Protosequence are a Canadian technical death metal band and this is their debut album.
Bestiary contains 33 minutes of technical mayhem that’s unusually variegated. After enjoying Protosequence’s 2020 EP A Blunt Description of Something Obscene I was looking forward to hearing this, and it has not disappointed. Quite the opposite in fact.
The tech death subgenre can frequently deliver bands that just sound too similar to some of the genre founders, and while Bestiary is not The Next Great Innovation, (not that anything needs to be necessarily), I like that it has a firm character and personality of its own. This is tech death that’s precise and sharp, and carries with it many hallmarks of the genre, but also offers something a little more too.
Protosequence carry within themselves elements of the progressive and post- styles of rock, metal, and hardcore, which helps to differentiate them from the technical death metal masses. While there are nods to many tech death greats, (Archspire, Obscura, Gorod, Cryptopsy, etc.), you can also hear elements here and there that could be torn from a diverse number of bands and subgenres, (Association Area, Cephalic Carnage, Shai Hulud, The Summoned, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Hopesfall, to name just a few that come to mind in places), all wrapped up in the sort of brutal technicality that’s very endearing.
All this is to say that Bestiary is far more interesting, personable, charismatic, and engaging than the output of your typical tech death act. The music combines the type of textured insanity that I used to love in the 00s, (and that you rarely encounter in the wild today), with contemporary influences that allow Protosequence to more than hold their own in 2024. Light and heavy, introspective and extroverted, contemplative and savage; with its brief running time Bestiary does a lot with a lot. Add to this slices of visceral melody that occasionally cut through the carnage, and a selection of passionate, varied, and rich vocals that are not usually associated with death metal, and you have an absolute gem of an album.
If you’re a fan of technical extremity that boasts a wealth of strengths and a greater personality than most, then you won’t want to miss out on what Bestiary has to offer.
Wonderbox Metal 