Let’s talk about ambition; the sleepless, soul-dredging kind. The kind that doesn’t come with a podcast sponsorship or an Instagram-ready quote. I’m talking about the real thing: the 3 a.m. sessions, the coffee gone cold, the DAW staring back like a mirror you didn’t ask for. That’s the kind of ambition fueling BRAINMAZE, the self-titled concept album from Bulgarian bassist and emotional demolition expert Ivan Shishkov. This isn’t a casual listen. It’s a full-body purge wearing the skin of a progressive metal record.
BRAINMAZE isn’t just the album’s name; it’s the name of the project, the mindset, the mission. A psychological labyrinth built by one person with enough drive to bend an entire genre to his will. Every part of this thing, from the music and lyrics to the artwork, the photography, the production, and the financing; all of it is the work of Shishkov alone. He didn’t just make a record; he created an entire reality. One built on personal hell, international Dropbox folders, and a refusal to let go until every sound hit exactly where it needed to. DIY? No. This is DIY with teeth.
The concept behind BRAINMAZE is as bold as its construction. Eleven tracks, each named for a different emotional state or mental torment; Fear, Spite, Despair, Hatred, and so on, all leading to the final track, ominously titled …, because some thoughts you just don’t finish. It’s a narrative album in the best sense, where every moment feels deliberate, like the soundtrack to a spiral. The musical landscape moves between brutal riffs and eerie calm, creating a tension that never resolves. This isn’t metal built to mosh; it’s metal built to reckon with.
What keeps it all from collapsing under its own emotional weight is Shishkov’s clarity of vision. His bass work is the glue, always present, always precise, never flashy for the sake of it. Whether it’s the creeping dread of Disillusion or the unhinged chaos of Insanity, he builds a sonic foundation that feels less like accompaniment and more like emotional scaffolding. You don’t listen to this album so much as live inside it for 40 minutes and come out blinking.
Despite pulling in musicians from across the UK, Argentina, Venezuela, Ukraine, Ecuador, and the U.S., the album feels shockingly unified. These aren’t guest spots; they’re extensions of Shishkov’s psyche, summoned like demons to do their part in the exorcism. It would’ve been easy for this to sound disjointed, but instead it feels like the inevitable result of one person’s uncompromising emotional roadmap.
Production-wise, it’s a minor miracle. There’s no gloss here, no shiny studio polish to dull the edges. This sounds like it was made in a bunker powered by spite and sheer will. But that’s the point. It’s textured. Gritty. Raw in the way freshly skinned knees are raw. You hear the process in the music; the wrestling match between what you feel and how to sonically express it.
And that last track? …? It’s the perfect closer, not because it wraps things up, but because it doesn’t. It lingers. It admits that some questions don’t have answers and some demons don’t leave. They just get quieter. Or louder. Or weirder.
In a metal scene currently stuck between sterile arena-core and reverb-drenched nihilism, BRAINMAZE offers something rare: honesty. Ugly, jagged, ferociously human honesty. Shishkov isn’t here to posture. He’s here to survive. And he’s letting you listen while he does it.
BRAINMAZE isn’t just an album; it’s a document of someone refusing to give up, even when it’d probably be easier to shut down and disappear. It’s ambitious, yes. But more importantly, it’s real. And in a genre that often mistakes loud for meaningful, that’s what makes this one hit different. This may be Shishkov’s first full-length under the BRAINMAZE name, but if this is what his internal monologue sounds like, then whatever’s next is absolutely worth the noise.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
