Tech Death Thursday: Caratucay and Mire
These came out of absolutely nowhere and obliterated my butt. We’ve got debuts from Caratucay and Mire, and you don’t want to miss them.
News:
- We got another new Obscura song recently, and it’s way more interesting than the last couple. Check out “Ethereal Skies” before the release of Diluvium next week.
- Georgia weirdbois Proliferation have a new album on the way, and I’ve been fucking up not telling you about it. Go read up on their debut if you’re not familiar, then look for Woodborn on July 20th.
- Anachronism has your weekly dose of dissonance. You can now stream their new album, Orogeny, before its release on Friday.
- Cognizance have a new album on the way for later this year, and you can listen to a new pre-pro track right here. These guys get progressively better with each release, so I’m looking forward to hearing where this goes.
- New angry shit on Everlasting Spew? Yes, please. NCS has a premiere from Infuriate, and it’s a nasty one. Check out “Juggernaut of Pestilence” and look for their self-titled album on August 21st.
The first item on the docket today is the first full-length album from Caratucay, which appears to have been a long time coming. Metal Archives tells me the band has been around since 2007(!), and while they’ve put out a handful of shorter releases over the past decade, they only just released their debut LP this past Sunday. Ponderous as their creative process may be, it seems to have paid off, because this is a hell of an album.
It’s hard to talk about Deranged Serenades in concrete terms, as its pool of influences seems to be quite eclectic. It’s progressive death metal in the same ways that Opeth was (though the two bands sound completely different), more relaxed in nature, progressive in tonal palette rather than structure. The band paints their melodies in the same muted blues and grays as Insomnium, oftentimes resembling a more technical version of their Finnish counterparts. The extensive use of acoustic guitar and melancholy Katatonia-esque clean singing doubles down on the somber mood, but without killing its drive. The pacing on Serenades is excellent in spite of its length, smooth enough to listen to in one go and easy to jump back into if you put it down in the middle.
Lest those name-drops make you think otherwise, this is indeed technical music. Between those emotional leads and heartfelt vocals lie some vicious riffs, born of equal parts groove and shred. The guitarists have a particular affinity for ascending arpeggios and finger-breaking circular melodies à la later Nevermore; check out “Self-Inflicted” for some of the nastiest the album has to offer. However, as previously stated, the pacing here assures you won’t be overloaded by noodling. All parts of their sound are woven together in equal measure for a streamlined and unique listening experience. If I had to offer one criticism, it’s that the singing falls a little flat on “Stalemate Asylum,” but that shouldn’t deter you from giving Deranged Serenades a shot. Its pros completely overwhelm my one minor complaint, and it’s a truly special piece of work.
Toilet friend Andy Synn brought this one up in the comments of last week’s article (which you should go back to if you skipped- Anisoptera bring the jams hard), but it’s so damn good I had to talk about it myself. Mire is a new tech death duo, featuring Benton McKibben on vocals and Ryan Glisan (ex-Allegaeon) on guitar duties. I’m not going to go super in-depth on this one- you can check out Andy’s review on NCS if you’re looking for more info- but I’d like to examine this one from the perspective of a longtime fan of Glisan’s previous projects.
If you’re at all familiar with Allegaeon, you know what Glisan’s riffs sound like- thick, heavy chugs and violent manipulation of the Phrygian dominant scale in liquid obsidian flows. Songs like “Behold (God I Am)” and “Twelve” are prime examples of some of his signature style. However, by the time the ill-fated Pyrithion rolled around, it was sounding a bit homogeneous. I don’t know if he was feeling creatively stunted during his time in Allegaeon, but his ideas were starting to feel stunted.
Fast forward five years to the release of Shed and all those problems have disappeared. The riffs here are still distinctly his, but the ways he approaches his playing this time are much more varied and nuanced. Tracks like “Lightless” and “Inside” feel the most familiar, revisiting those brutal roots, whereas “Solar Being” and “A New Found Rain” feel almost like ballads with the use of jazzy clean guitar. This also provides McKibben the perfect backdrop to flex his versatile orations, going between crunchy growls, dirty singing, and some smooth cleans multiple times per song. If none of that meant anything to you, then let this be the takeaway: this album fucking crushes.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. If you like what you heard, Caratucay and Mire can each be found at their respective Facebook pages and the Bandcamp links above. 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.
