Review: Inner Child – Inner Child
Style: Progressive Metal, Djent (instrumental, rapping on one track)
Recommended for fans of: Animals as Leaders, Mestis, Animals as Leaders, Plini, Animals as Leaders, David Maxim Micic, Animals as Leaders
Country: USA
Release date: 18 September 2026
The ‘bedroom guitarist’ is something of a forgotten trope within progressive metal. Back around the early-to-mid-2000s, guitar and prog metal forums were full of DIY artists with bedroom studios who were experimenting with novel guitar and production techniques. Ideas were constantly being bounced around and iterated upon, slowly developing into a niche internet scene within which many of the popular names of today were molded. Perhaps most notably, Periphery’s Misha Mansoor was a major voice of influence in the forums—going by his solo artist name Bulb at the time—his early demos garnering a cult following which paved the way for his eventual prog metal fame.1 Otherwise, the likes of John Browne (Monuments), Acle Kahney (TesseracT), Paul Ortiz (Chimp Spanner), and Ben Sharp (Cloudkicker) all contributed their unique voices, and over time this internet-forum-based scene of dudes in their bedrooms crystallized into what we today call ‘djent’.
Of all the artists directly inspired by the bedroom guitarist scene,Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders is certainly among the most popular. Abasi even worked with Mansoor for the debut self-titled AAL album, with Mansoor handling production, early drum programming, some bass guitar, and even co-writing certain sections of the album. Upon release, Animals As Leaders was a resounding success, and only one year later, Periphery’s debut album would also be met with critical acclaim within the scene. And thus, the era of the bedroom guitarist had essentially run its course, a once burgeoning scene of solo-artists reaching its climax in an explosion of djent and progressive metalcore bands. Even today, some take inspiration directly from the early days of djent guitar forums—Plini, David Maxim Micic, and Sithu Aye being some notable names—though it’s becoming rarer and rarer to hear.
So, when I saw promotional materials for Carlos Borges’ new band Inner Child—an instrumental djent project whose self-titled debut LP was explicitly written and arranged for current AAL drummer Matt Garstka’s playing—I was intrigued. When I saw that Borges actually managed to convince Garstka to play on the record, I was excited. And when I finally got around to listening, within the first minute-and-a-half of pressing play I understood why Garstka had agreed to join Borges’ musical endeavors. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve: Inner Child plays a heady, technical form of instrudjent, one that is immediately recognizable as (well done) AAL worship. Well, that’s a somewhat reductive description; some quirks do exist which set Inner Child apart.
On an initial listen, it might be easy to hear Inner Child as relatively meandering or unfocused, especially with the obvious comparison staring the listener in the face. While not necessarily through-composed, songs often partake in multiple musical side quests, themselves often evolving into main themes and overshadowing the supposed initial intent of the song. Take opener “Solace” for example: the song starts with breezy background guitars, patient theme building, and jazz chord voicings before a solo about a minute into the track ramps into a whiplash-inducing riff which turns on the distortion and tightens every aspect of each member’s performance. The song chills out again soon after, wandering through more precise jazz voicings and a jam-band style solo, before finally culminating in the return of the opening theme around four minutes into the track. “Guided Anger” is the clearest example of AAL influence, the opening riff practically mirroring that of AAL track “Inner Assassins” with its string skipping picking and subtle harmonics. Again, though, a minute into the track, and the script is flipped completely: the dynamics come down, a thirty second solo acts as a transition through roaming chord changes which lead into multiple new directions, and the track once again culminates in the return of the opening riff. Each song is similarly fragmented into many sections that—while thematically relative and satisfying to piece together over multiple listens—sometimes take away from pacing on a moment-to-moment level, especially on more meandering tracks like “Wonder” or “Shadow Integration”.
Now, I’d hazard a guess that Borges is somewhat of an outlier among the AAL fandom. Most people who listen to AAL do so primarily for Abasi’s hyper-technical guitar playing. Similarly, Garstka has made quite a name for himself, garnering a sizable following from his equally consummate work in AAL. Yet, I believe that Borges is something of a kindred spirit with the third AAL member: Javier Reyes. Both are classically trained guitarists; Borges’ compositional style is directly inspired by his Venezuelan roots; and Reyes injects a healthy dose of Spanish influence into his own solo project Mestis as well as parts of AAL. Hell, at times I hear more in common between Inner Child and Mestis than I do even with AAL. Borges’ Venezuelan heritage is obviously important to him, and it comes across particularly in his lead guitar playing and chord voicings, which often utilize leading tones that quite effectively draw out this aspect of Borges’ musical language. Instruments like kalimba, shakers, rainsticks, bongos, and even throat singing inject further personality into the compositions; additionally, lush yet restrained orchestral arrangements permeate each track, adding harmonic depth without ever taking away from the aesthetic. When combined with subtle track-by-track themes—such as the warbling electronic textures or the aforementioned throat singing which bookend “Synergy” and “Wonder” respectively—these details hold Inner Child together, preventing the experience from ever falling too far off the rails.
Each member of Inner Child is more than adept at their instrument, their interactions and technical prowess a joy to listen to. At least, they would be, if it weren’t for one glaring issue: the production. Alright, it’s not quite as bad as I make it sound, but the mix is certainly Inner Child’s biggest setback. While not quite muddy, the low end will sometimes bleed into the rest of the mix, and the high end can come off a bit static-y at times, taking attention away from the actual musical content, particularly Garstka’s masterful-as-always drum performance. Thankfully, my ear adapts fairly quickly, and by the end of the first song I’m able to immerse myself in the sound relatively well. The production is reminiscent of old-school bedroom instrudjent, lending a specific air of nostalgia to an even more specific type of listener (me). I have a hard time believing such a mix wasn’t a purposeful choice—especially given the proficiency shown in every other aspect of the album—but at the end of the day I can’t quite decide if it gives Inner Child even more character, or just comes across as amateurish.
Inner Child is an impressive debut outing, one which feels personal and bleeds passion from each member. Even the cover art—created by Borges’ father Alejandro, an architect and illustrator—reflects this: a “hand-traced collage built from images of Carlos’ childhood in Caracas, including Alejandro’s own map of the family’s neighborhood”. I had my apprehensions upon first listening about potential redundancy from the overwhelming AAL influence, or proficient, enjoyable music being marred by a mix. Thankfully, Inner Child rises above such qualms, and while they certainly have some wrinkles to iron out, the band’s debut is a testament to their creativity and devotion to their craft.
Recommended Tracks: Foster, Guided Anger, Synergy
You may also like: Exivious, Richard Henshall, Stephen Taranto, RXYZYXR
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Linktree | Instagram
Inner Child is:
– Carlos Borges (guitars)
– Alek Darson (lead guitar, bass, keyboards)
– Matt Garstka (drums, kalimba, shakers, rainstick, bongos)
With guests:
– Ethan Cohen (violins, viola, cello, additional textures)
– Reef Loretto (vocals on “Shadow Integration”)
– James Murphy (drums on “Shadow Integration”)
– Alex Kuular (throat singing on “Wonder”)
– Amin Mortada (guitar solo on “Rescued”)
- All of these demos have since been uploaded to Spotify under the artist name Bulb for anyone interested. ↩︎
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