Technical death metal – Page 36

Corpse Garden – Entheogen (Review)

This is the second album from Costa Rican Death Metallers Corpse Garden.

Dark and brutal, Corpse Garden deliver 62 minutes of blistering and intelligent Death Metal on Entheogen. This is intricate Death Metal with a good dollop of the Technical and Progressive sub-styles incorporated into their sound.

Guttural vocals are growled out from the shadows and all manner of other vocalisations accompany them, although the deep grunts are the main focus.

The music is complex and savage, with all of the instruments having a major part to play, even the oft-forgotten bass. I love it when the bass is used intelligently and as its own instrument, rather than just for the sake of having a bassist, as most band seem to do. On Entheogen, it adds a lot to the music.

The longer-than-normal length of the songs allows the band to really spread their wings and include some good ideas in the music. The tracks feature a mix of simple riffs and melodies alongside much more complex playing; this combination of both gives the songs great power as there are moments when straightforward chugging guitars are the best choice, moments when complicated Death-esque Progressive/Technical sections are the order of the day, and yet other moments when the band go all atmospheric with added synths and other sounds.

For all of this creativity though they still remember the importance of a good song. The tracks on this album all revolve around this, preventing the Technical Death Metal elements from becoming too overpowering or detrimental to their cause.

Corpse Garden are clearly an ambitious band, as Entheogen is not your standard, run-of-the-mill brutal blaster. There’s a lot more going on here than the average Death Metal band attempt and this is entirely to Corpse Garden’s credit.

This is a garden that I heartily recommend spending some time visiting.

Unbreakable Hatred – Ruins (Review)

Unbreakable Hatred are a Death Metal band from Canada and this is their second album.

This is Technical Death Metal that’s as ferocious and brutal as the best of the genre while still having the technical flourishes that mean so much to fans of Tech Death’s dizzying heights. Even more impressive though is how Unbreakable Hatred have managed to retain a semblance of songs on these tracks so that they don’t disappear too far into their own world.

The band have a very clean and polished sound that allows the listener to hear everything that they do. As such, it’s easy to hear how proficient they are at their craft and it’s very easy to enjoy the carnage that they unleash.

The vocalist has a savage voice that’s crisp and neat, if such terms can be applied to aggressively barked growls. I find he manages to compress a lot of personality and feeling into these clipped outbursts and the band have a definite asset in his delivery.

While the songs are no doubt on the technical side of things, I also like the inclusion of simpler riffs and sections that help the songs to retain a catchier, more enjoyable edge.

Pounding drums, heavy riffs, frenzied vocals, lightning leads and solos…Unbreakable Hatred don’t mess around and they spend these short 30 minutes showing a finely balanced blend of professionalism and base aggression.

Listening to this it brings to mind Cryptopsy’s None So Vile; Ruins evokes similar feelings to that album and shares similarities to it in some ways. It’s not quite up to those lofty standards, of course, as None So Vile is pretty much The Ultimate Death Metal Album™, but it’s damn good company to keep at any rate.

This is definitely one of the elite. I think we can safely move Unbreakable Hatred to the top of the recent Technical Death Metal pile. All hail our new overlords!

De Profundis – Kingdom of the Blind (Review)

This is the fourth album from UK Death Metallers De Profundis.

After 2014’s EP teaser Frequencies, (two tracks of which make an appearance on Kingdom of the Blind), this album fleshes out their Progressive/Technical Death Metal sound to a fuller 52 minutes.

The band continue with their technical Death-worship and have created an album that’s a comprehensive overview of their Death Metal worldview. Like their heroes, De Profundis make sure that the song is never lost within the technical framework and have the talent necessary to play such ambitious music. Like the wonderful Execration, they are doing their best to keep the spirit of Death alive while putting infusing the style with their own personality and spin.

De Profundis like their songs technical and involving, with plenty of syncopation and off-kilter ideas amidst the blast beats. The songs are all around the 5-minute mark, or longer, giving the band ample time to show off what they can do. The performance levels are high and the entire package is very accomplished. I must also mention the bass, especially; I really like what the bassist contributes to these songs.

The deep vocals are like thunder claps and punctuate the songs like bruises. These help to provide a different identity for the band than if they had opted for higher, more Death-esque vocals, and act as a blunt counterpoint to the sharpness of the music.

Kingdom of the Blind is an impressive release from a band who are not content to be average.

Highly recommended.

Estuarine – Lucid/Entheogen (Review)

Estuarine is a one-man band that’s currently based in Sweden. This is the second album from his project.

This is Extreme Metal that’s rooted in differing elements of Death Metal with a pinch of Black Metal to produce a concept album that deals in the subject of psychoactive substances. The first 6 tracks are regarding their modern use, while the last 4 tracks deal with their traditional usage.

The music is a mix of Progressive and Technical Death Metal with a subtle modern Black Metal influence. If you think of Extreme Metal bands such as Zyklon, Between the Buried and Me, (minus clean singing), and Mithras then you’ll have an idea of the kind of landscape that Lucid/Entheogen inhabits.

