The semi-anonymous Detroit collective the Armed are set to release their fourth record, Perfect Saviors, on August 25th via Sargent House and various streaming services.

In the group’s effort to create their own definition of success by operating under a veil of mystery, they, perhaps accidentally, created an album that works to redefine the limits of creativity.

The record is a 12-song saga that simultaneously crushes and caresses in its careful construction. It’s one of those records where you can hear the attention to detail in each tone of the guitar and each swell of perfectly orchestrated clatter. Every single noise, acoustic or digital, serves its own purpose in the larger picture.

It’s attention to detail as genre, which is more effective in describing Perfect Saviors than any overwrought label could, in no small part because it doesn’t spend a lot of time residing in one style.

Rather, there are elements of everything in everything. The walls of crushing noise could cite shoegaze, the looming guitar riff of album opener “Sport of Measure” could pull from the distant atmospheres of post-rock, and the earworm chorus of “Clone” could have the accessibility of pop-punk and emo to thank.

The Armed welcome collaboration with open arms, and among the contributors to Perfect Saviors are Josh Klinghoffer of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame, and Julien Baker. Their singularity, however, is difficult to notice on first listen. It’s akin to enjoying some fine dining and trying to pick the chef from the kitchen’s lineup. The end result is bigger than the sum of its parts.

And the end result is indeed big. Each track radiates and hovers with its own monolithic energy. Twelve titans, or perfect saviors, collaborating for a larger purpose, beyond the understanding of the mere listener.

Perhaps the Armed keeps its members mostly secret because revealing the fact that humans created this music detracts from its sheer magnificence. Sometimes the most powerful quotes are anonymous.

Perfect Saviors, whatever it is, is incredible. It’s the type of work of art that upon suggestion could warrant scoffs of derision, but upon execution warrants gasps of awe. You have to hear it to believe it. It’s a masterclass in singularity and creativity.

Pre-order Perfect Saviours by The Armed HERE