Flame of Life makes a compelling return with the frenetic and radical "Magna"

The artistic signature on Magna by the indie band Flame of Life asks a profound question: Is there beauty in chaos? This body of work pursues singularity by untamed experimentation. There's an otherworldly intrigue to these compositions, lasting over an hour, its idiosyncratic compositions bending and morphing every second. This is perhaps symmetrical to modernist art---letting listeners be the judge as they experience the creations, diverging strongly from the mainstream allure of pleasing large audiences or achieving quick virality.

Magna aims for greater standards. Marking its inception in 2021, when some of the initial tracks were crafted, it was a few years later when the band struck inspiration in the unlikeliest of places: On the harsh terrains of the vast Colorado desert and its sparse but interesting wildlife. The sights of the barren but intricate region stuck with them and greatly influenced them while composing the rest of the tracks. Upon mindful listening, the crude, jarring, but thoughtfully constructed features of the album's contents are perhaps synonymous with the unforgiving expanse of land.

Visiting their Spotify might offer the false presumption that Flame of Life is a nascent project. Far from it, as the band has paid more emphasis on indie music-focused platforms like Bandcamp and YouTube. Forming in 2015, the band shifted its base from Belarus to the United States due to geopolitical tensions, flourishing from the musical epicenter of New York. They claim to be the frontliners of the highly DIY minded 'Lazer' genre, stating their sonic resemblance to varied underground acts like Emma Peal, Street Sects and more.

Their newest album straddles the fine line between avant-garde and eccentricity. Remarkably, the compositional approach is such that the adjacent tracks seem to blend into one another, yet are distinctive enough to have their own title. For instance, the four-minute inauguration "Voremare" functions on discordant guitars and jutting, hard-hit bass notes amidst other oddities. An echoing vocal joins the fray, another peculiar nuance that remains constant throughout. "Cavaral" adamantly utilizes more or less the same instruments, bundled with dramatic tom hits and linear droning in the background.

Instrumental dynamics metamorphose over the course of this LP, introducing a constant slew of changes without veering far away from its industrial soundscapes. "Aeves" is fuzzy due to its grunge-heavy guitar accompaniment, tonally overwhelming at moments. The wild barrage of bass notes and ricocheting vocals on "Tou Amael" is psychedelic to experience. Winding down, there are other noteworthy efforts: "Seafi Mar Atlaimt" stretches over 500 seconds, bearing all the elements featured prior in an unpredictable pace. In what feels like a trippy fever dream, "Noemai" adamantly sticks to the experimenting till the last minute, alternating between abrupt transitions and a motley of rough-hewn textures, an unlikely conjugation that turns into a memorable finisher.

Know more about Flame of Life and browse their discography on Bandcamp and YouTube.