Phlebotomized are a progressive death metal band from the Netherlands and this is their fourth album.
Phlebotomized play a creative form of death metal that combines progressive structuring and ideas with melodic grace, technical skills, and moments of outright brutality. Across 47 minutes they craft a journey of texture and detail on an unconventional death metal canvas.
The songs recall the creative depths of the 90s, while still having more than enough relevance to 2023. Clouds of Confusion blends its various ingredients into a compelling whole, where technical, melodic, and brutal elements all sit together comfortably in a progressive framework that hits the spot nicely.
There’s a core of melodic death metal at the heart of Clouds of Confusion that’s augmented and enriched by the frequent use of keyboards. Played with technical skill and an edge of brutality, the songs are then enhanced by a cloak of immersive atmosphere and channelled through progressive corridors to end up with the work that we have in front of us; a very enjoyable and satisfying brand of idiosyncratic death metal.
If you’re a fan of old-school death metal that isn’t afraid to incorporate ideas from some different avenues, then this is for you. The promo blurb states that this is for fans of Amorphis, Edge of Sanity, old The Gathering, Septicflesh, and Morbid Angel, which sets the scene nicely. If you like those sorts of bands then Clouds of Confusion is worth taking the time to explore. Phlebotomized have produced a very enjoyable record.
Wonderbox Metal 