CUTTERRED FLESH : "The Shapes of Hidden Malice"

 

This Czech death metal band is not what I expected going into this album, as there is a more technical feel to their grooves than what I expected from "horror-themed death metal. It is hard to say if this s my thing from the first song alone, as I do like bands with some technical aspects when it comes to death metal; there is not one set rule that I stick to. "Le Horiaa' is more deliberate as things slow down to a more purposeful crunch. I can hear where Cattle Decapitation comparisons could be drawn, though with less of a chaotic vocal delivery and a different atmosphere that creeps up here as synths become more apparent. They have a well-layered guitar presentation I prefer the more creeping aspects than when they go full bore. 

"The King in Yellow" works off a more syncopated groove that works against more frantic flurries thanks to the drumming. The horror aspects can be felt as this song progresses. Not sure how it relates to the work this song is named after, but it's the thought that counts. There is marginally more traditional death metal on "The Willows ", though when it gets more progressive it kinda loses focus and throws a bunch at you. Some of the more crazed blasting does not work as well for me. However, there is no doubt these fine fellows are talented. They have plenty of chops and already have proven they can write a song, but can they be consistent is the question. The angular battery that powers "Mimi-Nashi" at least works better than the previous song. 

'The Feather Pillow' opens with a bunch of blast beats before it begins to find its footing. The drummer is almost playing against the grain of the song here. When it comes to songwriting, the strongest moment so far feels like it is "the Letter U", though even here they eventually erupt into a merciless speed fest.  'The Painted Skin" opens with more purpose in the pounding. This builds into an almost Cannibal Corpse level of brutality. They bring more suited weirdness to " The Colour Out of Space' perhaps not as Lovecraftian in feel as the lyrics should be. I appreciate the nod to my favorite author.. "Bernice," like most of the songs, is possessed by more blasting than it needs.  I will give this a 9 as it is not my preference for death metal but even then there are song sand moments I enjoyed, so they won me over enough to know death metal fans into this sort of thing will love this album.Drops November 11th on Transcending Obscurity.  

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Psycroptic : "The Pulse of Annihilation"

 

These Tasmanian devils play a blistering form of death metal that carries technical finesse as well as scowling fury. There is a rock n roll swagger to the more progressive side of what they do. It is my first time digging into these guys, so surprised that there is not a harsh blast of time signatures that flash before my eyes before i can form thoughts about them. 'Gathering a Venomous Herd" finds them picking up some speed, as the snarl of the vocals makes more of a declaration. There has not been a barrage of guitar solos, so that is impressive. It finds them going in an almsot more of a thrash direction. 

"A Sword of Me" features some tight, airtight picking.. The vocals are layered with perhaps a more death metal sound buried somewhre in the mix. The focus is on the form and function, rather than on hooks.. The harsher vocals are spit out with rapid-fire intent.  "No Time For the Week" tries to give things more space, but they are picking at such a hyper fast spped it is not attainable. To their credit, the drums are locked in almost as snuggly has what Meshuggah does. Just fewer time signature changes. The more melodic intro is needed to "Pillars Fall" as everything had begun to run together. They don't linger when the build comes and throw themselves back into the high-speed chugging. But the breather helped and reframed what they are doing. 

Until they speed off there is a bit of a hook in the main riff of "Annihilation Pulse". It is better than what the album descends to when they start doing palm-muted chugging on "No Blade of Grass," which becomes almost indistinguishable from what they do on "Embrace the Curse" that follows. This puts a great deal of pressure on the last song, "Forging the Crown," to do something different, but this is not really what happens. There is a guitar melody in the background, but the emphasis is on the racing riff. The most interesting parts feel more like thrash than death metal. For my tastes, this is too busy and not dark enough, but if yo uare into more technical metal but want it to not jerk you around with time signature changes, then you might already be a fan of this band. If not, give them a shot. I will give this album an 8; it's being released on Metal Blade. 

