Death is June - ESCHATON :"Techtalitarian"

Ok, this is my one technical death metal album for the month. It starts with shredding and does not let up on it, until they let the verse breathe at first, but then are unable to control themselves any longer. It is kind of like when the guitarist won't stop soloing at band practice, as you are trying to iron out parts. The song finds them playing even faster, and things sound thin and rushed rather than heavy, as dizzying speed alone is just fast, not heavy. You would think that people into progressive music would have learned the value of less is more from jazz, but no, here we are. 

'Blood of the People' get a little darker in some places, but the clean sound of everything holds no more weight, and being more deliberate and more low-end on the mix is needed as well. "Hellfire's Woe" still indulges in the flashy shredding but in a more melodic and song-oriented fashion that is more effective. "The Bellicose Duality" is a little more like death metal as it's rapid-fire attack is marginally less jazzy. But they do not merge the two genres with the grace Cynic once did. 

It is also at this point that all the songs begin to sound the same, sometimes with solos extended for no good reason. They continue to fly off in the hyper-fast fret-burning direction with little regard for heaviness; it could be Dragonforce if it were not for the growling. Truth be told, when you have guys who have played in Necrophagist and Arsis, we should be expecting more, no matter how technical they are, as I began to get bored by the end and had to just press through this one.  I will give this album a 6.5. If you are just into shredding, it might be your thing. 

pst257