  We discuss homogeneous baryonic matter in the decompactified limit of the
Sakai-Sugimoto model, improving existing approximations based on flat-space
instantons. We allow for an anisotropic deformation of the instantons in the
holographic and spatial directions and for a density-dependent distribution of
arbitrarily many instanton layers in the bulk. Within our approximation, the
baryon onset turns out to be a second-order phase transition, at odds with
nature, and there is no transition to quark matter at high densities, at odds
with expectations from QCD. This changes when we impose certain constraints on
the shape of single instantons, motivated by known features of holographic
baryons in the vacuum. Then, a first-order baryon onset and chiral restoration
at high density are possible, and at sufficiently large densities two instanton
layers are formed dynamically. Our results are a further step towards
describing realistic, strongly interacting matter over a large density regime
within a single model, desirable for studies of compact stars.