 

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Defeated Sanity :'Chronicles of Lunacy"

The band's 2016 album was the last one we reviewed and it got an 8.5, which is better than most. This album is more committed to burtality, which presents its own challenges. What are they going to do that Cannibal Corpse does not do better is the number one question. There is a little more grindcore feel alone with the technical aspects of the band, which finds subtle jazz trapping in the drumming and bass playing as the guitar chugs around their escapades. The second song finds a better balance of the jazz technicality with the more brutal pound. The grunt of the guttural vocals has a similar low gurgle as Cannibal Corpse, though Corpsegrinder's voice has more power and personality. Still, this guy gets the job done well enough. 

They jerk you around like a blood-soaked roller coaster on "Accelerating the Rot". The guitars do find some interesting hooks, and they dazzle you in the manner they are capable of turning the riffs around. While many tech death bands get preoccupied with solos, these guys still care about the song and bring the grooves as needed. Lille Gruber is an amazing drummer who is capable of doing it all, but the hidden VIP here is the bassist Jacob Schmidt, who not only keeps up but embellishes around the chaos. When they just plow into the chug and slow things down it's just as effective as when they are firing off all the jazz-inflected bells and whistles. They do not blast at you for prolonged periods and keep dragging you down the maze-like corridors of the songs. 

Though like most technical death metal if they are not giving me riffs that will keep my attention and things fall into a blaze of rapid-fire jazz abstraction with growling over it begins to fade into a distortion salad in the background.  "a Patriarchy Pervese' does find the meaty riffs stomping around enough. There is a great deal being thrown at you throughout the song. The vocals are so low and guttural that they are not an active participant in creating the narrative of the song and feel more like a layer of sound. This song finds them remembering that head banging is the priority over fretboard mastery. 

At six minutes "Condemned to Vascular Famine" is the longest song on the album. It opens with rubbery riffs dancing in an angular fashion before blasting at you full speed ahead. It hammers almost too hard for its own good. Based on the sample it is about vampires, which is a subject more death metal should cover. It does find a solid grooving break-down style riff to work off of. The last song goes more for brutality and accomplishes proving the band as one of the more intense death metal bands out, this is not the album's best song. I will give this one a 9. It is not the style of death metal I am into when it comes to my own tastes, but the band's talents can not be denied. This drops November 22nd on Season of Mist. 

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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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Job For a Cowboy : "Moon Healer"

 Truth be told I never gave these guys much of a chance, though was never really impressed by what I heard from them in passing. This marks the first time they have been reviewed here. There are more melodic elements slithering under the burly exterior of their brand of death metal. Like most bands of this sort when they indulge the need for speed things feel rushed and lose the groove. To their credit for all the technical wonderment and guitar solos burst from the seams of these songs, they stick to cramming them into around four to five minutes rather than long sprawling progressive indulgences. The second song does not do this in a manner that kept my attention like the opening track.

This album is well produced, I appreciate the effect on the vocals. Everything is multitracked to create a massive sound that hits you. They are certainly students of Death's more progressive later years. They indulge younger fans in something closer to metal-core with "The Sun Gave Me Ashes So I Sought Out the Moon". This at least has more groove when they are not racing along rubbery riffs. "Into the Crystalline Crypts" is not as compelling. It weaves and winds with great execution, but does not connect with me in the same way a band like Cattle Decapitation does. Perhaps everything is dialed in so perfectly that it feels sterile.  "A Sorrow Filled Moon" does not bob and weave in the same way taking a more deliberate approach that gives things more room to breathe. 

They pound into "the Agony Seeping Storm" with plenty of authority, which is true to what they do as a band. Does it cover ground that really sets them apart from other bands? Not really.  Perhaps the reason this sort of thing does not click with me is that it doesn't feel heavy to my ears because it is too busy. Morbid Angel is more crushing even on their lackluster material. Carcass is a better balance of the two. This is however well executed and created in a pristine manner I will give this an 8.This drops on Metal Blade Febuary 23rd.  

