TECH DEATH WEEK PART VII: Hour of Penance - Regicide (2014)

Looks like Tech Death Week has taken a sudden break just before its end - whoops! Relax, nothing bad has happened. I just got caught in a vortex of job interviews, friendly drinks, gawking at paintings, sailing the seven seas (or at least wishing I was) and more friendly drinks. All of this has barely left me any time to listen to music, let alone batter my ear drums with devastating tech death. But I think it's fair to wrap the series up nicely, so here I am, back with the final installment of Tech Death Week. 

For my final trick, I've lent my ears to one of the most highly anticipated tech death albums of the year, Regicide by Italian juggernauts Hour of Penance. They are a consistent act, having churned out a constant stream of albums since they started out in 2000, taking steady but small steps towards refining their sound over the years. With Regicide, the band offers 11 songs of world-shattering, devastating tech death that leaves very little to be desired. The album is an onslaught of tight, bulldozing riffs, piling one on top of the other like an endless stream of artillery strikes, and precise, destructive drumming that's both brutal and varied, while going hard on those blast beats. The guitars sound, simply put, MASSIVE: he chugging, meaty guitar tone is the perfect vehicle for conveying the band's apocalyptic, anti-religion message and its mere sound is enough to cause towering boners and furious headbanging. Vocally, things are good. Vocalist/guitarist Paolo Pieri doesn't have a huge range, but his delivery is spot-on, with just the right amount of reverb to make his growls sound powerful and dominating. The occasional choirs lend Regicide, at times, a monumental atmosphere that will make you feel tiny and intimidated. There is not a lot of variation across the songs and there are basically no breaks from the PLAY FUCKING FAST school of thought, even with the subtle changes in pace, so the album becomes kinda tiresome after a while and it seems to lack a lasting appeal, in spite of some truly excellent songs, like Spears of Sacred Doom, Reforging the Crowns and Sealed Into Ecstasy (which starts off with some skin-crawling recordings of a men's choir).

Hour of Penance keep true to their reputation of a solid, talented and dependable technical death metal band, but I really feel it's time for them to start pushing the envelope and explore some different paths on their next efforts. Regicide is a great addition to their discography, displaying tight musicianship and a stellar production. However, it is also a very "safe" album, relying on a tried-and-true recipe that doesn't leave much room for innovation and pushing the genre forward. 

PROS:

- solid tech death album

- dat guitar tone

- sounds fucking massive

CONS:

- too safe and predictable

TECH DEATH WEEK PART V: Alterbeast - Immortal (2014)

It's day 5 of Tech Death Week and today's feature is the debut full-length album by Alterbeast, who just happen to come from Sacramento, California, just like The Kennedy Veil, which was the focus of yesterday's tech death post.

Immortal is yet another slab of modern death metal with a technical edge. The 8 songs on this album are all lurching juggernauts of frenzied guitar riffs, killer drumming, a vocalist which brings to mind the planet-pulverizing screams of Rings of Saturn and more sweeps than you'd find at a janitor's convention. The production is spotless and the playing is tighter than that jar of pickles you can never open.

For all the impressive skills these guys have, though, it's a shame they're not used to craft more memorable songs. Technically, there's not anything wrong with this album, but you'll have a hard time remembering any of it 5 minutes after you're done listening. But hey, you'll definitely have your fun with this!

PROS:

- flawless production

- tight musicianship

- sweep-picking and blast beating to last you for a lifetime

CONS:

- entirely forgettable

- that cover art + logo looks like a promo for a free2play Korean MMORPG

TECH DEATH WEEK PART IV: The Kennedy Veil - Trinity of Falsehood (2014)

Tech Death Week is plowing along at a steady pace here at TZEEEAC HQ and today's feature is a band from Sacramento, California called The Kennedy Veil. Not to sure what kind of veil JFK used to wear (wasn't that more like Jackie's thing?), but I'm not going to question the band's name when they come out with this insane cover art. That thing is on par with some of Pathology's best artwork. Awesome choice of colors and tons of cool details turn Trinity of Falsehood into the album with the most impressive cover art of Tech Death Week so far.

What about the music? Well, The Kennedy Veil deal in fast, aggressive, high-octane modern death metal and they're extremely adept at their craft. This is the kind of shiny, contemporary metal sound most metal purists hate with a passion. The polished, high-gain guitar tone is used to fashion a whirlwind of fast, grinding riffs that, in conjunction with the diverse, machine-like drumming, is enough to trigger involuntary head movements. The vocals are your standard deathcore grunts, but they're flawlessly executed, which mitigates the fact that there's little to no variation to be found. The 11 songs on this album, while they're all pretty entertaining on their own, tend to blur together into one big incomprehensible mess after extended listening. However, they all hover at around the 2-3 minute marks, which I think is ideal for this kind of sound. Shorter songs means lower chance of getting bored, especially since there aren't that many technical flourishes or solos to keep things interesting in the long run.

