Tech Death Thursday: Soreption – Monument Of The End
You knew it was coming eventually. I’ve been listening to basically nothing but Soreption for the past couple weeks, and now you’re going to listen to them too, dammit.
TECH SUPPORT:
- The new Exocrine album is streaming right now, and it’s fucking bonkers. It’s also quite different from their last output, which is also worth a listen or three. These guys are sorely underappreciated in the tech death world, so give Molten Giant some love if you’ve got the time.
- Big dissonant bois Anachronism have a new guitar playthrough up, so you can see just how they make all those hideous noises.
- If you like your tech less noodly and more about raw speed, you can check out the new tune from Bloodtruth over at NCS. It’s extremely Italian.
I have made no secret of my love for Soreption‘s music; I count 2014’s Engineering the Void as one of my favorite tech death albums ever [Cosigned – Lizard], and it’s generally pretty well-liked throughout the rest of the tech community as well. To say it was worrying when, after a long stretch of radio silence, the band announced that guitarist/songwriter Anton Svedin had left the band is a bit of an understatement. His guitar playing was a huge part of the band’s identity; Soreption without Anton wouldn’t be Soreption, right? Well, this is Tech Death Thursday, and I don’t write about shit I don’t like here, so the answer to that question should be pretty obvious already.
Soreption’s sound is a potent mixture of Decapitated-style grooves with the single-guitar approach and speed of Psycroptic, performed with laser precision and polished to a glossy sheen. The riffs generally come in two flavors, focusing either on meaty syncopation and rhythmic experimentation or just rampaging at the highest velocity they can muster. It’s a formula that works very well, established on Deterioration of Minds and perfected on Engineering, and they tap it again on Monument of the End without so much as a hiccup. If you weren’t following the band, the change in guitarists would be almost unnoticeable.
“Children of the Automaton” gives us a good look at both sides of the Soreption coin, seamlessly blending that punishing death metal onslaught with a more refined attack at key points. It gives us everything that makes the band good; streams of blastbeats and spidery melodies, infectious grooves, and some surprisingly melodic shredding, all delivered with unabashed aggression. The aforementioned honed in, one-guitar feel hits super hard in the chorus here, when all four members sync up rhythmically as the vocalist belts out the song’s namesake. There are plenty of moments like this throughout the album’s run, but this is one of the best.
Other tunes take a more focused look at one side or the other. “King of Undisputed Nonsense,” the album’s first single (and still my favorite of the bunch), is loaded end to end with downright degenerate hooks, where “A Mimic’s Ignorance” is a more straightforward beatdown. To that end, there aren’t really a lot of surprises on Monument, but those few present are welcome. A couple brief synth breaks keep the pacing even, and Travis Ryan provides his signature goblin vocals on closing track “The Entity.” Otherwise, the band largely sticks to their guns; forgivable in light of the lineup changes and simply due to how well they do their thing.
Now, there’s been some ado about the way the album sounds; if you’ve been listening, you’ve no doubt noticed how slick and clean everything sounds. I know that’s going to be an instant turnoff for some people, but I’m of the opinion that it enhances the feel of the album overall. It makes those rhythms feel that much tighter, and the aggressive noise gating enhances their use of silence. This is an album that sounds like it’s supposed to be cold and mechanically precise, so the production reflects the music. It’s totally understandable if you’re not into it, but I think it works in the band’s favor.
Monument of the End isn’t a huge leap forward for Soreption, but it’s still an important album for the band. It shows that they haven’t lost a step in spite of some setbacks, and it gives them a new foundation from which to progress. If you’re already a fan of the band, then Monument will have everything you want. If you’re new to them, it’s a perfect place to jump in. You can pick it up now from Sumerian Records, and you can follow Soreption on the Facebooks. If you’re in the US, you’ll also be able to catch them in support of Suffocation in October and November. That’s all I’ve got for you this week, so 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.
