After an almost 13-year hiatus, this death metal band has returned. Eyal Levi is the sole original member, though Sean Z returns to lend his growl to the proceedings. The bigger more grandiose sound of this album is largely due to the addition of Jesse Zuretti who handled the orchestration, synths, and some additional guitar. Obscura guitarist Rafael Trujillo is also adding to the guitar fold. This album features a whos who of guest guitar spots from modern metal bands ranging from Ice Nine Kills to Archspire. Around here we place minimal emphasis on guitar solos, so not going into a breakdown of them for this review. Instead, we are focusing on the songwriting, things like hooks and dynamics.
The first two songs play to the strengths that this band has showcased over the years by using grooves to display their technical prowess, rather than having their chops as the focal point. This album is more progressive and technical than past releases. Metal has changed a great deal in the decade they have been gone, and in some ways it has stayed in the same. They are aware of this fact , though balancing out what might appeal to fans of today's progressive or technical death metal, they also have catchier more groove-oriented songs like "The Silent Foray". It also marks the second time on this album I notice Sean dropping from a growl into a more spoken section that is dripping in effects. It works to create more sonic colors, even if they are nuanced.
Some of the more symphonic sections remind me of Dimmu Borgir without the black metal. Upon first listen, this element might take a few listens to grow on me. They have certainly employed synths and electronic elements in the past, this album just takes them to a more cinematic place. "Purified By Vengence" almost reaches back to the kind of grooves that infected their first album. This also makes it one of the album's strongest songs. It balances the head-banging riffs and the more virtuosic spectacle the new lineup leans toward.
"Deserving the Grave" splits the difference between the two polarities this album is pulled toward and should appeal to the wider spectrum of metal heads. The waltzing melody that haunts the background is what kept me engaged. While for the bulk of this review, I have not mentioned guitar solos, the one at the end of "Deserving the Grave' is hard to ignore, and if you are going to play a metal solo then that is the way to do it. The last song is pummelling enough, and all the sounds captured here are well executed, it is however not the hookiest song of the album, and the vocals do not feel like a crucial element of the song. But the guitar heroics balance things out to where this might go unnoticed, if not given the scrutiny of repeat listens. I will give this album a 9, and see how it grows on me, it is impressive and the next logical step in Levi's creative vision given his classical pedigree. Fans of the band should rejoice as it will live up to expectations. There is an entire generation of young teenage metalheads, who were not old enough for the band's last album, so time will tell how this album sits with that demographic.
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