THEMES have a grandiose sense of musical scope. These Anthemic Sound-Smiths have laid a respectable claim to the sonic stomping grounds they call home. They create a fractured form of Post Rock that is unspeakably dark, with a haunting, smoky collection of slow-paced torch burners that swallow listeners whole.

Ayanami is a rock band from Chicago, IL, promoting the release of their new LP, Heliotrope – A ten-song LP, drenched in fuzzy guitars, eminently singable choruses, and thundering drums. According to the band, the record is as much a love letter to 70s guitar hero theatrics and the alternative rock of the 80s and 90s as it is a reaction to a perceived narrowing in the world of guitar-based music, where polar opposites dominate and divide music fans. “We don’t want to be the precious indie rock band, or the angry-all-the-time metal band. We think there’s underused space in-between the two,” says frontman Jason Gallagher.  Ayanami is a band determined to make a bold statement – there’s still a place for music that sounds unapologetically huge.