The Kennedy Veil are a band to watch out for in the future. They've got the sound and the writing chops to make a name for themselves in the scene. I just wish they'd actually veer more into technical death metal territory and give me some mind-warping cosmic solos.

PROS:

- HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THAT COVER

- excellent production

- short songs

- great drumming

CONS: 

- gets a bit repetitive after a while

- more solos and/or breakdowns plz

TECH DEATH WEEK PART III: Artificial Brain - Labyrinth Constellation (2014)

I'm gonna phone this one in a bit because I spent all day chilling and had no time for horrific death metal, but that shouldn't deter you from checking out today's tech death band.

Meet Artificial Brain, hailing from New York. This band gets one thing right from the get-go: the cover art is an accurate depiction of the music itself. Just look at this massive Warhammer 40.000 inspired monster: you've got some cybersoldiers looking a lot like Necrons battling weird robot insect-like creatures on a crumbling planet with explosions and solar flares going on in the background. I was sold instantly just by looking at the cover.

And the music is just as crushing as the cover suggests. Take the dissonant, angular riffs of Portal, further mangled through a futuristic filter, replace the Curator's otherworldly vocals with some bowel-churning, gravel-throated vocals fit for a cosmic war between hostile races, drench all instruments into cavernous reverb, add a ton of crypto-scientific lyrics about colliding planets, cyborg sentient molecules and billions of worms exploding out of human carcasses and you end up with Labyrinth Constellation. Technical death metal to invade haunted, barren planets to.

PROS:

- That fucking Warhammer 40k artwork

- Strong sci-fi lyrics and imagery

- Recommended if you like cavernous death metal with a technical edge

- Their vocalist looks like a fat Riddick

CONS:

- Necrons were my favorite race but idk they were kinda expensive and too god damn slow

TECH DEATH WEEK PART II: Aeon of Horus - Existence (2014)

CHESTER

Tech Death Week continues with a new album from an old favorite of mine, the Australian band Aeon of Horus. Existence is only their second full length album, even though they've been active since 2006. The first impression the new album left on me wasn't particularly good: it sounded kinda muddy and same-y and rather uninspired. I was a bit bummed out, but I decided to keep going and gave it a few more listens, hoping it would click along the way.

However, my initial thoughts haven't swayed much in the album's favor. I must give credit where it's due: the guys are obviously highly proficient with their instruments. The playing is tight across the board and the highlights are all the little futuristic synths and keyboards that pop up in the background. You must pay really close attention to hear them, but once you do, you realize just how big of an effect they have on the sci-fi atmosphere of Existence. The guitarist also has a knack for punctuating his playing with enough melody and variation to break through the monotony that otherwise plagues most of this album.

He can't save an entire album single handedly, unfortunately. Like I said in the beginning, the songs tend to sound very similar, which I think might be due to the unfortunate mixing which puts the interesting melodic riffs and futuristic synths in the background while making sure the drums (the drummer is very competent, but the kit sounds flat and lacks the power to really propel the music forward) and vocals (which are, simply put, boring, with very little variation from standard, run-of-the-mill growling) are right in your face. I feel like the most exciting parts of this album have been ignored by accident and the band has put their capital on elements that fail to help them distinguish from the mass of death metal bands across the world. The lyrics are pretty cool, though.

Forever cycled through the absolute zero

Warping, twisted through the mental fabrication

Stemming from star fused active biochemistry

....then spiral, centre, radiate

This new state of matter... its conscience

While its intentions are good, listening to the entirety of Existence becomes tedious, with memorable moments being few and far between. You're better off listening to early Aeon of Horus, like a true IMN.

PROS:

- Some interesting guitar work

- Cool futuristic synths (if you listen very closely)

CONS:

- Horrible cover art; where are the robots and aliens??

- Lacks variety and exciting moments

- Uninspired vocals

- Flat mixing, conveying no sense of power and motion

- "i liked the demo better"

TECH DEATH WEEK Part I: Archspire - The Lucid Collective (2014)

If 2013 was the year I got back into black metal via the advent of Marco black metal, 2014 is shaping up to be the year I once again become interested in technical death metal. It looks like a ton of tech death bands have put out new albums while my back was turned, including some old favorites of mine, so I think it's time I got back in the game.

Having said that, we're kicking off a week-long series of daily articles, each focusing on one tech death album released in 2014. For the first time, I will be using a pro/con system to rate every release, so it's easy for you to figure out which albums you're most interested in. 

So if you're a fan of technical death metal or just looking to get acquainted with the genre, join me for a week of dick-snapping drumming, mind-bending guitar wizardry, gut-puncturing bass lines, throat-ripping vocals and lyrics so science-y they would make Stephen Hawking's head spin!