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Horrendous : " Ontological Mysterium"

The Philly death metal band is unleashing their much-awaited fifth album. Having reviewed their past two albums here the bar is pretty high as those earned 9's. The two- minute opening track is more of an intro. "Chrysopeia" is the first actual song that finds Horrendous extending themselves further into more of a jammy progressive, that has a more organic feel than what they did on "Idol" last time around. There are clean vocals placed at unpredictable points in the song. I appreciated guitar solos, but not someone normally impressed by shredding, take that into consideration when I tell you the guitar solos on this album improve the songs. 

These guys said they wanted to get back to a place of 80s and 90s metal, and that can be felt on "Neon Leviathan". It has a rawer more thrash like energy to it with the bass driving things forward in an aggressive manner. It's not until the end of the song that they begin to use their space age tricks. Things switch over into a more jazzy groove going into "Aurora Neoterica" which is really only an interlude leading to "Preterition Hymn".  It works off a slithering death metal groove until the melodic middle section lets things simmer down til the end. "Cult of Shaad"oh" has a hooky mid-paced groove that is more like Morbid Angel's most memorable moments. The vocals are more dramatically exclaimed when not snarled.  The moshy hookiness of the riffs is where the are excelling on this album. Sometimes this does give things a more Megadeth like groove in the manner the technical guitar playing is balance out in order to create something that sticks to your ears. 

The title track finds them hitting with a more hammering intensity, though this is balanced with an almost jazz- like nuance that recalls Cynic. Though they crunch down harder into the riffs and double bass than Cynic has. They close the album with "the Deathknell Ringeth" which carries more menace in it's snarls. The vocals are more aggressive throughout this album, but perhaps this most with the anguish from which the are screamed on this one. The fake-out ending is really well done. There is not an area this album does not excel at. In a year where there has been some really stellar death metal releases , this album tops even those. It drops the 18th of August on Season of Mist, and if you are a fan of death metal you owe it to your self to give this album a listen. 

Death is June - Blindfolded and Led to the Woods : 'Rejecting Obliteration "

It was death metal month back in 2021 when we first reviewed their previous album. This time the New Zealand based band, utilizes vocals that employ more of a hard core bark than what I remember from them before. What is certain is the fact these guys bring a more varied array of musical influences to the table than most death metal bands who sound like either Entombed, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse or Incantation, None of those bands seem to have much bearing on the musical DNA that brings their dark haunting brand of  catharsis to life. The album opens with the more speedy head first assault that is more common in the genre, but with an odd angularity to attack of guitars. They have technical prowess , but chose to manifest it in a manner that is not slave to orthodoxy. Midway into the first song they already begin to introduce cleaner guitar tones and melodic sonics. 

"Methlehem" is one of the better song titles this month. It is also punchy like a hard core band, until the speed up in a deafening blur. When the slow from the blasting into a stomping groove it is very effective. It is more effective when they give the song room to breathe on "Hallucinative Terror". Sure it speeds up into blast beaten hyper aggression, but done so with more colors than just an angry blood red stain. The title track however focuses more on the double bass attack and pounding your ears through the wall with it. They do use enough melodic moments to give the aural beating some contrast. It would be redundant to praise the drumming, as death metal needs this kind of drumming. Tim Stewart's best moments come when he knows to let up and groove on the ambiance. "Wraith" gives a good example of this in action . 

The eerie darkness that finds beauty in the ugly snarl of their more primal sound is the band's strength. The chaotic math-core like bursts of technical acrobatics at warp speed are not as rewarding if you are listening for songs. They do cram a great deal into two minutes for "Funeral Smiles" which works better than some of the more indulgent excess on this album. The dissonance that does appear works well when given a more melodic application. The songs are not sprawling compositions, never going over the seven minute mark, which for the scope of what they do is conservative use of time. The hard core pounding return between the math passages of "Hands of Contrition".  This is an interesting contrast to some of the more machine like grinding of gears the inter play of guitars and the drums create. The last song does not introduce any colors of sound to the carnage that have not at least been foreshadowed. It does have a great guitar solo. I guess given the band's flare for adventure and polishing of sound have earned this a 9, even when the twists and turns threaten to lose the song. 

