By Sage Spirk, Contributor

[Born Losers; 2025]

Rating: 5/10

Key Tracks: “The Maiden,” “Lady of the Cosmos,” “Kanda”

The Sound of Animals Fighting has returned with their first full-length studio album since 2008, releasing The Maiden on Sept. 12 via Born Losers Records. The band stays true to their established experimental prog-rock sound for 11 tracks with some highs, some lows and some songs that fall in between. 

Read more: Album Review: Faetooth – Labyrinthine 

Let’s dive into the title track. “The Maiden” is a powerful opener that solidifies much of the imagery featured throughout the album. Vocalist Anthony Green’s voice is both hauntingly melodic and sharp. Throughout the lyrics, the theme of a “maiden” is established: “Maiden Rose hips/ Welts across my face/ Vandalism is spiritual.” The track is lyrically and sonically strong; as the tempo picks up the pace, the guitar creates a sense of anxiety and tension that is soothed by Green’s voice and the repeating lyrics of, “Let the mother come now maiden/ Let the mother come down maiden.” These concrete images of a mother, perfume and love that are all mentioned throughout the song solidify this central image of “The Maiden.”

This theme is further established in songs like “Evil Sprites.” “Evil Sprites” is unique, as each verse is spoken to tell the story of a father, the mystical maiden and wizards. The long-winded song is reminiscent of a legend: detailed, disturbing, and mythical. Once again, we are greeted with the presence of the Maiden; “And my father drunk on shadows traded me to a man with cloven boots/ And a smile stitched from rot, he thought it was only bark/ He didn’t see the maiden standing behind the mill barefoot/ Looming and stupid with love.” While intriguing, the story is convoluted and its delivery is an acquired taste. However, the use of narrative storytelling is a bold and distinctive choice. 

“Lady of the Cosmos” opens with the line “Maiden, will thou follow through?” building upon this consistent theme. This track is the most instrumentally strong, with the guitar sounding almost jittery. While the song is compositionally solid, from this point, the album becomes less cohesive.

I’m not a fan of the rotating vocalists this album features. It doesn’t just use a lead vocalist with various minor backing vocalists, but instead alternates between five lead vocalists: Anthony Green, Rich Balling, Matt Embree, Mathew Kelly, and Keith Goodwin. While each voice is good in their own right, they contrast and, in my opinion, clash greatly. For an album that is centered around a cohesive theme, the voices do not follow suit. 

Leaving the worst for last, we have to talk about the elephant in the room: “The Horror.” While this album certainly has mysterious and foreboding lyrics, “The Horror” takes that a bit too deliberately. The chorus is a weird respiration of “Thinking about Nancy Drew/ Thinking about Nancy Drew/ Look at what Nancy drew,” a reference to the fictional and mystery franchise of Nancy Drew. The song attempts to execute a clever play on words with “Nancy Drew” and “Nancy drew,” but for an album decently ripe with complex lyrics, this falls short. It’s unfitting, weird and, frankly, unforgivable. 

I appreciate The Maiden and the story it tells. The lyricism is verbose and the instrumentation attests to how The Sound of Animals Fighting has honed their skills since their conception in 2004. However, the cohesion is lacking, and “The Horror” leaves an ugly mark on the tale they try to build throughout the album. That being said, I hope we see more experimentation and storytelling from The Sound of Animals Fighting in the near future.