Brainchild of Bulgarian artist Ivan Shishkov, BRAINMAZE brings a high-powered, emotional, and intensity heavily in its first album called, When Your Demons Come. Not merely heavy music, this album is an intimate trip to the roots of the human mind.
The songs are grind, crunchy and unadorned that only bass guitar was used in writing. Then, there is Shishkov who plays his instrument as a voice, a voice filled with pain, fear and the need to maintain sanity. The album begins with the song, Fear, a strong song with screaming guitars, thundering drums and the lyrics, which speak of being all-alone with your thoughts and when everyone turns off the noise, fear sets in.
Other songs such as “Spite” and “Despite” continue with the dark energy. Spite brings some angry power with the lyrics full of anger and revenge, and Despite offers a little variety with some nice drum rolls and progressing sound. All the songs are having equal impact in terms of emotion, as they do not gloss dark side of life, they tackle it very directly.
On songs such as “Uncertainty”, and Envy the emotionalism is far stretched into musical lines. The groize core has a very firm grasp over the tempo of the album.
Ivan might have begun this as a one-man project, but he attracted phenomenal musicians across the world to make this seen to life. The vocals were recorded in the UK, the guitars are performed by Venezuelan and Argentinean performers, the drums are fulfilled by the performer of Ecuador, and the production talent is provided by Ukraine and the USA, so this is a worldwide project.
Every song is loud, emotional and honest. Only the truth about fear, anger, and the mental battles many deal with but mostly keep secret, is presented in When Your Demons Come. It is directed to all those people who felt overwhelmed by the thoughts in their mind. There is something real about Ivan Shishkov and that is what makes it strong.
