You may not recognize her name if you don’t follow her solo work, but Leila Abdul-Rauf is an experienced metal musician. As singer and guitarist in the death metal band Vastum , and a nearly constant collaborator with other extreme and unconventional artists like Dream Unending , she’s something of a veteran on 20 Buck Spin. However, only now, with Andros Insidium , is she releasing her self-titled solo project on that label, and the change is more than symbolic. While she remains in the realms of experimental dark atmosphere -and keeps her signature trumpet- the music has taken a decidedly heavier turn as Leila raises the oppressive hum, shapes the orchestral elements into dissonant, strange patterns and incorporates wild, harsh vocals. And if the cover isn’t indicative enough, she seems to have something to say.
Andros Insidium is a kind of ritual, but allegorical. Leila uses the goddess Ishtar, and specifically her legendary descent into the underworld and her ascent from the underworld, as a means to explore the feminine nature in general. Mythology and ceremony serve as a framework to “exorcise” the demons of patriarchy and the feminine rage that enrages them. The anger peaks on the painful “Andros Insidium”, where Leila condemns “you” (man) to a chorus of ghostly half-sung chants, whispers and growls for continuous attack and torment of “her” (woman). Though superficially dissimilar, it strongly recalls a Lingua Ignota of the Caligula era with minimalist piano and cold narration that becomes screams. This is the first appearance of these gurgling, howling vocals on the album, and one of only two tracks that include them, with the other being closer to “Return to Anu”. The time preceding this release is full of tension, with the atmosphere flooding the soundscape without respite, as otherworldly passages and unsettling cleans pierce through it to the rhythm of ominous drums and tambourine – somewhat like an alternate-universe Swans , though at times it accidentally recalls Haunted Plasma (“Stripped Before the Eye of Death,” “Return to Anu”).
Andros Insidium aims to make its listener uncomfortable and it undeniably succeeds. Almost every element, from the ritual drum patterns, the strange melodies from synthesizer, trumpet and strings, and the omnipresent thousand-ton hum, unsettles you. The sound of the steel drums that open the album and return only on the last track immediately unsettles the listener. But it’s Leila‘s varied dramatic, baleful and cold -often multi-channel- vocals (“Stripped Before the Eye of Death,” “Fractured Body”) -and the lyrics they deliver- that drive those feelings of unease to full force. As a powerless witness (“Stripped…,” “A Requiem…”, prophetess (“Fractured Body,” “Return to Anu”) or divine judge (“Andros Insidium”), her accented tones give the sense of a haunted narrator. And the dissonance of the vocal lines themselves seems to emphasize their unwaveringly dark lyrical content more than more traditionally sorrowful melodies could. The sparse use of harsh vocals reinforces their ferocity, and their final appearance comes in a passage that mimics their first —with the same piano tritones and the same drum rhythm— reinforcing their importance both emotionally and musically. Overall, it may be a viscerally disturbing experience.
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However, Andros Insidium also has some groovy, even beautiful moments. “Eros Anima” focuses on a strangely catchy rhythm with the menagerie of percussion, trumpet and guitar, while “A Requiem for Ishtar” sees weeping strings accompanying angelic sopranos in a truly sorrowful lament, and the opening “Descent into Kur” consists mainly of harmonious, though ominous, synthesizer melodies. In the context of the whole, however, such instances are only slightly less unsettling than the dissonance and merely highlight those harsher, uglier moments. One could argue they make the music harder to listen to than if they were entirely absent, and the whole thing was dark and confrontational. Nothing here seems truly random or superfluous, especially when one treats it as it is — a story — and listens actively. But without devoting your full attention, some of the more internal aspects tend to throw you off awkwardly – the trumpets that announce and the male didgeridoo-like drones on «Senex Rule» or the unfolding of «Andros Insidium», for example.
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As with much avant-garde music, your ability to follow the journey of Andros Insidium will depend on your tolerance for strangeness and your willingness to feel uncomfortable. Performing her ritual of catharsis, Leila Abdul-Rauf indulges in no emotion other than her own – perhaps something that comes with extreme metal, but in this medium, the risk of alienation could be higher. Nevertheless, it’s an impressive work that deserves at least an open-minded exploration.
Rating: Good
Record label: 20 Buck Spin Websites: Bandcamp | Worldwide releases Facebook : April 17, 2026
