This is the second album from US death metal band Haxprocess.
Beyond What Eyes Can See contains 45 minutes of music divided into four epic songs. Haxprocess play progressive death metal, although that simple appellation doesn’t really due justice to what you’ll discover here. This record is a real beast.
Beyond What Eyes Can See offers the listener a feast of progressive death metal to lose themselves in. Inspired by the progressive antics of the old-school Floridian scene, Haxprocess take strength from this, but don’t limit themselves to it. Across the songs you’ll primarily hear influences from that era, but you’ll also feel the touches of progressive sludge, doom, and black metal in key places. Even with these expanded reference points, Haxprocess are first and foremost a death metal band, and this is exemplified by the classic feel of these four songs. Beyond What Eyes Can See takes all of this and wraps it up in a passionate delivery that is highly compelling.
The songs are technical and intricate, although the focus remains on the path that the musical journey is taking overall, rather than on complexity for the sake of it. It’s a very musical album in the sense that the instruments are allowed to roam and explore, developing soundscapes and probing atmospheric depths at will, rather than existing mainly to service the vocals, as is the case for most bands. This is, in fact, the point of the songs – the comprehensive worldbuilding that the band undertake with their music and songwriting is why Beyond What Eyes Can See is so effective. The vocals are important, (and the music wouldn’t be as good were they absent), but are not the album’s primary focus.
There’s a lot to take in across this record, and it’s all richly rendered and lusciously detailed. Haxprocess have crafted an album to bite deeply into, but one that takes time to truly savour and get the most out of. For such lengthy songs there’s more than enough instant appeal here, but it’s the lasting value and impact that the songs reveal once your brain gets to know their shape, form, feel, and colour that the real magic happens.
Beyond What Eyes Can See is a remarkable album. Haxprocess have created an impressive record that combines lethal riffs and striking melody, with rich atmospheric depth and immersive progressive enhancements.
Essential. Don’t miss this is you’re a fan of bands such as Ancient Death, Atheist, Blood Incantation, Cryptic Shift, Death, Decrepit Birth, Immolation, Mithras, Morbid Angel, Tomb Mold, and Voidceremony.
Wonderbox Metal 