Sallow Moth : "Hydrophilous Brood"

 

For some reason, it was in my head that this duo was doomed, but after pressing play, I realized how mistaken I was. The reason for this being doomed might be easier to pull off with only two people; what does work here is an experimental form of high-velocity death metal that requires many overdubs. Most of the song hangs around the four- to five-minute mark, but they are cramming a great deal of chaos into that time frame. The second song really sounds no different than the first aside from a few weird jazzy breaks that sound like if Cynic smoked DMT. 

The grinding riffage they favor descended from the Morbid Angel school with slight hints of Carcass, though shifting in the riff more than either. More blast than both as well. This need for rabid speed can take away from the song, as things just become a blur. To the point that it begins to bore me in place. I like how brutal they are and the fact it's not just one long blast beat, but the songwriting is lacking; they confused arrangements with writing songs worth listening to again with memorable vocal hooks that bands like Morbid Angel and  Carcass both apply. So it is not like I am asking them to become pop music. Memorable songs should be the goal regardless of genre. 

I only knew the song had changed to "Biohybrid Virulence" due to the fact I looked up at my computer, but the guitar player gets the point I was trying to make about catchy songs, as they at least make that much of an effort.I just left this album on as I typed up my review of the new Evil Dead movie, and it faded into the background, becoming a blur of winding riffs. "Polymorphic Gnaw' is more memorable as it swirls with cosmic atmosphere and the bass wanders off into a jazzy jam while a Frank Zappa inspired riffs fughts for its life against the blast beats. This might make it the best song on the album. 

Death metal drums are supposed to be balls to the wall, but this guy needs to anchor things more than he does on the bulk of the album, being too quick to default to a blast beat when the guitars are doing something more interesting. The title track is not too memorable. The last song trips over its blast-beaten chaos at times. The deliberate punchy riff in it is not played enough. The jazz section is a nice touch but almost too little too late. I will give this album an 8, as it's not my thing, but I at least appreciate the intensity and chops they have; fans of extreme tech death might find it to their liking. Coming out on Willotip Records. 

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Gorod : "the Orb"

 

This band's reputation plays against it when it comes to sparking my enthusiasm in checking them out. When I hear the term tech-death or praises regarding their technical prowess it is normally a turn off. This is deceptive as the first song is pretty much just ultra aggressive black metal, with groove and thrashing dialed up. Maybe the French just do this sort of thing differently. Midway into the first song I hear hints of this sort of thing, but nothing that is a deal breaker. Are the guitar solos shreddy? Yes, but well done and the album is well produced.  There is lots of tight chugging , but nothing telling me they see the songs as a bookend for masturbatory playing. The longest song is still under seven minutes which lets me know they are willing to use restraint. 

Granted they keep things pretty brisk, sometimes at an outright racing BPM. The rasp of the vocals snarls in a feral cadence that keeps up with the music. Marginally obligatory, so something I will listen for is how the vocals contribute to the music. The first outwardly proggy moment is midway in the second song, and works really well. It bounces not unlike 80s King Crimson. The title track has more of a rock groove to it. It still winds around the more battering angular passages. There varied shades of vocals some more growled other spoken with a sing song cadence. "Savitri" feels like it takes all the elements we have heard from the first three songs and jumbles them up to create a song. There is nothing wrong with the song, it just finds the formula emerging. The melodic clean guitar passages feel like a predictable way to set up the solo. 

"Breeding Silences" finds them rapidly chugging around a maze -like arrangement. It is beginning to wear on me now five songs in, and blitzing blur or temp shifting riffs, with not enough hooks and melody to balance it out. By the time we get to "Victory" I think I have gotten the memo that these guys can play fast and I am less than impressed. Not matter the dizzying manner they try to throw more notes into the mix, it is not memorable when they indulge themselves in this manner. "Waltz of Shades"  is more deliberate , at least at first, which helps distinguish this song from the other blazing riff collection that blurred past my ear. There is more nuance with this one. The need for speed is eventually indulged as I should have expected it to. The guitar work dazzles but has more form and function. 

