From their record label's website, "Founded in 2013 in Tampere Finland, this Nordic duo blends their Melodic Death Metal with 1970's synthesizer and Prog Rock experimentation. Throughout the music of CORAXO travels the singular vision of a science fiction story of an alternative reality where a conscious nanomachine race has conquered the Earth. The songs tell tales about this dystopian society." The album contains six songs.

"A Star Broken" is the first. It's an odd sound...heavy on the bottom end, but the vocals are ethereal. The smooth saxophone notes add to the strange sound. I have to admit that I am a bit intrigued here. "Abyss" is a slow offering of meaty bass notes below a steady riff. The mood is very solemn, while piano notes play in the background. Those sax notes again...at times the song sound somewhat connected to what is going on in the world, and other times it sounds out there...I suppose the title is indicative of that.

"Black and Void" is a very short song once again indicative of the mood on the album. Strange sounds abound in the background while the foregrounds sounds almost empty. "Dance of Shiva" is as strange as the title suggests. Sultry bass guitar and saxophone notes mark the beginning, and your day settles into a slow-moving groove. The riff drops and suddenly the mood is much darker. The drums turn into machine guns as the riff darkens again. "The Cartographer" begins with a more linear sound of thumping bass notes and some sprinkled in leads which are marked with echoes. Though more straightforward and heavy, try to come up with a genre classification here...it will leave you grasping.

"Wolves of Valhalla" closes the album. It's a weird and dreamy sort of sound, again with those silky sax notes, and the second song with at least a little vocals. It makes you feel like you are just floating through your daily routine, with a mark of darkness hanging over you. Chalk this album up for one of the stranger albums I have heard this year. I love bands that think outside the box, but this pushes that envelope perhaps a bit too far. There is no central theme, and maybe that is by design? I am not sure, but this is too weird for most people, in my opinion.Purchase Link:

https://coraxo.bandcamp.com/