Aniqatia are an eastern Pennsylvania Metal quartet that don't sound like any other metal bands I can think of. The clearest influences heard on their "Luminous" EP are Band of Horses (less the sweet-boy vocals), Swervedriver (minus the Shoegaze), Explosions in the Sky (plus vocals), Minibosses (plus vocals, minus the Nintendo), and Fugazi (without the punk). Note: none of those comparisons are direct, all are from other genres. An interesting group of parallels indeed for a band with heavy leanings.

"Luminous" is a decent set of tracks, with quality vocal melodies and shimmery, slo-mo, skinny-string melodies over the rhythms. Enjoyable overall, but it's hard to identify any one song as the Ace - - more like a hand of Jacks, Joker's wild. The EP opens with ‘February’, which delivers some mood and spark. If not for an irritating mid-section loop, it could have been the best of the bunch. ‘The Heiress’ is the EP's single, likely chosen for its almost-catchy chorus. ‘Empty Devils’ is a standout for its triangulated, contrasting, semi-fugue-like vocals, drums, and guitar parts. I also need to call out ‘Apollo’ for its loping spacy leads, evoking the 8-bit Metroid game soundtrack.

Let's call up another non-Metal genre: Jam. I don't get a strong sense of improv on the actual recordings, but the possibilities are there. These songs seem like they'd be rife for exploration and experimentation in a live setting. Interesting things could definitely happen.