, detached speaking sprawling, going into dramatic and horrifying corners. Guitars surge as throaty howls land blows, speed igniting as sung lines change the texture a bit, dashing into darkness. “Black Bethlehem” starts off on a folkish note, then black metal-style mania attacks, the leads increasing your heart rate, the pace heading into slower, still-punishing heaviness. Shrieks rain down as the path grows more vicious, guitars taking off and leaving you heaving in their exhaust. “Turibulum” absolutely soars, guitars blinding and melting, sounds flooding as the growls take a turn for the ugly. The pace trudges and pounds, the drums destroy, then a hazy bed of guitars creates an impenetrable fog that envelopes all.

“Ash Like Anvils” brings a flood of guitars and a melodic crush, and then things turn calculated, molten, and even a little bit dreamy. Doomy waters wash over the cracks in the surface as the pace picks up steam, rampaging into a snarling energy, driving into the void with relentless force. “Night Disease” has the leads swimming and then tingling, punchy and mucky rhythmic pulses thashing, everything eventually eroding into a gutting force. Growls boil as the guitars race, pained howls strike deep, and everything slips into a disarming echo dimension. “Shrouded in Pain” is the most emotionally urgent song of the bunch, one that tackles depression and its debilitating effects. Through chugs and howls, pleas are made for understanding, a helping hand, as the narrator identifies with the pain that cannot easily be soothed. The pace is stomping and impassioned, pulling its way through the thorns to a place where healing hopefully can begin. We opened the record with birth, and we end with death, “Hymn to Silence the Light” running 8:14 and easing in before erupting into fire. Melodic leads char as growls slash, speed becoming a bigger factor as we move along. The vibe grows wrenching and mournful, the final moments ticking away, cries grasping for solace, slowly burning into nothingness.

The Mosaic Window over two full-lengths have shown a much different approach to heavy music, one draped in humanity, and “Hemasanctum” continues along that same path. The journey through the beginning and end of life and everything sustained in between should be something any introspective listened can use to mine emotional gems while also being mentally and physically sustained by the metallic power packed into these songs. This is a record to which most people can relate, though if you’re just here to get wrecked, you won’t walk away disappointed.  

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Mosaic-Window-100094717845304/

To buy the album, go here: https://willowtip.com/bands/details/the-mosaic-window.aspx

For more on the label, go here: https://willowtip.com/home.aspx