Tech Death Thursday: Atlas Entity – Beneath the Cosmic Silence
Well, not super tech. We’ve got new jams from Atlas Entity on deck today.
News:
- Big tech bois Beyond Creation are headlining a big tech boi tour this fall. They’ll be joined by Fallujah, Arkaik, and most surprisingly, fucking Equipoise. This is going to be a beast of a tour. Dates are still to come.
- Speaking of big nasty tours, Revocation and Voivod will be coheadlining one this fall as well, joined by Pyscroptic, Skeletal Remains, and Conjurer. Check the details right here.
- Demiurgon has a new track up, and it’s totally fucking sick. July 12th will be a good day for brutal death metal as The Oblivious Lure drops via Everlasting Spew.
- Remember that sweet Orphalis track we ran a little while ago? Well, now you can catch the rest of the album streaming right here. As of this writing, I’m two minutes in and it’s already got me wearing a shit-eating grin. Pick it up tomorrow (June 7th) on Rising Nemesis.
Friends, I have a confession to make. Sometimes I get exhausted from listening to constant streams of sweep picking and blastbeats at 300 BPM. Sometimes, I need something a little more chill, something I can kick back and relax with. Sometimes, I don’t stay tech.
I’ll give you a moment to collect yourselves.
While it might seem counterintuitive to write about non-tech bands in what advertises itself as a tech death column, there are a lot of really good bands playing stuff in the same ballpark. Tampa’s Atlas Entity is one such act; Alex Gallegos’s brainchild featured some pretty complex tunes on the previous EP, Enceladus, but they’ve since moved away from that. Their upcoming full-length, Beneath the Cosmic Silence, is non-tech music that I think tech death fans will be able to dig into.
We already introduced you to Atlas Entity back in April with “Murmurs of Dissent,” one of the album’s proggy melodeath bangers and one of the more “tech” songs present here. Fast as the song is, it’s not difficult to follow; the main draw here is more in its feeling than the spectacle. It pulls you in with that bittersweet hook, a tricky melody built within a simple chord progression, and holds your focus with smooth, measured tempo and time signature changes. It shows you that the focus of the songwriting is more on being smart than flashy, and it works to the album’s great benefit.
This shift in writing paradigm from album to album also opens up avenues for more variety between songs. “In the Shadow of the Mountain” starts the album on a slower, somber note (following a haunting acoustic intro), with a pensive lead weaving in and out of big chords. The song intermittently picks up speed in pummeling melodeath sections and chills out in acoustic breaks, trading off a crunchy growl for reserved clean singing. Meanwhile, “Visions of Gold” is a mid-tempo headbanger end to end that lets drummer Samus Paulicelli cut loose a bit, and closer “Celestial Noise” lives up to its name with its numerous layers of guitars and effects-laden vocal melodies (plus a blistering solo from Obscura’s Rafael Trujillo). The sounds on the album are wide and varied, but tied together with an undercurrent of sadness; the sepia toned landscape on its cover is a perfect visual representation of the music within.
So yes, while this is decidedly less tech than what I typically feature here, I think even the staunchest tech death nerds will find something to enjoy on Beneath. The songs are intelligent and nuanced, complex while being listenable, and has just the right amount of shred. It sounds great, too; the instruments are all clear and crisp, the acoustic guitar is pleasantly robust, and the mix leaves room for dynamics. It’s a smooth listen, and it’s great if you’re looking for something equally chill and exciting.
Beneath the Cosmic Silence releases next Friday, June 14th, and you’ll be able to pick it up on Bandcamp. In the meantime, you can follow Atlas Entity on Facebook; be sure to go give them some Toilet love. That’s all for today, and until next time,
Is your band tech as heck? Got a juicy piece of news or an upcoming release to watch? Send it my way at techdeathtovh@gmail.com and I’ll check it out. I might even talk about it.
