Changeling – Changeling (Review)

This is the debut album from German progressive death metal band Changeling.

Changeling is brought to us by current/ex-members of Alkaloid, Belphegor, Defeated Sanity, Fear Factory, Obscura, Vipassi, and Virvum. It’s supported by an army of guests, who perform everything from guest solos, vocals, and choirs, to cello, flutes, horns, piano, tuba, violins, viola, and much, much more. The music combines progressive and technical death metal, with jazz fusion, progressive rock, and world music. It’s a lot, and it’s all packed into 60 minutes of compelling material.

There are ten tracks, and each one offers a range of different feelings, moods, textures, and styles to get to grips with. Even the short intros and interludes manage to offer way more value than is typical. Of the seven actual songs, these are powerhouses of progressive tech death, effectively bringing together the huge range of contributors and influences into something coherent and well-developed.

Now, the main issue with something like this – high ambition, high complexity, high performance levels – is usually that the actual songs themselves get left behind in an orgy of self-congratulation. Here though, it’s thankfully quite a different story. Nobody would say that Changeling doesn’t show off, but importantly the songwriting supports the weight of technical skill and vision that is placed upon it. Put simply, the album is a damn good collection of songs. Despite its ostentation, Changeling is actually a lot more restrained than I expected, which works in its favour. The vocals are a good example of this. They can frequently be almost an afterthought in tech death, but on Changeling they’re well-delivered throughout. In fact, they are frequently above average, especially then they lean into their emotive side with cleaner singing. Really good stuff from the singer of Alkaloid.

Changeling is touted as the spiritual successor to Obscura’s Akróasis, so that’s great place to start from when approaching it. At various times across this record the following bands also came to mind – Meshuggah, Ihsahn, Morbid Angel, Obsidious, Devin Townsend, and Between the Buried and Me, which should give a further flavour of what to expect. If I had to make one comparison above all others, I’d say it reminds me of Deconstruction by The Devin Townsend Projekt, only from a tech death standpoint. While not quite as wide-ranging as that superlative album, it’s certainly similarly impressive in its adventurous rendering. In my book, this is high praise indeed. Changeling have really impressed.

I wasn’t expecting this album to be as strong as it is. It’s darker, heavier, and more focused than I could have hoped for. The main artist behind Changeling has produced a gripping record that’s sure to be a hit. The album boasts more ideas and greater creativity than many bands manage across a career. From dark brutality to orchestral grandeur to introspective intricacy, the music is a journey into death metal-based sound. There is a lot to digest, but it’s a filling, satisfying meal.

Essential listening.