Tech Death Thursday: New Year, New Music
It’s been a month since I last crammed tech into your (probably unwilling) earholes. You thought you were safe. You were wrong.
Things happened. These are those things:
- As previously mentioned by W, Vale of P-nath have successfully funded their new album. They’ve posted a snippet of a new song on their Facebook, along with a pair of teasers on Youtube.
- Archspire, Lords of Fast, have found a new bassist. Check out his playthrough of “Lucid Collective Somnambulation” right here. I’m no expert, but I think that clocks in at at least 200 sanics.
- Colorado-based Buried Realm have posted two songs from their upcoming debut EP, The Ichor Carcinoma, each featuring a fairly high-profile guest. Check out “Through These Darkened Halls” (with Chris Amott on guitar) and “The Ichor Carcinoma” (with Bob Katsionis on keys and Peter Wichers on guitar).
- Interloper, a far superior version of Rings of Saturn, have posted a playthrough of “Absolution.” They’ve also done a “collaboration” with the latter, though I don’t know exactly how this constitutes a collaboration when each band features the same members.
- Wastewalker, a new band featuring members of Conducting From the Grave, Alterbeast, and Journal, have posted a teaser for their upcoming debut. It looks like it’s going to be Fallout-themed, for those of you who care about such things (though they might have used Fallout in the trailer simply because of their name).
- If you like your tech with a side of brutality, Deformatory have a playthrough for “Apotheosis,” a new track from their upcoming album Malediction.
- The new Blade of Horus album is sounding better every time I revisit it. Check out “Monumental Massacre” and look for the full album on the 29th.
- Bleak Flesh have debuted a new single on Bandcamp, the first with their new vocalist Ngen Kerruff.
- The Zenith Passage have announced their new album, Solipsist, will be out April 15th via Unique Leader. You can check out the full press release (complete with track listing and sexy cover art) at Earsplit.
First up, we have Primordial by Shadow of Intent. These guys bridge the gap between tech death and deathcore in a grandiose fashion, with a hefty dose of synth backing up the finger-breaking guitar work. Breakdowns are indeed present, but they are well implemented; they never start too abruptly, never outstay their welcome, and wouldn’t you know it, actually go somewhere in the song. Cut to 2:14 in “The Prelude to Bereavement” to see what I mean. All in all, this is a solid package that combines flair, melody, and groove in equal measure.
For a proggier twist on things, we have Sweden’s Pangaea (not to be confused with the prog/metalcore outfit from Wisconsin, responsible for this blatant knockoff of a Heaven Shall Burn video). While not a debut in the strictest sense (they put out an EP in 2013), A Shackled Belief sees the band graduate from their more –core roots to a fully-realized progressive death act. One of the things that struck me immediately about this album is how warm and full everything sounds; a rarity in this genre. That tone is critical to the music, too, which spends a lot of time in the low- to mid-range of their instruments. It’s contemplative at times, heavy when it needs to be, and always smart. Those who aren’t fans of weedles and deedles will likely get the most enjoyment out of this one.
Up next is Kossuth with Mictlan. This bad boy sounds like the offspring of Necrophagist and Beyond Creation, occasionally babysat by The Black Dahlia Murder. The dueling guitars are sublime, with tons of harmonies and counterpoints dancing atop a bass foundation with massive presence. Album closer (and fastest track) “Solar Migration” best showcases the interplay between the three, with each instrument building off the other in impressive fashion. I’m also a big fan of this style of vocals in tech. It’s not as though these high-pitched shrieks are anything unique, but there’s something satisfyingly sickening about them. Mictlan should be a no-brainer for anyone into traditional tech death.
Finally, we have And The Kingdom Fell roaring forth with Phantasms. I briefly touched on these guys back in August, and I have to say Phantasms turned out much better than I expected. The fact that they used “Chaos Engine” as a lead single led me to believe it would be the highlight of the album. While it’s not a bad track, it pales in comparison to the rest of them. With the exception of the chill instrumental title track, this reminds me a lot of Spawn of Possession. It never quite reaches that level of intensity, but the ideas present are similar. It’s an exercise in precise savagery that will leave your face in a molten puddle on the floor.
So there you have it: four excellent debuts from four up-and-coming bands. You can find Shadow of Intent, Pangaea, Kossuth, and And The Kingdom Fell at each of their respective Facebook pages, as well as the Bandcamp pages listed above. Give them a like and/or some cash if you like what you heard.
Until next time,
