The first album by Inner Child came out on September 18, 2026. Behind the name is Carlos Borges, a guitarist who wrote and built all the material around the playing of Matt Garstka — drummer of Animals as Leaders — and managed to convince him to play on the record. It’s instrumental djent, with rap on one track, written in the spirit of the era when guitarists made albums on their own, in rooms, with whatever means they had.
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive Metal, Djent (instrumental, with rap on one track)
For fans of: Animals as Leaders, Mestis, Plini, David Maxim Micic
The album
Seven tracks, a little over 36 minutes, all instrumental except for «Shadow Integration», where vocals and rap come in. Alongside Borges play Alek Darson on lead guitar, bass and keys and Garstka on drums, kalimba, shakers, rainstick and bongos. The guests include Ethan Cohen on violins, viola and cello, James Murphy on the drums of «Shadow Integration», Alex Kuular with throat singing on «Wonder» and Amin Mortada with a guitar solo on «Rescued». The cover was made by Alejandro Borges, Carlos’s father: a collage made by hand from images of his son’s childhood in Caracas.
- Solace (5:47)
- Foster (4:20)
- Guided Anger (5:35)
- Shadow Integration (3:33)
- Wonder (5:40)
- Rescued (5:22)
- Synergy (6:18)
Our take
The sound moves along familiar paths for anyone who listens to djent, but it doesn’t stay there. The tracks constantly open into new patterns: they move from calm, jazz chords to heavy riffs with the same ease, and Borges’s melodies carry his Venezuelan origins. The percussion and the throat singing add colour, while the orchestral passages fill the space without stepping on the music. The talking point is the production: the album deliberately keeps the colour of old bedroom demos, and the low end sometimes spreads over the drums. Some will see it as character, others as roughness — in any case, on a debut of this technical level, that isn’t what stays with you in the end.
The tracks that stand out: «Foster», «Guided Anger» and «Synergy».
Find them
- Spotify: Inner Child
- Instagram: @innerchild.sw
- Links: linktr.ee/innerchildsoundworks
See also: SUBMASQ – Spirit Animal | Fractal Sun – Divergent Paradox
Source: https://theprogressivesubway.com/2026/09/20/review-inner-child-inner-child/