This Monday, we're blasting this series off in full force with the sophomore album by Canadian tech death neuromancers Archspire, entitled The Lucid Collective. The original "sweet bros" initially made their name known in 2011 with their first album, All Shall Align, which was an enticing cut of quality technical death metal constructed out of sweep picking, cargo shorts and shaved heads. The Lucid Collective sees the Vancouver outfit upping their game every way imaginable: this whole album is an outstanding display of technicality and aggression.

The sci-fi theme of the album is a perfect vehicle for showcasing the band's skills: there's pretty much non-stop drum kit abuse, with blast beats and interesting fills flying around like shrapnel; their guitar-work is more creative than ever, with numerous tempo and mood changes, ranging from futuristic guitar lines to artillery-like riffs that pound away at your very sanity; the bassist lays down intricate grooves to compliment the spaced-out atmosphere and the vocals are the most impressive element of this album. They're very varied, with percussive, violent barks, growling and high pitched shrieks constantly rotating across songs, providing even more dynamics to the tracks. You only need to hear the song Fathom Infinite Depth to know these guys are really on to something: it starts off with what I can only describe as death metal rapping, moves on to all-out sonic warfare, morphs into an atmospheric ambient piece then quickly resumes the carnage. All in all, The Lucid Collective is an awe-inspiring album and one that will surely place Archspire in the great pantheon of tech death masters. 

Oh, and they've also included a song which references I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Nerd status: confirmed.

PROS: 

- amazing cover art 

- sci-fi themed songs that RIP

- jaw-dropping technicality

- next-level vocals
- br00tal snare sound

- BLEARGH!!!

CONS:

- ????

Rings of Saturn - Dingir (2013)

Finally, this sickening winter is gone and I can look forward to some warm, sunny days. I know it's not trve and br00tal to like sunny days, but I don't care. I fucking hate gloomy days, I hate rain and I hate cold winds. I for one welcome spring time. 

And what better way to celebrate the rebirth of nature than with some INSANE technical deathcore about hostile alien forces ripping humans apart with their devastating death rays? Californian aliencore pioneers Rings of Saturn are back with their second full-length album called Dingir, which was actually available for streaming since November of last year due to a regrettable leak of a pre-production version. So I've listened to this almost three months ago, but I thought I'd wait until the actual official release to post about it. 

Dingir is another display of dazzling axe mastery, as the guitarists once again take center stage and showcase their impeccable use of their tentacle fingers. There's fucktons of shredding, sweep-picking and crazy arpeggios flying off in every direction, so anyone who's not into nintendocore guitar noodling will probably hate this. There are some melodic parts sprinkled throughout, but the band focuses first and foremost on delivering the CRUSHING BRUTALITY deathcore kids enjoy. New vocalist Ian Bearer is rather spectacular, as his dual high/low growling vocals are extremely fitting with the alien genocide theme of the album. The rhythm section doesn't lag behind the guitars and manages to keep up with all the insanity that's going on. As awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping the technical prowess of these dudes is, the album does tend to become a bit stale after some listening. It is definitely more well fleshed out and structured than their previous effort, Embryonic Anomaly, but it requires the listener to be patient and to pay attention. And to hold on for dear life.

Rings of Saturn is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. In fact, I'm pretty sure all of my friends hate this band. :( Still, I think it's worth giving them a listen, if only to have your brain melted by all the horrifically-complex guitar parts. Listeners who take their time with Dingir will sometimes be rewarded with melodic bits, but 99% of this is screaming, blastbeats, heavy riffing and breakdowns. And I don't have a problem with it. 

Chester's Top 12 Album Covers of 2012

As 2012 draws ever closer to its end, we here at TZEEEAC are busy tinkering on our lists of the best music that came out this year. As the last time we did this, it's hard and nerve-wrecking, but hey, it's also damn fun. Still, it'll be a while before we will unveil them, so I thought I'd start things off slowly and reveal my favorite album artwork from 2012. There's no doubt that cover art plays a huge role in how an album is perceived and it always amazes me how creative bands and artists get with their covers. 2012 was no exception and we've seen some great fucking artistry at play. From the grotesque to the stunningly beautiful, there was something for every taste.

So here are my favorite album covers of 2012, in no particular order, along with my notes and comments on them. You're more than welcome to share your own favorites in the comments section or on Facebook.

First up, we have Tumbleweed Dealer's debut EP, Death Rides Southwards. It's purple and black. Is there any better color combo for a drone/doom band? I don't think so.

Horseback's latest full-length album Half-Blood is nothing short of spectacular, and the cover art is extremely fitting for their off-kilter brand of Americana-infused drone/doom/post-rock/shoegaze music. I can't really tell what's going on - except that it's some sort of ox with a wheat-tail eating a snake - but it's dark and gloomy and mysterious. And I love it.

This is probably my favorite album cover, hands down. It's unsettling on every level. What the fuck is this human-chimp hybrid? Why is it tearing apart its own face? What's this horrible looking junkyard? Why is there blood oozing from the cracks in that ominous-looking monolith? Definitely one of the most striking artworks I've ever seen.

