INSANITY.
These guys are SICK (no wordplay intended). I heard this
described as "intense" and "difficult", but that does not
begin to describe these guys. I will attempt. Imagine a tech-death
band with clean vocals mixed with the death on speed, coupled
with insane instrumental virtuosity like Spiral Architect,
mix in some bizarre vocal antics ala Mike Patton, some downtuned
guitars, and then imagine it all with a prog element and no
set pattern to any song. Scary.
This album is NOT for the faint of heart. If you don't
like melodic death metal with a prog tint (Dark Tranquility
as an example) don't even approach. If you can stomach the
death vocals, then make sure you don't require a nice, catchy,
melodic song. You won't find any here. Only crazy skill and
mind dropping time changes. These guys are ruthless. The death
vocals tend to be more in the "screamy" variety as opposed
to the deep rumble of Opeth. The clean vocals are nice when
they occur (albeit weird sometimes). Keyboards are present,
but do not stand out.
So what is prog about these guys? I suppose the time
signature changes - and the lack of any set pattern to the
songs. They also tend to shift genres between and sometimes
in each song. This one is a challenge - but worth it if you
have the time and the guts. Don't ever play it in front of
your wife (believe me, I know from experience).
Rating: 3.5 stars
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