"Scale of Sorrows" has a little groove to it but most of that gets washed away in the blitz of speed. Two minutes in there is a cool riff, but the rule here is .. cool riffs alone does not a good song make. The end the album with a cover of "Strange Days" by the Doors, while the Doors would have hated this, I like it and think they take what they do and still manage to capture the feel of the song though it is not as dark. I will give this album an 8.5, not really my thing, but still managed to grow on me. If you are into tech death this album might be a 9 for you, but in terms of what I am listening for here I think an 8.5, is pretty generous and earned for winning me over.

Defeated Sanity : "Disposal Of The Dead // Dharmata"

The lower than guttural growl, gives this German band more of a Cannibal Corpse feel to this album that is split into two parts. As with other expeditions into this more crudely brutal style of death metal, the snare sound under produced and over the guitar which sit more in the background, so like early Cannibal Corpse it's the sub-guttural gurgle of the vocals and the pop of the tinny snare that dominate the mix. The songs on this section of the album are compressed into three minutes bursts of your typical nineties death metal. This is death metal at it's most one dimensional here. I have a hard time with the blast beaten snare patterns on "Suttee" and reaffirms to me that blast beats work best in black metal. There is more groove and nuance to "the Bell" which touches on what I do like from this era of death metal, even though it reverts back into the blasting.

The second part of this bi-polar album finds the band in their manic stage indulging in a more grandiose proggy form of death metal with Max Phelps from Cynic lending his voice. The growls here are higher more like later period Death or Sepultura in some places. The only draw back is even with all it's technical twists and turns it seems like "At One With Wrath' is an extension of the previous song. There is a palm muted prog groove that I really like. "The Quest for Non- Existence" is pretty adventurous with the rubbery bass lines leading the way. By the time we get into the last minute of chaos that "Quest for Non-Existence" holds it's clear this band is not as skilled as Zappa's in putting this kind of thing together, but that is a bar held up only for the most elite, so they come close to fulfilling their ambitions.

They continue to boldly race through the labyrynth of wild riffs and time signatures on the closing "Return to Samsara". If you like prog metal or tech death then this half of the album is without a doubt worth your time. The more Death like tendencies give this song it's own individual thought patterns often leaning into a more Zappa like jazz. The guitar really steps up to shine here and the solos on this song are impressive.I'll give this album an 8.5 because it succedes at capturing the varied faces of death metal that it sets out to pay tribute to and show themselves prefcient at both. Is this the most original effort , well yes and no. Yes in the sense that they choose to cover polar ends of the spectrum, and No in that this is done is a pretty safe and familar manner. If you are just getting into death metal this might not phase you and no matter what side of the coin you fall on here this album is worth taking note of.

Deceptionist: " Initializing Irreversible Process"

I was more interested in this band's industrial side than I was the tech tendencies. In this case tech must mean riff robots devoid of putting feeling into their metal. They are tight, but a band should be. This is where death metal is fully monochrome and I'm not hearing anything from the futuristic side that is balancing this out for me. The second song has some samples in it and the solo is decent, but nothing mind blowing for me. I eventually find myself on "Final Innovation" and realized two songs have just breezed by me because they sound the same. Some industrial moments creep into "Irreversible Process" which is one of the album's next redeeming moments. It's mainly run of the mill tightly riffed death metal with drumming that fails to impress me like most death metal can. If you put a ton of stock into guitar solos then you might find those sections more appealing. It's well played wanking, but wanking none the less.

"Sunshine" chugged right past me. It seems a little rushed and as stiff as all the previous songs. There is a robotic effect placed on the vocal at one point, and that is what this album needs more of to stand on it's own two cyborg legs. There is more industrial to "Industrivolutionaction" though it's more of a droning interlude than a song that goes somewhere. There is a similar aggression to old Deicide on "Operator Nr 3". The Romans aren't known for death metal, so this is like the Indians launching into space travel, but much like that it's been done before so what is the point? I'll give this album a 5, the guitars are played and produced , but unless guitar solos make the album for you this doesn't have an original bone in it's cyborg body.