I was chomping at the bit for Wretched's new album Son of Perdition, based on some song playthroughs on YouTube and on this awesome cover art. The music turned out to be less than memorable, but this still remains a really cool album cover. I actually hope I experience something like this: an immortal apocalyptic being raining fire and blood over my city, while people run away in terror. Maybe some day...

Pathology really hit it out of the park with this one. This looks fucking amazing. If this doesn't make you blow a load in your pants, you must be color-blind or something. I could look at this forever.

Next up, we have a piece of artwork from Muknal's self-titled EP and it perfectly reflects their music: it's cavernous, primitive, ominous and cosmic. The lack of any words or band logos lets you enjoy this piece on its own and get lost in the void of space. Pretty sweet.

I haven't really listened to BTBAM's newest album, but I can definitely appreciate the beautiful cover artwork. Totally wallpaper or poster material. Plus it syncs nicely with the band's complex, futuristic sound.

Again, I haven't even begun to sink my teeth into Ufomammut's Oro: Opus Alter, but I love the highly detailed artwork, chock full of symbolism I'll never fully comprehend. I want a shirt with this.

omg linkin park? chestor u worthles poser!! Yeah, yeah, clown on Linkin Park all you want, no one cares. Their latest album was actually pretty fucking sweet and this exploding cake robot on the cover looks really cool. Keep at it, boys.

I would hang this above the fireplace in my tastefully decorated living quarters and I would silently admire it while sitting naked in my expensive leather chair, sipping bourbon and rejecting calls from Metallica, desperately begging me to review their latest aural abomination. Rich and fat and rich.

This new album by Kowloon Walled City is a pretty standard collection of downtuned sludgy rock songs, but the album cover looks exquisite. DAT COLOR PALETTE. DAT COMPOSITION.

Last up, it's the cover art for 1974 by Portland-based doom rock act Doomsower. I think it's one of the year's most atmospheric artworks and it brings to mind memories of heading to the sea by train, drinking beer, laughing, wearing flip-flops and generally not having a care in the world. Feels good man.

Rings of Saturn - Embryonic Anomaly (2010)

This post is dedicated to fellow blogger Decapitated Saint. Know this: I refuse to be bullied by you any longer. For too long have you ignored by cries and pleas. In spite of all my protest, you keep writing about deathcore bands mere moments after I decide to, thus stealing my limelight and making me appear like a slowpoke. Well no longer! Consider this post a full-blown retaliation. I'm going all Jennifer Lopez in that movie where she gets revenge on her abusive ex-husband on your ass, boy!

Feel my wrath.

SO, Rings of Saturn is a band from California whose music is an insane, psychedelic blend of technical death metal and experimental deathcore. Embryonic Anomaly is their debut album and it was launched in 2010. As you may infer from their name, they mostly sing about FUCKING SPACE. Particularly, alien invasions. Have a peek at these lyrics from the song Corpses Thrown Across the Sky:

Slowly weakening the insides, paralysis leaves them on their knees, ontheir knees, begging for their lives, on their knees, begging fortheir fucking lives,Humans sliced apart, carnage fills the streets,dismantling what is left of humankind, beheaded, corpses thrownacross the sky, discarded, chaos and darkness engulfing earth, bodiesand loose limbs flowing through the blood red rivers  

Hmmm, all this senseless carnage of the human race reminds me of something: GIGANTIC BRAIN. Turns out, the similarities don't end with the subject matter. Like Gigantic Brain, Rings of Saturn also rely on an apocalyptic blizzard of insane drumming and hellish vocals to propel their music. The dual vocal attack (low growls and high-pitched shrieks) does a great job of conveying a sense of terror and despair, which is what you should be feeling when you're getting torn apart by alien death machines. The song structures are varied and interesting and - warning ahead - there are plenty of breakdowns to be had on Embryonic Anomaly, which I guess is where the deathcore tag comes from. Unlike Gigantic Brain, who used simplistic chugging guitar riffing in his genocidal hymns, the two guitarists in Rings of Saturn manage to successfully blend together crushing brutal death metal with nintendocore noodling, which can feel weird and out of place at the beginning, but it totally makes sense later on, after you've accustomed yourself to the feel of the music. 

All the cool kids have undoubtedly become intimately familiar with this promising band by now, though, so I guess I still am a slowpoke. Damn all! However, if you have not yet heard Embryonic Anomaly, I highly suggest you do so. These guys are gonna become huge and you don't want to be caught with your pants down when their new album Dingir comes out in late autumn. Peace out!

Those Who Lie Beneath - An Awakening (2009)

In case you haven't yet had time to let Marco's AMAZING ANNOUNCEMENT truly sink in (hint: he's going to write something), here's a great band from Portland, Oregon who took the core elements of death metal, added br00tal dethkore moshing bits and breakdowns, sprinkled some melodic death metal solos here and there and then mixed it all together and baked it in the Oven of Awesomeness. The result? An Awakening, Those Who Lie Beneath's debut album. I've been listening the shit out of this album this past week simply because it's fun and accessible while also being engaging and interesting to listen to. The vocals and general  moshcoreness of it all will probably offend death metal purists and make them shit their pants in anger - which makes it all the better!