On the first half of the album the songs have a delightfully brutal method of attack that sees the Technical Death Metal aspect take the lead, with the Progressive Death Metal aspect coming second. Slower/lighter introspective parts, occasionally bordering on Post-Metal territory, add flavour and depth to the music, although the extremity is never far behind.

On the second half the roles are reversed somewhat, with the Progressive Metal aspects shifting to the fore and the Technical mayhem relegated to a close second place. It’s a subtle shift in many ways, but it is noticeable and results in songs that are longer, more expansive and a bit less brutal, (although this is relative as everything here is still highly aggressive and technical overall).

The vocals alternate between growls and screams. The growls are convincing enough, but it’s the screams that sound particularly good to me.

The recording is a good one and everything sounds solid and in your face. Sometimes the production on one-man projects can sound a bit flat or one dimensional, but this is certainly not the case here.

Although by no means perfect, this is still better than most. Ambitious, forward-thinking and brutally proficient; Lucid/Entheogen is an impressive accomplishment and anyone who has a penchant for interesting and individualistic Extreme Metal should make a beeline for it as a priority.

Really, really enjoyable and extremely highly recommended.

Favourite Track: Towards Infinite Kaleidoscopic Dimensions.

Fully Consumed – Incendium (Review)

Fully Consumed are a Death Metal band from the US and this is their second album.

This is Technical Death Metal that also features a good amount of syncopated groove, resulting in an album that is weighted towards the former but still maintains a good balance between technical mayhem and head-banging bounce.

Blast beats and time changes work alongside mid-paced bruisers to create an album that contains a huge amount of speed and brutality but also knows when to slow it down a notch to really drive things home.

Vocals consist of dark growls and slithering screams that play second fiddle to the music but would still definitely be missed if they weren’t present.

The band have some good ideas in the songs and these tracks deliver a satisfying hit of chaotic violence. It’s an unrelenting assault and the band don’t show any signs of fatigue throughout these 37 minutes. Even the mid-paced sections are quickly swallowed up in a tide of blasting or technicality and the band are nothing if not persistent in their quest for carnage.

This album was originally released in 2014, but as the band felt the original recording did not do it justice they have now remastered and reissued it in 2015. I don’t know what the original sounded like but this has a solid sound that allows the band to show off what they can do.

Recommended for all Technical Death Metal fans.

Antropofago – Æra Dementiæ (Review)

Antropofago are a French Death Metal band and this is their second album.

Antropofago’s latest release is based around the concept of dementia and is a mixture of brutality and technicality.

The Brutal Death Metal influences propel the band’s carnage forward effortlessly while their Technical Death Metal side allows them to experiment with all manner of interesting ideas. The two warring sides complement and rein each other in so that the songs don’t go too much in ether direction.

It’s also important to note that the songs are, in fact, actually songs. A lot of Death Metal has a tendency to focus on the individual riffs or sections of a track with only a superficial regard for the song as a whole. Antropofago take a holistic view of the tracks and each song is recognisable as such. The album benefits from this consistency of vision and the tracks on Æra Dementiæ are memorable, surprisingly catchy and actually individually identifiable as distinct entities.

The band have a decent heavy sound that complements their style. The groovy bits sound meaty, the fast bits sound unstoppable and the technical wizardry and lightning melodics sound hot enough to burn. The bass is just audible enough to make an impression and the drums are crazily inhuman on occasion.

The singer has a classic Death Metal growl that seems to suck all of the air out of the room.

Antropofago have unleashed a very strong album on the world. This is some quality Death Metal that combines songs, brutality and depth into an appealing package. In a world of disposable music this one has some longevity to it.

Highly recommended.

Bearstorm – Americanus (Review)

Bearstorm are from the US and play Progressive Black Metal. This is their second album.

Bearstorm. Say it again, slowly. Bearstorm. Fantastic name. I was expecting something utterly ferocious with a name like that, but Bearstom are nothing if not surprising. They do have a ferocious element, but for the most part there’s a whole lot of other stuff going on here.

The music is a curious mix of Progressive wanderings, Blackened bite, Technical Death Metal Jazz-wizardry, Post-Metal experimentalism and Southern Sludge.

Their sound is pleasingly hard to pigeon-hole actually. The Progressive Metal influence is apparent from the start and infuses everything else at a deep level. The Black/Death/Sludge/Post-Metal influences in their sound take their cues from this and the band have interesting music at the very core of their being.

I suppose…Mastodon meets Enslaved meets Opeth meets Inter Arma meets Ephel Duath meets Pyrrhon…

The songs are varied and individual affairs. There’s a lot of ideas on display and Bearstorm never shy away from being different or going their own direction. It’s to their credit, as too many bands simply ape what has gone before them, so when a band like this comes along it’s a real pleasure to see them doing something different form the norm and attempting to forge their own sound.

