Gothenburg-based artist, producer, and informatics professor Amir Haj-Bolouri makes a powerful statement with “APHANTAZIA,” his 14-track debut album under the artistic persona, Yellow Majesty. At once cerebral and visceral, the album fuses hard-edged alternative rock with electronic textures, philosophical inquiry, and a cinematic sense of scale.
Rooted loosely in alternative metal, grunge, and atmospheric electronic rock, APHANTAZIA draws its sonic identity from contrasts. Guitars swing between clean, spacious lines and distorted eruptions; drums land with disciplined weight; and synths smear the edges, lending the album its hypnotic, often surreal ambience.
– https://skopemag.com/2025/12/07/new-album-yellow-majesty-releases-debut-album-aphantazia
The album’s conceptual backbone is its title: aphantasia, the inability to form mental images. In Yellow Majesty’s hands, it becomes a metaphor for the fraying relationship between modern humans and their own reality. These songs circle themes of illusion, desire, technological entanglement, embodiment, and the fragile search for meaning.
“YOU ARE AN IDIOT” stands out among the early tracks, with its raw, confrontational vocals steeped in distortion. This track channels a post-punk immediacy into the album, and its abrasive energy provides a necessary counterpoint to the more reflective compositions.
“STALKER” is a darker and more rhythmic highlight that blends electronic pulses with grinding guitars. It embodies the album’s fascination with surveillance, identity, and the uneasy intimacy of digital life.
The title track, “APHANTASIA,” is a seven-minute centerpiece that functions as a thesis statement. It begins in near-stillness, with a sparse guitar intro with whispered vocals gradually layered in before rising into a towering, cinematic climax.
While the compositions often embrace largeness, the performances remain deeply personal, which is unsurprising given that every song is written, performed, and produced by Haj-Bolouri himself. The result is a world that feels handcrafted down to the last detail.
Yellow Majesty’s debut is a thematic and sensory journey that asks listeners to confront the fragility of presence and the cost of losing our inner landscapes. APHANTAZIA is ambitious and immersive; a striking first chapter from an artist who has already built a world worth returning to.