Poly-Math – ‘House Of Wisdom / We Are The Devil’ (Album Review)
My God. There’s ambitious, and then there’s this, the latest instru-mental prog offering from underground stalwarts Poly-Math. House Of Wisdom | We Are The Devil is a double concept album that sprawls over a totally rammed hour and ten minutes.
It also happens to be inspired by the 1258 Siege of Baghdad, and the concurrent destruction of the famous city’s Houses of Wisdom. If you fancy getting stuck into the story, you can get started here.
“Poly-Math have managed to work out a style and sound that feels distinctive, and gets explored in great detail”
As for this album itself, it’s about as chaotic as the siege and city-sacking that inspired it. Its multi-layered complexity demands that you listen to it through headphones, spending plenty of time and multiple listens digesting it in its entirety. Drawing on decades of past prog pioneers from King Crimson and Yes through to The Mars Volta, Mastodon, and Russian Circles, Poly-Math have managed to work out a style and sound that feels distinctive, and gets explored in great detail here.
House Of Wisdom | We Are The Devil is a seething mass of angular guitar parts, bestial drums, unpredictable basslines, freakish soloing, and extremely tasty harmonic structures. When breathing spaces do open up, they still tend to be discomforting – and when Poly-Math get heavier, they remain tight and in control. It’s obvious that a metric fuck-ton of time and energy has been invested in making this album as good as it could possibly be.
Had a work of art like this been stored in the original Houses Of Wisdom, the invading Mongols would have thrown it in the river. In 2018, the Internet is our new house of wisdom (not to mention Trump tweets, cat videos, and porn), and so we can rest assured that House Of Wisdom | We Are The Devil will remain accessible for centuries to come. Seek it out as soon as you can, be awed, and rejoice.
LTK RATING: 90%
Pre-order House Of Wisdom | We Are The Devil on Bandcamp.
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