Recently, though, they have decided to go a bit easy on the deathcore act and head towards a more straight-up evil death metal road, taking sepia-colored promo pictures with goat heads, candles and shit. They became a three-man unit and they've released a new EP called Antichrist, which you can listen to in its entirety here. It's not a huge musical departure from their previous style, so I'm guessing the fans aren't really upset about the sudden change. Plus, being a satanic death metal band means you gotta stop wearing those stupid plugs if you want any sort of street cred, which is in everyone's best interest.

Ophidian I - Solvet Saeclum (2012)

Ophidian I (is it like Ophidian the First or Ophidian Me? No idea) is a young band hailing from Iceland who seem to have taken the two biggest trends in death metal cover artwork right now and merge them together. The cover of their debut album Solvet Saeclum - which roughly translates to dissolving the world, as far as I can tell -  features piles of rotting corpses, planets, cosmic space and MOTHERFUCKING SPACE SHUTTLES LAUNCHING OFF INTO ORBIT WITH EXPLOSIONS AND SHIT. I think it's great. For too long bands have been forced to choose between brutal depictions of beheaded corpses and cosmic landscapes - Ophidian I has paved a new road, a road where having the best of both worlds is possible. For that, I applaud them.

GJ, bros!

As far as the music goes, Ophidian I play furious technical death metal that draws its influences from bands like Decrepit Birth, Obscura, Necrophagist or Odious Mortem. This should be enough to let you know what you're dealing with: highly competent tech death played at a blistering pace, featuring occasional groove sections, varied, technical drumming, bass solos and a vocalist providing growling vocals that fit the music perfectly but are nothing to write home about.

I've seen people call this band "average" and I suppose it's true to a certain degree, especially if you were to compare Ophidian I to tech death titans like The Faceless, Gorod or Spawn of Possession. However, I do think that tech death fans have an aggravating tendency to become rather blasé after being exposed to countless hours of irrational fret board gymnastics courtesy of the aforementioned bands (or any other bands they might hold in high regard). It's easy, then, to forget, just how much work and passion lesser known bands like this pour into their music and to write them off simply because they are yet unable to stand toe to toe with your favorite freaky alien guitarists. 

What I'm saying is some people need to stop being such elitist pricks and give new bands a fair chance before casting them off into the meh barrel. Ophidian I show a lot of promise, they play totally decent spaceship metal and you should check them out.  Solvet Saeclum is a great debut album and hopefully the first of many more to come. 

Transcend the hate, brozillas!

Cheers to JGD for the rec.

Recent Shit #5: Sounds of Terror and Despair

Both Marco and I are super busy with school-related business these days, and will likely remain busy until the next month or so, which means posts will be few and far between. Sometimes life just kinda creeps up on you and there's nothing you can do except clench your teeth and do what needs to be done. In my case, my bachelor thesis, which isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me, but it's certainly eating up precious time I could have otherwise used to watch movies and read books. Thankfully, sitting at my computer all day working on this thing affords me plenty of time to listen to music. Sadly, I mostly listen to deadmau5 and Burial while working since other stuff tends to distract me. However, I did manage to listen to some death metal too, and I'm cramming everything into one post, mostly so I can have an excuse to not write much about it.

I'm sorry for everything.

Fleshgod Apocalypse - Oracles (2009)

I've seen this album recommended left and right on the interwebs and I finally got around to listen to it. Fleshgod Apocalypse's newest album was basically unlistenable, but their debut Oracles has made a much better impression on me. What you have here is highly technical brutal death metal interspersed with beautiful classical music. Unusual combo, right? What's more unusual is that it works. Somehow, shifting from a serene classical piano piece to a sky cracking death metal tornado feels pretty damn good. Highly recommended. 

Cemetery Urn - Urn of Blood (2007)

Murky, blood-soaked death metal from the pits of Australia. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does a good job bashing your skull in with it. 

Hour of Penance - The Vile Conception (2008)

Italy's Hour of Penance deliver highly proficient technical death metal in the vein of Nile, Spawn of Possession and Fleshgod Apocalypse. No peaceful moments here, though, The Vile Conception is a blazing whirlwind of intricate riffs and rapid-fire drumming. Have at it!

Veil of Maya - The Common Man's Collapse (2008) 

I really liked Veil of Maya's new album, Eclipse, so I figured I'd check out some of their earlier works. Sure enough, they deliver the same polished djent/deathcore sound with dual vocal attacks and percussive guitar lines that I enjoyed on their latest album, so I'm satisfied. 

Bloody Sign - Chaos Echoes (2010)

Crypt-defiling blackened death metal from a very talented French band that sadly split up after releasing this album. Chaos Echoes features raw production, dissonant riffs, dirty vocals and there's a definite Incantation vibe going on. Good stuff. 

