BRAINMAZE’s ‘When Your Demons Come’ is a ferocious exorcism of the self
‘When Your Demons Come’ by BRAINMAZE has arrived, staring straight out of the void while baring its teeth. Helmed by Bulgarian musician and photographer Ivan Shishkov, this long-awaited debut is no casual headbang session, it’s a decade-long odyssey into the depths of the human psyche.
What makes this record so exceptional is the molten aggression and the vulnerability lurking beneath every downstroke. Shishkov wrote each track on his trusty bass, the instrument that clearly acts as his confessor and confidant. Every low-end growl feels like a heartbeat echoing through a dark corridor of the mind.
From the very first moments, it’s clear that ‘When Your Demons Come’ isn’t afraid to get messy. The album’s landscape feels alive with thick, snarling guitars courtesy of Ramon Martinez and German Maldonado that tear through the fog like a blade, while David Mendez’s live drums hit with the force of a collapsing cathedral, with vocalist Rob Davies and midi-drum player Fabian Carrion Troya rounding out the collaborative team.
There’s a visceral honesty running through the album, particularly in moments when the music pauses just long enough for you to hear your own breath, only to pull you back under with a new wave of distortion and fury.
Thematically, the album grapples with the monsters that slink into view when the noise of the outside world fades: fear, bitterness, existential dread. But rather than offering tidy resolutions or cliché anthems of triumph, Shishkov opts for a raw, ongoing dialogue. The lyrics, though often growled or roared, carry a surprisingly poetic weight, hinting at a man clawing at the walls of his own mind, seeking light in the static.
After a decade in the shadows, ‘When Your Demons Come’ feels like a triumphant emergence. It’s both an exorcism and a love letter to the genre, a testament to the cathartic power of metal when it’s stripped down to its purest form: honesty and volume.