The hardcore kids in England joined either Death Metal or Sludge bands. This trend is carrying over into 2025 with this band, which has some punchy slappers and is setting the bar for death metal bands in the coming year. The opening track is impressive as it has angular moments, while still paying homage to the classic death metal sound that is infused with the street-wise aggression of what sounds to be their hard-core roots. This is my second listen to the album, this time I put headphones in and it brings out the guitar tones in the mix. "Genestealer" is powered by a convincing chug. The vocals are articulated rather than just being a gurgle, so the lyrics punch out at you. They lay on the double bass when the pace picks up but do not just rely on speed. There are grooves and hooky accents to their songwriting.
"The Twisted Helix" has a slower crunch before, they go into an attack with a more tangible punk undercurrent. It returns to the sweet meaty riff and gives you something to headbang to. This is where I begin to think they do care about songwriting. Not that this was not heard in the first two songs, but most bands can at least get a couple right, the great ones get all of them right. They bust into a riff that reminds me a little of Sepultura. This is aided by the bombastic drumming. Granted to play death metal a great drummer is a requirement, more than any other metal genre. Case in point when it comes to consistency"Artificial Harvest of the Obscene' finds them beginning to sound like every other death metal band. To their credit, they are sticking to lyrical themes, this is a concept album of sorts bringing to life twisted science fiction.
"Organometallic Assimilation" stomps with greater purpose thanks to the vocals playing a larger role in the song.. "Incomprehensible Methods of Slaughter" finds a few more vocal colors introduced, it is another song that makes the most of its hooky chug to trample you with a wall of guitars. Lyrically it's more of a grocery list of gote, but it could play into the album's overarching narrative. "S.W.A.R.M" hits you with an onslaught of steady double bass, while it is very heavy it feels like it occupies the middle of the death metal road. The chorus finds them back in a more hard-core mood. I feel pretty confident that their bass player is just a metalhead.
"Promethean Dusk" works well enough and no doubt gets a pit churning, but it's not as catchy as some of the stronger songs on this album. Catchy is a quality that most death metal fans take for granted. But something has to hook you into a song and make you want to listen to it again. The last song I had to listen to a few times for it to sink in, there is a cool futuristic ambiance at the beginning, and when the metal kicks in it is slow and powerful, and oddly instrumental, that just builds on the one riff. Strange as it is also one of the album's longest songs. I'll give this one a 9, as it's setting the bar for death metal to come. Coming out on Dry Cough Records.
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