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The consistency within Nucleus Torn - the experimental brainchild of Switzerland multi-instrumentalist Fredy Schnyder - is such that nothing is predictable. Once dubbed as folk metal, the collective have changed things up so drastically that Andromeda Waiting, the final release in a trilogy, all but demands new genres. Let's just call this avant-garde neo-classicism - it's like date night at the Medieval Manor Theatre. Nothing remotely echoes the heaviness that dotted predecessors Nihil and Knell, and neither is there the continuous sonic jumping around. Yet tracks are again identified by Roman numerals, VI of them this time. Schnyder has been mum on what it all means, and though theories abound about apocalyptic undertones and awakenings via deathly arrival, he's not offering hints via anything as expendable as song titles. Patrick Schaad and Maria D'Alessandro handle the bulk of the vocals, which are moving and understated, melding well with the low-key but ambitious work of woodwinds and strings that sound like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra sitting around a fire in the Middle Ages having just broken out the mandolins - but not before gobbling a bunch of Xanax.
