Melpomene forge an empathetic, emboldening story of transition on A Body Is A Suggestion, an album that reflects on the painful, sublime, and all things in between change.
Release date: August 8, 2025 | Fiadh Productions | Bandcamp
There’s not much to know about Melpomene and honestly, sometimes I’m okay with that. Let the music and scant descriptions on Bandcamp do the work. As someone that writes at least four (4) reviews a month, I appreciate that. Still, even with this paltry amount of history and explanation, there’s a lot to dig into with this band because the theme and purpose are huge.
Have you ever wanted to listen to an instrumental progressive death metal album with hints of jazz and large swaths of atmosphere about the emotional intricacies about being transgender? Well, then hit play on this MF and listen deeply. Melpomene bill themselves as ‘Twin Cities Emotional Post-Death‘ which is as poignant as it is true, and A Body Is A Suggestion as ‘a treatise on self actualization; ensconced in ceremonial body horror, lacquered in science-fantasy‘. Playing out over 35 minutes and some change is a journey and, as played out as that sounds, it’s one that’s capable of communicating the throes and bliss of living as a trans person today, not shying away from the more unfortunately brutal and downright violent aspects of it, but also reveling in the affirmation of living as one must, because there is no other way to be.
I want to be upfront that this is all interpreted and distilled by a queer but cis person, one that’s learned much over the last decade and grown with queer and trans friends in my life and by my side, people I’d legitimately die for, real fucking talk. I always appreciate queer-centered art in whatever form it takes, and much of my favorites operate in a protesting, truth-to-power sense, from the now defunct punk grenade G.L.O.S.S. to visual artist Liberal Jane. Anything that makes (or forces) room for marginalized people is cool to me.
Melpomene does so very succinctly and subtly. Like, to be real, you don’t need to know the backstory I just went over to enjoy the music – this is fascinating, enthralling music from any angle of digestion – not to mention it’s instrumental with no clear vocals. On Bandcamp however, you can find ‘lyrics’ to each song that, while not sung in the music, provide context and tone to the overall story. First track “Deadname” (which is also the apparent name of the main character of this album going off of a note found on the “Abstraction of Being” track info) for instance is hellacious in execution, guitars sounding off through gritted teeth, drums hammering at your psyche, as one would expect from a progressive death song… but there’s something else here. It’s pleasant to listen to, but the implications of its tone and the name give it an air of anxiety and piercing emotional stress, a pang of dysphoria permeating the walls of it. If that’s not enough for you, the words will shoot through you:
‘Unwanted identity
Deviation disallowed
Forced into the limited
Perceptions of Others‘Body and Mind
Smite the earth upon arrival
Intrinsically linked, but one must die
Become Aware
A Body Is A Suggestion‘
“Skull Resonance” is a reckoning, a realization that Deadname’s body is not fit for them – the real them – and therefore must rend themself from it, revealing the true self inside. The music on this track is contemplative – still driving and complicated, weighed down heavy by unease overall, but there’s lilts of jazz influence in a instrumental break with nice cymbal triplets and melodic guitar where Deadname is calmed by a newfound mission to become truth incarnate, to ‘Unveil the sun within‘ as the associated poetry commands.
“Moonglow” is A Body Is a Suggestion‘s first unassailably beautiful moment – while this would function as more of an interlude on another prog-death album of this caliber, this to me is where much of the meat is found. For as much as I love the heavier, metallic sections of this album, the moments like “Moonglow” are the real benefit: the payoff of interrogating yourself to find who you are, the revelation of purpose, and finding it among the stars. As referenced before, this album makes reference to suns and revealing the one within you, so it’s quite apt to stage this song among great celestial bodies and bask in their beauty.
That leads well into “Transcend Form” which is deliberate and fierce in execution, but instead of the woe of living in a shell, it feels determined and focused. It’s climactic in a way that lends power to you as a listening and with its sizable sub-nine-minute runtime, is the cocoon of the story, building on itself in a slower manner as the music skates by with care from movement to movement. It feels nice, it is nice. “Abstraction of Being” is even more so – another serene moment in Deadname’s travels amounts to the actualization of themself. Three minutes of ambient, ASMR-like pleasure as their new form takes hold and syncs with their consciousness. Finally, a marriage of body and mind.
A Body Is A Suggestion ends on the remarkable and explosive “I Am The Future Both Feared And Hoped For”, the longest track by a healthy handful of seconds and it’s easy to see why. This is the culmination of Deadname’s taxing and blistered growth, flanking godlike strength stemming from the confidence and ability to see a fantastical transition through that many can’t with unknowable allure and affirmation of acknowledging your actual body, not one merely suggested.
‘Unworldly smoky-quartz skin
Black-opalescent hair
In each strand a galaxy‘Lungs of molten gold
Breath of diamond dust
Gaping maws dripping gruesome opulence
Devour the unwilling
Those who refute splendor‘
There’s a primal beauty in living with one’s self in a way that can’t be challenged, by yourself or others. I think it’s really touching what people can take from Deadname’s story, mining from it the will and resolve to become what you were always meant to be, even if you end up changing your mind and tweaking things along the way. “I Am The Future Both Feared And Hoped For” shatters the preconceived musical notions we’ve gathered until now and while it’s a powerful end, the last four minutes represent the ultimate prize: absolute peace. Floating through space knowing that you can do anything and be anything you want, sundering any part of your world that doesn’t fit your need, protecting those around you with your stature and knowledge that everything can be okay, and becoming an influence to those that have yet done the very arduous, painful work to see themselves for who they really are in the mirror.
‘I Am
The star that you wish upon
The void that you run from
The Future Both Feared And Hoped For‘
Melpomene‘s work is very important. Though I don’t wish to put anything on their shoulders that they don’t want there, it’s hard not to see the state of our real world and how trans people are treated within it and not see the significance of it outside of the masterful musicianship. The trans and gender non-conforming communities are frequently one of the most needlessly hated on, maligned, oppressed, and scapegoated groups of our fascistic time, just for wanting to live as themselves! All they want is the opportunity to do what Deadname did – maybe without the ascendance to godhood, but hell, maybe someone out there’s capable of that, I don’t know. A Body Is A Suggestion is kinship to those that need it, sonic community building for people who have found themselves in any part of its story.
Melpomene take their name from the eponymous Greek goddess, daughter of Zeus and muse of tragedy. With A Body Is A Suggestion, they’ve altered fate itself by delivering a triumphant treatise as they wished about transition, potential, and survival, turning tragedy into unparalleled achievement. In totality, Melpomene have put forth my favorite instrumental metal album probably since Night Verses‘ From the Gallery of Sleep which in and of itself is ridiculous to think about. It’s resplendent, meaningful, touching, and so fucking passionate in a way that’s really hard to replicate, so it won’t be any time soon. Anyone that feels seen by this album, I wish the absolute best for you. As you are able for your safety: pick a new name that resonates with you, dress how you wanna dress, talk how you wanna talk, get that affirming surgery you want, and find community with whom you wish to live, love, protect, and be protected by.
Trans rights forever. Protect trans kids forever. Nothing less will ever be accepted.
