Over the last decade, Chicago quartet REZN have carved out a unique place in the landscape of heavy music, chiseling away at the crude formations of the topography, mining the most concentrated metallic ore from the dirt, and shaping it all into something monumental, imposing, and divine. While REZN has always fused seismic riffs with effortless beauty and grandeur, their shifting strategies for wielding that polarity have involved varied compositional and stylistic decisions, most notably the light-and-dark contrast of companion albums Solace (2023) and Burden (2024). But with their newest full-length offering, Cycles in the Infinite Dream, REZN masterfully harness the oppressive weight of their full sonic armory to celestial melodies and sublime synesthesia-inducing atmospherics in a manner so seamless it feels otherworldly, as if occupying a liminal space between two realities.
While REZN traffic in the unbridled realms of metal and untethered reaches of psychedelia, their latest release showcases a band working with discipline and intention, even when those intentions are rendered to be purposefully cryptic. As the album title implies, Cycles in the Infinite Dream explores the nexus of our waking and nocturnal worlds. “We moved towards the dream and subconscious state as a lyrical concept and melodic theme,” the band explains. “The pseudo-waking state is a reflection of a second existence—something that you can flee to or be imprisoned by.” Much like the subconscious-guided work of David Lynch, Cycles in the Infinite Dream exists as parallax between the artist and the audience, creating an obscured and distorted space that is both familiar and alien, like a corridor into our past where we recognize our surroundings but somehow still feel lost within its warped geometry.
REZN have long operated—and thrived—in the subterranean realm of music heads who crave the aural equivalent of altered states. And with Cycles in the Infinite Dream, they have created their most psychotropic work to date.
- Written by Brian Cook
Mute Duo
Chicago’s Mute Duo is Skyler Rowe (drums/percussion) and Sam Wagster (pedal steel). Building on simple, composed melodies, Mute Duo explores an atmosphere ranging from sparse chimes to pummeling drone with a free, rhythmic fluidity and minimal electronic textures. In 2018, they opened for Ryley Walker on a three week tour that took them to Canada, down the east coast and through the southeast. Their second LP, ‘Lapse in Passage,’ was released by American Dreams Records in 2020, followed by ‘Migrant Flocks’ which came out in the spring of 2023. The duo frequently plays with special guests and recently released the cassette,’5amSky,’ featuring a live collaboration (with Mathew Lux, Andrew Scott Young, and Chelsea Bridge) on Astral Editions.
Crush The Monster
𝕮𝖗𝖚𝖘𝖍 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 is a band from Boise, Idaho. We are a close group of friends that likes to explore new depths of our musicianship and what it means to be a human. Currently we are working on recording our second album, which has been a really fun and rewarding process for all of us so far. That being said, we hope you have a great time listening to our music and that all is well in your mind, body, and soul. Much love – CTM
