Album Review: Ansiktsløs – Sideworlds – Part 2

Artist: Ansiktsløs
Title: Sideworlds
Label: Cyclic Law
Release date: March 28th, 2025
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-quality digital recording

Album Review: Ansiktsløs – Sideworlds Part 2 via Cyclic Law by Pegah

“Sideworlds” is the latest release from Ansiktsløs, the project of R. Ikstelzok, also known for his work in Apocryphos and Psychomanteum. In the previous review, the first half of the album was explored. This continuation turns to the latter part, where the journey deepens into the Sideworld itself. Here, the music grows more atmospheric and restrained, with fewer shifts in texture—calmer on the surface, yet carrying a heavier weight.

“Noinimod Renni” feels foreboding, as though standing before the threshold of an unfamiliar realm. It captures the unease of connecting with something vast and alien, a space from which there can be no return once entered.

“Rorrim Eht Edisni” and “Noitcennoc Gniyrcs” depict a desolate landscape—bleak, abandoned, and destroyed. These soundscapes conjure the sense that all life has already been absorbed into the Sideworld, leaving behind only emptiness, as if our very presence has been erased. When the tones grow harsher, it reflects a harsh truth: nothing endures forever, and sooner or later, the world itself will collapse.

“Deified” evokes the sense of confronting supernatural powers, as the soundscape intensifies once more—rising with an overwhelming force, as though completely consumed and dominated by those powers. “Noitcennoc Lanif” feels like a distant spark of light on the far horizon—the fragile beginning of life in another world. The layered sounds suggest a faint, tenuous connection to the material realm, but as the track unfolds, that connection weakens. By the end, it feels as though the link has vanished entirely, leaving only the vastness of the Sideworld. The final track, “Srehto Neddih,” opens with a cold stillness, as though the revelation of this realm’s vastness is slowly unfolding before us.

“Sideworlds” feels like a passage through grief, detachment, and transcendence into a realm beyond comprehension. It’s a narrative of solitude and dissolution, a meditation on mortality and what lies beyond. The album’s strength lies in how seamlessly its music, concept, and visuals interlock, guiding the listener into a space where grief transforms into metaphysical exploration. 8/10

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