BEYOND THE BLACK SKY

Perhaps more aptly labeled as heavy instrumental rock with psychedelic tendencies, Monkey3's third album essentially pieces together various hard rock riffs with some electronic sounds spiraling in and out intermittently. These eight instrumentals are not very memorable, but I suspect they're not supposed to be. I feel like there's a lack of compositional creativity here, with most of the pieces amounting to well-crafted jams.

"Camhell" Alternating between sedated, bass-led thudding to overpowering, monstrous rock, the opener is equal parts sleepiness and psychosis.

"One Zero Zero One" Melodic bass paired alongside toms introduces a moderate piece of rock music that features harmonic lead guitars.

"Black Maiden" "Black Maiden" enjoys a series of gradual builds, initially with heavy percussions and light guitar. There is again a repetitive but melodic bass providing the hypnotic foundation. Occasional bursts of energy pierce through.

"Tuco the Ugly" A light interlude, this piece has a repetitive acoustic rhythm backing sporadic guitar string bends.

"K.I." A second short piece, this one is vastly different from what came before: A positive onslaught of raging guitars and drums that pummel the listener into submission.

"Motorcycle Broer" Alternating power chords jump back and forth, giving way to a simple, lighter rhythm. It eventually erupts in a squealing lead guitar display.

"Gate 57" This moderate rock opus features a pleasing electric guitar phrase at the end.

"Through the Desert" The final piece initially makes me think of being alone in a cold desert. It eventually adopts a monotonous rhythm guitar with light synthesizer tones howling over it. All that stops to bring in a thrash-like, less hypnotic rendering. It is an extremely repetitive piece that differs in dynamics only.