EIGENSTATE ZERO is a One-Man Progressive Death Metal band that hails from Sweden. The new album has seven songs, and “A Peculiar Void” is first. Out of the gate, it seems to be a twisted amalgamation of Death Metal and Progressive Metal, with some touches of melody, although much of the landscape remains dissonant. Christian also mixes in some other sounds to round out the background, including electronica, and the guitars move to and fro, keeping the listener in their toes, because you don’t know what might be around the corner. “Pandemagogue” is a slower grind, and the Death Metal elements take center stage. Christian paints a picture of death, destruction, and hopelessness. The clean vocal passages bring a bit of strange to the table however, and the In between game is pretty imaginative. He pulls more stuff out of his magic hat than most composers.

“The Tellurian Yoke” is the first song not in fire out of the gate, but the fuse was just delayed a bit. It roars forward with a groovy sort of riff and harsh vocals that emote at times. Again, the clean vocal passages are just a little odd…they almost sound like cheeky circus music to me, and the ever shifting of the riffs is akin to flying down a country road with the top off in your convertible, dogging potholes, people, and wildlife. “Fearestrial” is another song where you feel the wheels might come off at any time because it is so loose and explorative, but someone, he manages to maintain control. “Trope Controller” has a nice balance between clean and harsh passages, but again, the clean ones are just weird. He opens up some of the melodic passages however to gain some real catchy melodies this time.

“Dark Entity Seal” is another song where he barely maintains control over everything, yet somehow he is able to follow his composition with a steadfast vision. There are even some jazzy passages here, and he reaches deep into his bag to pull these out. “Psychrocacy” closes the album, and the opening piano and bass notes hint at a talented composer. But here are the odd clean passages again. I’m not sure I would remove them because they balance out the album’s chaos, but they take away from my enjoyment of the album somewhat. Overall, the album borders on madness, and the inner workings of the mind of a single composer.  For me, the album was like a caged tiger in the zoo who is let free only to perform in front of an audience. Make no mistake, control of him is an illusion however, because he could strike you dead with just a few swipes of his massive paws and sharp teeth.