Vocally the singer has a largely Blackened scream that’s supplemented with pitch-black growls on occasion. In many ways the guitars are the focal point of Americanus and the vocals provide an undercurrent to these. They’re done well though so there’s no real complaints from me on this score.

Clearly a lot of time and effort has gone into Americanus, to the point that the band have re-recorded the entire album for maximum effect; this is a re-recorded and re-issued version of their 2013 album. Having never heard the original version all I can say is that this version sounds pretty damn good.

An interesting, exciting and fresh-sounding record; Americanus is more than deserving of your attention.

Favourite Track: Glacial Relic II. An epic that’s Progressively atmospheric and even contains a Country influence. Amazing.

Deviance – A New Planetary Perspective (Review)

This is the début album from US one-man Death Metal project Deviance.

This is Technical/Progressive Death Metal that’s not shy of flexing its musical muscles and showing off what it can do.

Frequent leads and solos are built around a sturdy rhythm section and scathing vocals. The songs tread that fine line between ostentation and brutality without sacrificing too much of one for the other.

Decent grooves and riffs work with the overt technicality. Winding melodics make brief appearances and the songs seem to pulsate and mutate with careful yet unexpected life.

The tracks are intricate beasts that sometimes keep a central theme to them so that a song is still identifiable amidst the complex barbarity; other times though they allow themselves to journey where they see fit, snaking and sliding their way through involved guitar sections and convoluted drumming. Either way, it’s an enjoyable listen.

This album has an interesting feel to it. The music is less-song oriented than Progressive Death Metal can sometimes be and instead veers towards outright Technical Death Metal territory where the songs are a lot more frequently sacrificed for the sake of complexity. Having said that though, this is notable in that it’s not overly-frenzied or chaotic as a lot of Technical Death Metal can be. This is a more restrained and thoughtful complexity; the brain behind Deviance knows exactly where he wants to take the music and the journey is what matters, rather than the structure itself.

Cello, violin and keyboards all make appearances, widening the musical vistas available to the listener. It all adds value and makes a good impression.

The vocals sound like scraping sheets of steel grinding against each other. That’s the deep growls. The higher screams just sound like reality is tearing.

This is a quality album of Technical Death Metal that’s notable for its lack of chaotic frenzy and for its more restrained approach to complexity and nuance. Throw in a bit of atmospheric enhancement and the end result is a most enjoyable 50 minutes.

Highly recommended.

Chaos Plague – Existence Through Annihilation (Review)

Chaos Plague are from Italy and this is their début album. They play Progressive Death Metal.

I enjoyed their first EP, and two of the three songs on this appear on the album too.

The vocals are mainly growling shouts that are halfway between legible and guttural. Added to these are clean vocals that have improved since their first outing on their EP.

The music is Progressive Death Metal that is influenced by the likes of Death, Atheist, Cynic and the like.

There are enough solos and technical flourishes to keep the listener happy and these songs all pack a good deal of content into their running time. At 60 minutes in length this is not for the faint-hearted, but there’s enough variation and good songwriting to keep things flowing nicely.

A good production makes the most of what they can do and I especially like music that you can hear the bass on; Chaos Plague make good use of this often neglected instrument and Existence Through Annihilation is enriched by its prominence.

There’s a lot to take in here but perseverance pays off and Chaos Plague have a lot of talent for this kind of thing.

A quality listen.

Wrvth – Wrvth (Review)

Wrvth, (otherwise known as Wrath of Vesuvius), are from the US and play Death Metal. This is their third album.

Well this is a little different. Progressive/Technical Death Metal is always a pleasure to hear when it’s done well and Wrvth pull all of the right moves on this release.

Although it has its fair share of fretboard wizardry and crazy, complicated playing, there’s a lot more here than is the norm for Technical Death Metal. This release also features a melodic edge and a good groove when it wants to. Add to this a keen Progressive edge that borders on the Post-Metal, (Post-Death Metal?), in places and this album is a stormer. Oh, a saxophone also makes an appearance too.

Mixed in with the chaos and carnage are some introspective moments of calm that largely seem to be there just to make everything else sound heavier and crazier. It works, of course, and the songs on this release are a complicated melange of Progressive restraint and chaotic mayhem.

The musicianship is first-rate and these songs expertly combine Progressive elements into a Technical Death Metal framework that allows the band to steal the best from both worlds. Technicality is apparent but the Progressive elements keep the songs focused and allow for emotive passages rather than just a procession of impressive riffs and time changes.

It’s like a strange cross between Protest the Hero, Pyrrhon, Gorguts and The Faceless. The reality is that Wrvth sound every bit as good as that mash up sounds. The only thing missing is the clean vocals.

Speaking of vocals, the singer does his best impression of someone attempting to destroy their throat. He screams himself almost hoarse and when that’s been accomplished he switches to hostile growls and roars.

This is an innovative and impressive release from a band who are clearly not content to be average. I love releases like this. Here we find a winning combination of aggression, restraint, feeling, depth, chaos and outright passion.

Wrvth have just become one of my new favourite bands.