Defeated Sanity - Psalms of the Moribund (2007) 

I've never listened to Defeated Sanity before, but it's just what I expected: ultra-br00tal ball-crushing flesh-ripping guttural brutal death metal that's relentlessly punishing. Slamtastic!  

Veil of Maya - Eclipse (2012)

Look, I agree that djent is a bullshit, made-up label in a genre that's already saturated with long, pointless subgenres like cascadian black metal or whatever. Going the extra mile and talking about 'djentcore' just makes you eligible for a savage beating because now you're being ultra-annoying, so please, don't go there. I'm not entirely sure when this djent fad started, but I'm just finding out about it and now I'm curious. It took me quite a lot of google searches to figure out what djent even means and I think it's a poorly-chosen onomatopoeia and whoever came up with it (Meshuggah?) should receive a good flogging.

Veil of Maya are apparently part of the djent current, toiling away for six years and releasing three studio albums, Eclipse being their latest offering. I had heard good things about this album, but the thing that drew me to them - before reading up on what djent is - was the eye-catching cover art and, well, their name, which instantly got me thinking about Cynic and hoping it would sound kinda like them. They sound nothing like Cynic. Instead, they play a pimped-up, extremely polished modern semi-technical death metal (I'm really trying to avoid saying they actually play deathcore because I feel bad when I enjoy it - TRUE METALHEADZ AREN'T SUPPOSED TO ENJOY DEATHCORE!) that caters more to the rhythmic side of things.

UGH. I hate myself. 

The music is highly percussive, often sacrificing melody in favor of CHUG, with a dual low growl/high shriek vocal attack and blasting drumming. At times, the music is gorgeous, thanks to some smooth, eerie synth pads and a few melodic guitar solos here and there. This can best be noticed on tracks like The Glass Side, with its brooding background atmospherics, and Numerical Scheme, which features one of the most beautiful intros I've ever heard before collapsing into spastic, brutal riffing and chaotic vocal delivery. Other songs, like Punisher or Winter Is Coming Soon, are straight-up bone breakers and should do a decent job of crushing your spine under a fuckton of metal.

Hovering just under the 30 minute mark, Eclipse is a an easy and enjoyable listen. Most of the songs are about 2-3 minutes in lenght, which is really ideal - you wouldn't want nine minute songs made up of samey riffs pounding you into utter boredom. This may not be trve metal and the dudes in Veil of Maya might not be hard-ass men with huge muscles, but pleasant fellows who happen to enjoy harsh sounding guitars. Either way, if you can get past the hair-dos and the stupid djent label and keep an open mind, Veil of Maya might just surprise you.

Or you can go back to listening to Metallica and Lamb of God, you boring loser.

Spawn of Possession - Incurso (2012)

Were I not such a strong-willed, determined and resolute motherfucker individual, Incurso would have been the album that put me off technical death metal forever. In many ways, Spawn of Possession's latest offering (coming along a mere six years after their previous effort, Noctambulant) is a lot like that... thing on the cover: a giant, nimble, alien, monstrous juggernaut that crawls across the Earth's surface, cracking the skies and ruining everything you hold dear. And standing in front of it with your arms raised while holding a Bible isn't going to stop it, lemme tell ya!

The line-up for Incurso is quite exciting, as it features two of the original band members, namely Jonas Bryssling on guitar and Dennis Röndum on vocals (who was previously handling drum duties, now being passed on to Henrik Schönström), as well as Erlend Caspersen (Deeds of Flesh, ex-Blood Red Throne) on bass and legendary axe-master Christian Muenzner (Obscura, ex-Necrophagist) on lead guitar. With such fresh blood on the Spawn of Possession roster, it was reasonable to expect that their third studio album will be something to behold.

And it totally is, which is why I was saying it might have been the record that effectively ended tech death for me. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is so outrageously technical and over-the-top that I am seriously wondering a) how much alien DNA do these guys have? and b) how the fuck do they even remember how to play all this?

The guitars on Incurso are nothing short of mindblowing, as these two wizards play at inhumane levels of speed and dexterity while managing to sound tight and precise at the same time. Half the time I don't even know what the hell is going on, as intricate riffs and insane harmonies fly off in all directions like shrapnel from a fragmentation grenade, while the bass lines are working in their own separate ways, often times detaching from whatever crazy structure they're supposed to follow and doing their own thing. The drum work is basically a huge blizzard of relentless blasting, grinding and highly technical fills that's equally hard to comprehend, even after multiple listens. Even the vocals function like clockwork and deliver machine-gun barks and growls in percussive patterns that add to heaviness of the songs. It's controlled chaos: a savage machinery whose inner mechanisms run so fast and seemingly disjointed that it seems like everything is about to spin out of control at any second, yet it is all somehow kept in place.

