French-Tunisian multidisciplinary artist Haifa Melliti channels raw intuition into breathtaking piano architecture on her stunning neoclassical album, "Mélodie de la Déesse". I find her approach fascinating. In an era where so many ambient instrumental records lean heavily into cautious, sparse minimalism, Melliti offers a deluge. Her music serves as a spiritual sanctuary honoring the sacred feminine, yet she completely refuses to equate tranquility with...

North Star Union has released "Echoes of decay", a slice of melodic heavy metal that feels less like a standard studio tracking and more like something dug out of the permafrost. There is a curious quality to Icelandic composer Myrmann’s work here; because he handles all the instrumentation and composition himself at Midgard Studio, the track possesses a singular, frighteningly cohesive nervous system. It...