DÅÅTH : "the Deceivers"

 

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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Obscura : "Diluvium"

Full disclosure I can name 5 "progressive" death metal bands that I think are worth a shit. Cynic, Pestilence, Opeth, Edge of Sanity...ok maybe four then so let's see if these guys can be the fourth. They do take a cue from Cynic with the robotic elf vocals that come in. The rubbery bass line also appeals to me. Some of the more mathy runs throw things off for me, but they are aggressive enough for me to appreciate the talent going into this without it coming off as pure wanking so I am going to keep listening. So I like the first song , but can I take an entire album of this? While I like girls who are into technical death metal, because it means they will like watching me masturbate, I'm not sure I'm a voyeur in that regard, but they keep bringing the mechanical elf vocals, so I'll keep listening. Thee second song is less aggressive as the gallops are more of an after though than the angular equations.

The title track features some lower more guttural growls that I expect from my death metal. Yet there is not clear path in how they are driving this song along and it sound more like pieces of songs mixed together by a dj. Until you get to the solo section then that is more cohesive. The mech-elf vocals loose a little for me as they are now more expected. They do take some of the cooler elements of post- "Covenant" Morbid Angel and weave them together into groove that they don't let groove. The song that follows adhere's to a more solid structure. It feels heavier but I think the first song is better in terms of composition. There is something about "Ethereal Skies" that reminds me of Carcass.There is more trade off between the robo-elf vocals and the growls . There is also a symphonic slant to it , which is nothing like Carcass. "Convergence" sounds more like a proggy extension of the previous song.

"Ekpyrosis" has some more melodic touches and , the best solo of the album as it's as tasteful as shredding typically gets. The drummer gets a little blasty on this and it's also one of the albums more aggressive songs. The race ahead at the speed this album has been thrashing at on "Seventh Aeon" and despite a melodic breakdown it begins to sound the same. "the Conjuration" blasts with more of a death metal bite and its not as bogged down with all the busy elements they call progressive, but at it'score with out that it's pretty much run of the mill death meta, though the guitar can lock into a pretty mean chug as needed. There is finally a groove that makes the math worthwhile on "An Epilogue to Infinity". I don't always have to have death metal sounding like Morbid Angel or Incantation, what they are doing here works just fine for me. At the end of the day the album might have a ton of busy work , but its still pretty solid as the cool parts out weigh the bloat. I'll give it an 8.5, strangely Relapse Records is releasing this.

Obscura : " Akroasis"

So tech death is normally not my thing as it often sacrifices the heaviness of death metal for flimsy tones and with digitized distortion that just doesn't hold up against the darker and more gritty sounds I prefer from the genre, but I though I might give this German band a shot and see what happens. There is more balance on the second song which comes across as being heavier even with the melodic cleaner guitar tones mixed in a the effected sung vocals. The opener just kind of blew by me with the only thing standing out the fact the vocals were more of a mid range rasp than what I expected. "the Monist" has clearly more thought put into it. There is a slight thrash edge to the title track which finds the bass walking all over it and the solo as the centerpiece. Aside from that it's pretty much color by numbers galloping with a side of sweep picking.The vocals seem to be more of an after thought on this one. I had to click over to realize "Ten Sepiroth" was another song, the robotic Cynic vocals re-surface, but for a progressive metal band these guys keep spinning in the same circles. When they dig down into their guts to churn up something with more Morbid Angel like balls to it on "Ode to the Sun" it makes all the other shred trapping more worthwhile as their is more of a pay off.

"Fractal Dimension" finds the lower growled vocals back, but not as effective without the band congealing around them to support the punch they are trying to pack. I can hear a little Cynic here, but Cynic are just better song writers. The riffage on this one is not very interesting. The guitars stumble over a few melodies here and there , but even the solo sound devoid of any feeling here. There is an almost djent like riff that at least adds some groove for a second to pull me in even though that is normally not my thing. "Perpetual Infinity" starts off more melodic, but eventually finds it self racing off . There is an under current of atmosphere that simmers under certain passages. "Weltseele"  finds the band regaining their balls. If you are playing a hundred notes and they do not have power behind them they are useless, so when theses guys dig in and put some intention behind their chugs they are in fine form.  At fifteen minutes it does make we wonder how long these guys can keep it up. I like when the sing actual notes using the rougher vocal tone. At the midway point they dip into a symphonic section that leads into a spoken words section that puts the breaks on the momentum the song had gained. There is a slight mosh element to the riff they come back with, but it's not as heavy of a pay as they need after the breather. There is a a groove that reminds me of Sigh following this winding section.

At the end of the day the melodic playing of the bass and the few more thoughtful song make this a better album than I expect from this genre, while the tone was much better than their more modern peers, these guys stumble into the same pitfall many bands with a fetish for shredding do and lose you in the manic ego fest instead of locking into something with the power to make you bang your head. I'll give this one a 7.5.