Death is June -Structural :" Decrowned"

Here in the annual death metal month I make it a point to cover all forms of death metal if sub-genres I am not really into. Technical Death Metal would fall under than. Sure there are bands like Horrendous that are exceptions to the rule and maybe this band from Israel will prove to be an exception as well. I am not going to hold my breath on it though as I was on the second song, then the next thing I knew it was the fourth song, so I had to go back to the second song in order to properly sink this album into my thoughts so I can review it. There lots of guitar solos. Some of you are going to be into that. This album has a big sound and is very well produced. Some of you are also going to be into that. 

What this album is not is very dark. This kind of hyper finessed riffing is often to busy to let the evil in. There are a few grooves. The drummer is talented, but nothing hits with the same kind of power we heard earlier in the year from bands like Frozen Soul , Obituary or even Creeping Death, who did not try to get shreddy to impress the listener of jerk yo0u around with a ton of time signature changes. While I like the fact that musicians are skilled enough to do those things at the end of the day how are they serving the song? This sounds good, and there are a few surprises, but I am having a hard time buying the aggression they are trying to sell me. Guitar solos are cool, but I never go back to a song to listen to one. It's hooks and melodies that bring me back to an album. 

There is a hint of the more technical brands of metal core to their sound, so perhaps this will resonate more with younger listeners. I mean when I was a teenager guitar solos impressed me more than they do now. That is not to say they do not do some impressive things with their guitars here by using varied tones and melodic sections, but it does not always lend it self to being the most infectious listen. "White Lilly" has a little more groove to it, but not a great deal. "Purge of Sanity" almost touches on nu-metal with some of the syncopations and sonic choices they make. This also makes it one of the album's best songs. It breaks things up and makes it stand out from the other songs. 

The chugging monotony begins to set in again no matter how they jerk the riffs around to "Ascetic" . "Turbulence" then picks up right where the previous song left off but with marginally more groove going for it. "Rebirth" opens with a little more symphonic flair. The djent vibes I get from the machine like opening riff are not a huge shift from what this album has been doing already. Even if it was Meshuggah, who was also at one time a death metal band as well, was doing this I would not be any more impressed. I guess this is the difference between technical and progressive, is while technical has the chops to pull it off it does not mean they are progressing with it. The last song fits a similar mold, probably too busy for it's own good. I will give this album a 7, cool ideas at times, but the pyrotechnics of the overplaying paint things with sonic colors that are too bright, watering it's heaviness down.