Monkey3 album review – Astra Symmetry

Celestial psychedelia from Monkey3, on the outer fringes of Switzerland. Read our album review here

Monkey3 album cover

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Roaming the fringes of society are a loose conclave of shifty-eyed outliers who squarely hold that the Egyptian pyramids weren’t built by carbon-based slaves but by aliens from an advanced civilisation.

Astra Symmetry opens a portal through time, space and alternate realities into a world where such a communion could well exist. From the thrumming, Middle Eastern textures of Abyss to the pulsating dynamics of Mirrors, Switzerland’s Monkey3 have spun a transfixing, psychedelic tapestry of spiralling melodies and thick, pounding basslines that thud with primal ferocity.

Exploring the four elemental chapters of the zodiac wheel through druggy cosmic jams such as Endless Ocean and the Zeppelin-sized riffs of Moon and Dead Planet’s Eyes, Monkey3’s sixth LP thankfully avoids the excess of unfocused jamming, even while coming in at well over an hour. With its time-travelling sonic amalgam and dark and immersive undertow, Astra Symmetry is among the strongest psychedelic outings of the year.

Joe Daly

Hailing from San Diego, California, Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist with over thirty years experience. Since 2010, Joe has been a regular contributor for Metal Hammer, penning cover features, news stories, album reviews and other content. Joe also writes for Classic Rock, Bass Player, Men’s Health and Outburn magazines. He has served as Music Editor for several online outlets and he has been a contributor for SPIN, the BBC and a frequent guest on several podcasts. When he’s not serenading his neighbours with black metal, Joe enjoys playing hockey, beating on his bass and fawning over his dogs.