Death is June - the Zenith Passage : "Datalysium"

 

This Los Angeles progressive death metal, rides the line without being to technical for me. They do this by creating grooves within the math of the sinewy riffs they hit you with. Lyrically you can make out what is being growled , and it is somewhat interesting. The glitchy arpeggiation that is heard in things like the more chaotic forms of djent is used on the second song. But their playing and sense of arrangement still sets it up to be palatable to my ears. Granted I am also a huge Frank Zappa fan so I am up for a challenge as long as their is catchy songwriting involved and not just masturbation. Both the guitar and bas become very rubbery in how they bend around the drums. 

"Lexicontagian" seems to have some interesting perspectives that are going fly right under the radar. When the sung vocals some in things have gone in a more Cynical direction. The have a jazz like precision to their playing I appreciate. "Synaptic Depravation" is like Imperial Triumphant if they were less weird and more into guitar solos. "Deletion Cult" finds the blistering fast technique losing it's luster as the overall sound begins to conform to genre norms. There is tighter syncopation to "Divinertia 1". The bass bounces around how the guitars and drums are locked in.  The dry mid ranged growl could use some variation by this point as the sung vocals have yet to reappear to break things up. The part two of this song does nothing that different, maybe backs off marginally to allow for ambiance. There is a heavier stomp that it builds into, but this is death metal and heavy should always be the expected destination. 

"Automated Twilight" has enough sonic variation to make it interesting. The effects on the vocals leading into the song works well. The sung vocals return but are not as compelling the second time around. The title track that closes the album finds, the synths coming up further forward in the mix, while the rest of the bands stays in line with their mission statement. I will give this album a 9, though it is not what I am going to click on first to listen to when it comes to death metal, I appreciate what they put into this and find this album is everything thing they intended, so fans of technical death metal should eat this up.

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. 

Voidceremony : "Threads of Unknowing"

 

This death metal band features the current drummer for Morbid Angel and Incantation, Charles Koryn. At 29 he is an all around session guy. He has the chops to sit on the throne for death metal with jazz leanings. The bass player has played in Mournful Congregation, though the music being thrashed out here has little to do with doom. Throw in the guitarist for Worm, and you have an idea of the direction you are heading in. The jazz elements could be more frequent. They are pretty much a death metal band with jazzy solos. The drums get loose and lose the stiffness that often haunts death metal. However for as creative as most reviews and press releases might try to color their sound it is pretty much just death metal with a more technical streak. The precision here is perhaps a side effect of the jazz influence. 

They rubbery bass flourishes at the start of "Entropic Reflections Continuum" give jazz more of a wink. They do grind things into more of a groove, which helps to separate this song from the kind of hyper aggression that dominates their sound. Plenty of homage is paid to the roots of old school death metal. If the mix was not so layered and dense they would sound like they came from the 90s in many places. The low growled vocals , do their job, to an almost obligatory level as this is what is expected from death metal. I can hear where guitar players might listen to this album with orgasmic glee when it comes to the solos. However they do not benefit the songs as much. A lot is throw at you in the jumbled chaos of the arrangements. 

I am not listening for how complex things are or the notes crammed into guitar solos. I listen for songs. Do they hook me in? What is this band doing that sets themselves apart for the pack? This is not answered on "At the Periphery of Human Realms" . It is just an instrumental that is more of an interlude as it really goes no where. The last song finds them revisiting themes already established earlier in the album, the part I found the most interesting where they few measures of spoken vocals run through a ton of effects. Three minutes into this eleven minute closer I am wondering where they hell they are going to go in order to summon another 8 minutes of song. Am I going to be forced to endure four more minutes of guitar solos? Will there be any melody or groove? It is pretty much more of the same, they are good at what they do and the wheel is not being reinvented here I will give this one a 7.5, no bad songs, just dense collections of riffs that hold their solos. However way heavier than most of the so called technical death metal. Dropping on 20 Buck Spin

Death is June -Inanimate Existence: "the Masquerade"

 If you are hungry for death metal guitar heroes, this band has you covered. Normally the more technical and progressive sides of death metal can feel to clean and wanky for me, but these guys have all the guitar spectacle you might want but are doing it in a way that is very tasteful and blends jazz in. They are more aggressive and less creative on the second song, the speed of their attack being more of the focal point. The guttural growl of the vocals has a purpose even here. The sweeping guitar solos rain all over the second half of the song. I feel they did this in a manner with more soul flowing from it on the first song. The more technical aspect of the second song finds some of that soul sterilized out. 

