Aynsophar – Abysmal Secrets of Unknown (Too True)
I’m trying to think how I can best introduce this one without giving attention to the obvious. Okay let me just say it then. Aynsophar is the brainchild of Barbara Teleki, Hungarian-born guitar master and instrumentalist extreme. Yes, that’s right, she’s a woman. I mention this for only one reason. Far too often does one find in metal men getting way too excited for the fact that a woman, or multiple women, are in metal bands. It often clouds their judgement entirely. Though I would say this has never happened to me, I make damn sure I never look at a band before I listen to the submission. This way, I’m totally neutral in how I perceive it. What comes with that is the reality that there are two main types of metal musicians out there, and a third rare type. The first can play like a god, the second is so creative they must be a demiurge, and the third is a combination of the other two. Think of them like a demigod, a mix of the divine and the human, meaning they are accessible yet creative at the same time. I usually never see this, and unfortunately we’re dealing with the first type in Abysmal Secrets of Unknown.
I’m tempted to just call this “abysmal” to poke at the title, but it’s not to that level, though it almost gets there. Though I’m sure Teleki has to occasionally deal with idiot fans screaming “marry me!” at the top of their beer-tainted, smoke-smothered, whimpering-man-child lungs, no worries here. As a musician, let me be clear here, Teleki is awesome. Her drum programming and her mastery of the bass (all but one track) and guitar gives one an entire graduate degree in metal. Actually make that an MA and PhD in one sitting. Her fingers fly over the frets perfectly, never missing a note, her pick skills would tear the sinews off of an ordinary forearm, the drums are totally organic, and her warping is almost impossible to comprehend to us mere worms. Hell, she even did the artwork! But, back to the music, the problem is Abysmal Secrets of Unknown fails because it offers little to no creative edge. Teleki spends so much time wowing with her skills it seems she forgot to actually write music. It ends up simply a showcase of her technical talents, perhaps in an effort to make her presence known immediately before she releases something beyond this EP. “I am here!” she says. I’m not saying to let the menfolk know she’s here, but to let the metal world know she’s serious, and not necessarily as a woman, but as a musician. She’s not going to get there, however, until she can prove she can write. Her playing is beyond perhaps even the legendary Great Kat, and she’s far more listenable, but if she’s not careful with her tendency to focus on skill, she’s going nowhere. I’m hoping, I really am, and I expect with Aynsophar’s next release we’re either going to see the same, or that plus some actual hooks, which I will then accept as the Second Coming.
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Aynsophar: Abysmal Secrets of Unknown
Self-Released
3 / 5
