Roaming the fringes of society are a loose conclave of shifty-eyed outliers who squarely hold that the Egyptian pyramids weren’t built by carbon-based slaves but by aliens from an advanced civilisation.
Astra Symmetry opens a portal through time, space and alternate realities into a world where such a communion could well exist. From the thrumming, Middle Eastern textures of Abyss to the pulsating dynamics of Mirrors, Switzerland’s Monkey3 have spun a transfixing, psychedelic tapestry of spiralling melodies and thick, pounding basslines that thud with primal ferocity.
Exploring the four elemental chapters of the zodiac wheel through druggy cosmic jams such as Endless Ocean and the Zeppelin-sized riffs of Moon and Dead Planet’s Eyes, Monkey3’s sixth LP thankfully avoids the excess of unfocused jamming, even while coming in at well over an hour. With its time-travelling sonic amalgam and dark and immersive undertow, Astra Symmetry is among the strongest psychedelic outings of the year.