"The Masquerade" wrestles with itself as there is a flurry of furious speed, then they are making even more interesting guitar melodies with other atmosphere haunting the edges of the song. On top of that they still have to squeeze guitar solos in. Midway into the song, their jazz chops come through again. They could stand to lean into some grooves. While playing this fast might impress many a teenager it does not always lend itself to the best song writing. There are hints of neo classical on " Into the Underworld" . Here they guitar begins to make me dizzy When they resolves in the chugs it works better.  For this song to be just under six minutes they cover enough ground to wear the listener out. I was a couple minutes into "Wandering White Halls" before I realized it was not an extension of the previous song.  Telling me that there is a uniformity emerging even as they indulge in the pretense of being progressive. Their strength being the weighty chugs that anchor it amid the wanking wandering. 

They lock into more of a groove on " Return to the Dream' . They find a head banging groove to root the song it and color it with more exotic guitar phrasing.  "Hear of the Inferno" only has a few more tricks up itself than the bulk of mainstream modern death metal. The guitar is tasteful for a genre that celebrates instrumental excess. "Ending the Ritual" follows a similar formula to the previous song , but it is also faster and heavier.  I will give this album a 9, what they do is impressive and while I normally do not like what they do as far as the technical aspect they have refined it in a manner that is not over produced and still has the needed edge to it. 

 

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.

Dying Fetus : " Wrong One to Fuck With"

There is more technical prowess exposed in the first song than I planned on. It is their 8th album so they have been at it long enough to do what ever needs to be done. The drumming is as bad ass as expected. But if you are in a death metal band , your drummer has to be the shit. The first song resonates with me more than the second which feels more like they just threw a bunch of riffs at the wall to see what would stick. They go into a more bone headed approach to lowest common denominator death metal on their more straight forward attempts . Lots of jack hammer fucking , which lets be honest when it comes to sex is vanilla as fuck so why different with metal. It's when they slow things down on "Reveling in the Abyss" that things get better . They are not able to restrain themselves for long. There is more of a straight up metal bent to the riff leading into "Seething With Disdain" which is propelled by a powerful that makes this the first song that really connects with me.

The vocal are low and guttural , everything you could want out of death metal. They sound really good with stacked with overdubs. The shredding sections might be good to masturbate to, but take away from a little of the brutality so go thing the rest of the song has that in spades. Some of the more shred tinged riffs work better when just thrown in for effect and don't phase the momentum. The need for speed it met while not sacrificing the song on the tightly chugged "Ideological Subjugation" . It's hard not to head bang to. "Weaken the Structure" just kinda blasts by me. "Fallacy" is a similar fast form of death metal that threatens to do the same as the aggression alone is not enough to hook me in.

From this point on the brutal nature what they do has numbed me out and it all begins to sound like a blur. Some riffs carry more hook in their bite. The rule around here is cool riffs alone do not make a good song. This leaves the often atonal grunt of the growled vocals to focus more on placement and they have to make songs that are more than a place holder for a guitar solo. The title track proves they can be brutal and write a good song . So whats  the excuse for all the filler ? Ok at least two songs could have been trimmed to get rid of the bloat so that means this album gets an 8.

HIDEOUS DIVINITY : "Adveniens"

There is not question this Italian death metal band knows how to blend their technical skill with convincing brutality. The first song steam rolls you, then the second song they eventually give you the hooky chant to latch onto. These guys know what they are doing. This album sounds massive and while this is not my favorite form of death metal I like the sound they are hitting me with. WIth members of Aborted and Hour of Penance on their ranks the 3rd album is dialed in to the max. "Passages" they begin to get a little mired down in the huge sound and at one point I think I am listening to another song when we haven't gone anywhere. They continue to throw a lot at you on "Angel of Revolution" and at times this kind of playing even hits the velocity that it sounds rushed.  At times it reminds me of "Legion" era Deicide if they took a bunch of meth and couldn't concentrate on the verse chorus format. I like the use of samples on "Feeding off the Blind".

