AXIOMA is a four-piece band from the abscesses of Cleveland, Ohio that describes themselves as "sonic nihilists", a title that is very aptly earned on its debut full-length album "Crown". Whether you are a fan of Death Metal, Black Metal, and any of the Atmospheric genres of Metal, there is much here that is satisfying for the listener. Where most of its contemporaries play heavy, down-tuned music for the sake of sounding "brutal, bro", the listener is taken on a journey in the movie theatre of the mind. It's a dark, brooding journey that gravitates between anger, rage, fear, and the depths of the depravity of the human condition.

"Crown" opens with the blast-beats of "Sacred Killing Machine", and just as the listener is being pulverized with the first half of the song, the band pulls back into a slow-paced Doom Metal break in the middle. It's not an easy task to pigeon-hole AXIOMA into one genre. They borrow from more than a few genres of Extreme Metal to create its own sound. There is even a smattering of Noise Metal that can be found within some of the tracks, but the overall result is that the listener isn't sure about what is going to come up next. Much like a well done horror movie, you're never quite sure what is about to happen and who is going to survive the whole length of the story.

The subject matter of each song offers a critical view towards religion and the hypocrisies that can be found within it. When digging into the lyrics, the listener almost gets the feel that they are listening to a concept album similar to "Dark Side of the Moon", where each song stands on its own merit, but the way that the songs flow into each other tells a story that leaves one asking themselves the tough questions about what these songs mean to the listener and what the answers mean. Even the MASSIVE ATTACK cover of "Angel" fits in succinctly here and it explores the theme of lust and seduction.

Often within the genre of Extreme Metal, the sound of each instrument is buried under a wall of mush and the vocals are that notorious screech where there's hardly articulation of anything being sung or screamed. However, Dave Johnson of Bad Back Studios did an amazing job of capturing the maelstrom that is AXIOMA's sound. With a proper set of headphones or playing it over car speakers, the listener can hear each instrument clearly and focus on the vocals without having to strain one's ears. "Crown" is an unsettling album to listen to from start to finish, and this reviewer means that as a compliment. And yes, as always, BUY THIS ALBUM!!!