For all the mind-bending technical sorcery, I do have one major gripe with Incurso, and that is the songwriting. Simply put, no song managed to stick with me, even after a dozen listens. It's almost as if the musicians were so busy playing at breakneck speeds and cramming in as many riffs per song as possible, that they forgot they're supposed to be crafting songs, not technical exhibitions. So while I stand in awe of their technical prowess, their latest album is more of a carpe diem affair: get hyperblasted now, remember none of it later.

Nevertheless, Incurso stands as a megalith of modern death metal and a genre landmark, offering astonishing technical wizardry that, right now, seems impossible to match, let alone surpass. It does lack a bit of feeling and some people will quickly dismiss it as "technical wankery" - and they're not totally wrong. But if you call yourself a tech death fan, you are not allowed to miss this.

Over and out.

Decrepit Birth - Polarity (2010)

Every tech death fan is (or should be) probably in love with Decrepit Birth, and for good reason. These guys have been progressing in leaps ever since their 2003 debut ...And Time Begins, releasing one of the genre's most influential records in 2008, the untouchable Diminishing Between Worlds.

Its 2010 follow-up, Polarity, sees the band stepping up their game even more, managing to create an amazing record that masterfully fuses together brutality and melody. The musicianship here is top-notch and the band displays a lot of progressive, melodic sensibility to go along with their death metal chops. The songwriting has also improved over its predecessor - while you can still characterize their songs as riff salads (albeit incredibly tasty ones), there's always a perceptible structure to them.

The guitars are the center-piece of this record, as Matt Sotelo and Dan Eggers craft lush, beautiful melodies of intertwining guitar leads and outer planetary solos, while Bill Robinson's harsh vocals and KC Howards' intense drumming provide a counterpoint to balance out the otherworldly beauty of the guitar parts. The entire album has a poignant cosmic feel, which is only fitting given that the lyrics are about infinite voids of space within the pockets of time, the micro-physics of subatomic relativity and gravitational singularity. Yeah, Bill Robinson does a lot of drugs. He's also homeless by choice.

Polarity might be my favorite Decrepit Birth record. Diminishing Between Worlds was great, but its follow-up is nothing short of a masterpiece. The amazing musicianship combined with the mindfucking lyrical content make for a fascinating listening experience which I will always cherish.

Seriously, if  you don't like Decrepit Birth, what the hell?

Gorod - A Perfect Absolution (2012)

Technical death metal often gets criticized as sterile, soulless wankery and I can certainly see where some of these detractors are coming from, but after listening to Gorod's latest effort, A Perfect Absolution, I can safely claim that they are above such criticism. In fact, these French bros have grown into a force to be reckoned with.

What makes Gorod stand out in the sea of tech death bands is their ability to create superbly intricate, atmospheric music that's both heavy and beautiful. The first song on the album, Birds of Sulphur, features a brief, eerie introduction punctuated by an unnerving, dissonant orchestral layer, then dives straight into insanely fast and brutal riffing. It's a massive aural assault, with the two guitarists often engaging in extended, intertwining lead duels that are just spectacular to hear, while the bass carries the song's heaviness with its thick, warm, independent lines and the drummer puts the beating on his kit. The vocals gave me a bit of a scare at first, since the very first words are delivered in an over-processed, Behemoth-like voice, but thankfully the vocalist settles into a more composed growl interspersed with a few high-pitched shrieks.

The first half of the album seems to focus more on outright brutality - don't get me wrong, though, there are plenty of awesome melodic guitar solos - but the second half of A Perfect Absolution is where things really get interesting. The band starts mixing it up and adds a lot of jazz and progressive elements to their music, so all of the sudden you're faced with unpredictable rhythm changes, warm guitar interludes, lightning-fast shredding, dual vocal attacks, intense grooves, outer-space solos and even spoken word bits. All of these elements are masterfully combined like a giant puzzle, making for an extremely engaging and fascinating listen, as the songs move effortlessly from frantic whirlwinds of technical riffing to quieter moments that give you a chance to catch your breath.

Of course, such a complex album requires multiple listens to take it all in, but, after listening to it pretty much every day for the last week, all I can say is that A Perfect Absolution is a fantastic record. It might even be the best Gorod album to date. Tight musicianship, great vocals, brilliant songwriting - you can't go wrong with this one.

PS: There are also two awesome guest appearances on this album, namely Michael Keene of The Faceless who plays the second guitar solo on The Axe of God and Christian Muenzner of Obscura/Spawn of Possession fame who plays the entire solo on Carved in the Wind. Just thought you should know.

Obscura - Illegimitation (2012)

So German tech death masters Obscura have recently released a compilation called Illegimitation that features a bunch of their older material and, more interestingly, three covers: Flesh and the Power It Holds by Death, Atheist's Piece of Time and one of Cynic's most well known songs, How Could I off their breakthrough record Focus. Obviously, being the flamboyant Cynic fanboy that I am, I got wildly excited at the prospect of Obscura performing How Could I.