There is a touch of Morbid Angel about this whole album, but filtered through more of  modern metal attack, it's more like post- David Vincent Morbid Angel on "When Flesh Unfolds". "Future in Red" catches my ear again, but the song before it blasted by in a blur that I did not even feel the need to pay attention to. "Embodiment of Chaos" really doesn't divert drastically from the carnage filled oath they have already paved. If you have gone the entire album with out noticing the drummer is a monster of a machine then his cyborg nature can no longer be denied . In fact that is probably him on the album cover.  Guitar wise they don't feel the need to really shred a shit tone, which plays to their favor more guitar solos would just clutter things up. I don't remember if I have really heard that much as far as solos go this entire album which means if they were there they were not memorable.

While these guys are better than most of the tech death metal out their, I'll give this album a 7 as most of these songs sound the same. If you are into this kind of thing then round it up to an 8. This is not what I normally listen to when it comes to death metal thought they pull enough from the classics to make me admit they know what they are doing.



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Fallujah : "Dreamless"

Here is the follow up to 2014's "The Flesh Prevails". While these guys are technical death metal, they pull it off in such a way that doesn't just come across as dazzling you with chops but create an atmosphere. The first song seems like a movement more than a song on it's own even though I like the fact the carries more ambiance than anything I remember from the first album. "Adrenaline" ebbs down into an almost jazzy landscape, but caters more to fans of death metal as it is about the propulsion. The vocals are forceful growls on the lower side of mid range. A more progressive color is added that creates a more Dream Theater like feel before they blast off into the more rapid fire attack. The drummer is really killing it coming off of fills into punching grooves. The bass player is not too far behind him in terms of prowess. The shredding solos of course reach out and grab, but it's the other textures like the female vocals of Tori Letzer, tossed into this one that make a difference.

These guys prove you can throw a lot into the mix without having to drag it out into ten minute songs. "Abandon" doesn't pull me in as much as the previous songs, but highlights the fact that these guys don't come at out you with the conventions of modern metal in the most expected ways. The female vocals also return for this song. They do flirt with some of the more conventional elements of prog metal, bands like Cynic will come to mind. The very mathy grooves that dance around your head rather than hitting you straight on. At this point if you haven't noticed the drummers feet you will as his double bass is beyond sick. The title track is the most melodic moment so far, it is almost an instrumental with the female vocals haunting it from the corners of the song. Lighter in atmosphere the drummer still keeps things moving. They get more hammering on "the Prodigal Son" it does lose me a little in the same places metal that is heavy on technique does. By offsetting the heaviness with the ambition invested in it. There is almost a more black metal feel to the beginning for "Amber Gaze" , perhaps if it was droned through a quantum hyper-cube. When the song gets to more of a roar than it's clearly death metal. If you are meat and potatoes metal head that doesn't like chugging more artful than Deicide then this might not be the band for you.

"Fidelio" is more of an atmospheric interlude than a free standing song. It feels like this interlude is going to lead into a build up more intense, then comes another fake out in the form of "Wind For Wings" which takes it's time getting wound up with a Tool like tension. When it kicks in it feels like marginally heavier Dream Theater with growled vocals instead of the Journey like warbling. The break for the guitar solo gives way to the first clean male vocals on the album. The sound of robots on acid is captured at the onset of "Les Silences" . The use of electronics lives up to the title progressive and takes their sound some where they have not gone before. This instrumental's only voice is an undercurrent of samples, it might not be metal, but it is good music. Did not expect to hear anything like that going into this album. If this was the first song I heard I would click back to make sure I was listening to the right album.So this puts the pressure on "Lacuna" to end the album on a heavy note. By this time death metal is another color being added to their sound than the totality of it. The prog acrobatics confirm this, before they do get down into some growling. I'll give this one a 9.5, I am not sure how much play I will get out of it, but it's hard to ignore what an achievement this album is and the growth it reflects on the band.