Beneath This Mask Another Mask

The two women in Providence, RI's V for Vendetta have been staking their own feminist claim to the oft-considered male genre of math rock since 1998. Four years of relentless touring, an EP, and a handful of compilation tracks later, the guitar and drum duo is finally releasing their full-length debut, the long-awaited Beneath This Mask, Another Mask. Named after a quote by artistic and political revolutionary Claude Cahun and full of ominous, off-kilter time signatures, prog rock rumbles, and politically minded lyrics, the ten-track album isn't the easiest listen -- and V for Vendetta wouldn't have it any other way. Sounding like Kaia Wilson churning out a minimalist art rock ruckus that only fully reveals itself through multiple listens, the duo wants to be anything but by the numbers: "I know the rules and I don't accept them," they announce near the album's end, and on their impressive debut, V for Vendetta plays only by their own unique math rock rules.