Turns out my nipples were right to become erect, as Obscura have totally nailed the song, keeping true to the original yet adding their own personal vibe to their performance. It's a perfect cover of an already awesome song. What more can I say? Check it out below.

The Faceless - Planetary Duality (2008)

The Faceless seems to be one of those bands that's built around a hideously technical machine-freak of a guitarist, namely Michael Keene, with the rest of the members trying their best to keep up with him. Maybe that's not the case, maybe they have a totally mutual, equal relationship within the band, with everyone contributing the same - I dunno, I don't really care, I guess.

Planetary Duality is their sophomore effort and sees them trying to get rid of the deathcore elements prevalent in their previous record, Akeldama, and basically trying to get in with the tech death crowd. I'm a little torn when it comes to this second album, actually. While I do agree with the people complaining that it sounds really clinical and sterile, I've also listened to it  a bunch of times and it never fails to entertain me. Most of the songs on Planetary Duality can be accurately described as sonic hurricanes, in that there's so much going on all the time that it's hard focusing on anything in particular.

Michael Keene is an absolute beast, delivering staggeringly intricate guitar lines, playing a million notes per second and churning out tons of sweeping arpeggios, while also delivering some pretty great spacey solos and warm, clean interludes. The rhythm section is also complex, as you may imagine: the drummer blasts his way through an unimaginable amount of highly technical drum fills and rhythm changes, while the bassist is clearly some dude who likes jazz and is there just to provide a low-end backdrop that's on par with the rest of the instrumental section. The vocals are pretty standard growls that don't exhibit much range yet are completely suitable to the music, managing to successfully deliver the menacing message of impeding planetary collisions and human genocide inflicted by marauding technically-advanced aliens. Or whatever.  There's also a few moments of awkward vocoder vocals and, while I appreciate this subtle nod to Cynic, they don't have that otherworldly, ethereal sheen we've enjoyed on Focus and Traced in Air, instead sounding murky and barely intelligible.

I actually set out to give Planetary Duality a rave gushing review, but I guess I've come to realize that it's not really as amazing as I thought. I think my main problem with it is that there's barely any feeling to the music - instead, it sounds like I'm expected to just gawk at the guitarist and pick my jaw off the floor in response to his freakish abilities. Yes, Michael Keene is a total monster and I couldn't come up with a millionth of the shit he pulls of even if I had ten arms, but I would have liked to hear more than ultratechnical, Skynet-approved riffing. Sometimes it's really hard making sense of all this madness.

Still, it's not bad at all and, like I've said, I enjoyed listening to it. The Faceless are working on a new album that's supposedly up for release this year, so I'm definitely excited to hear it. To cap things of, a sub-par live video of them performing a song off Planetary Duality. Check out Michael Keene and his octopus fingers.

Illogicist - The Unconsciousness of Living (2011)

I found out I can rely on Italy's Illogicist. Whether it's their latest opus, The Unconsciousness of Living, or their previous effort, The Insight Eye, it seems that I can always count on them to deliver totally decent and entertaining technical death death, even if it's a bit generic and forgettable. Sure, their music isn't overly complex, there are no crazy strong structures nor billions of sweep-picked notes every second and they don't tackle profound matters like astrophysics and molecular genetics in their lyrics, but they are getting better and better with each new release and they might soon become a tech death force to be reckoned with.

And yes, I am becoming a total tech death nerd these days, so expect more posts about bands that claim to be "jazzy" and "progressive" and sing about asteroids, worm holes, quantum physics and solar flares.

WE NEED MORE BANDS THAT SING ABOUT SPACE AND SCIENCE.

Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs (2011)

O singură privire aruncată copertei este de ajuns ca să-ţi dai seama că Fallujah fac parte din brigada trupelor moderne şi cool de technical death metal, stând în aceeaşi linie cu trupe precum Obscura, Anata, Augury sau Aeon of Horus. The Harvest Wombs este un album de debut care-ţi oferă exact ceea ce te-ai aştepta: o doză sănătoasă de death metal progresiv, caracterizat prin versuri despre cosmos, planete şi fenomene astrale, miliarde de riff-uri tehnice ameţitor de rapide care nu încetinesc aproape niciodată şi "dueluri" prelungite între cei doi chitarişti, mult hyperblasting, infuzii delicioase de jazz, solo-uri melodice şi o atmosferă sci-fi pregnantă, totul beneficiind, desigur, de o producţie de cristal, care permite tuturor instrumentelor să se afirme în egală măsură.

Mare lucru nu prea mai am de zis. Am început să mă obişnuiesc cu trendul ăsta recent de a cânta death metal futurist şi chiar mi-a plăcut mai tot ce am ascultat din zona asta. Fallujah nu fac excepţie şi, dacă vă plac trupele de care am zis mai sus, The Harvest Wombs este un album cel puţin la fel de mişto ca tot ce au scos ăia.

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