THE MACHINATIONS OF DEMENTIA

I'm torn as to whether I give this 4 or 5 stars. I'd give it a 4.5 if I could. This genre of music is not for everyone. As such I have a hard time giving it a 5 star rating which indicates that it is an album for the ages - "one every prog fan should hear". However, for this genre of music... it is definitely worthy of 5 stars.

As much as I love metal, I find it almost seems tainted by the vocals a lot of the time. I find myself enduring the vocals, waiting for the instrumental sections to start in again. Then along comes a solution: Blotted Science. Without the growly, grunty vocals that many of us aren't overly fond of, this debut album proves to me that instrumental death metal can be beautiful just as much as it can be intense.

I'm not going to give a track by track analysis, but standout tracks to me were: Synaptic Plasticity and Laser Lobotomy: great overall tracks to get a feel for the band, give a great picture of what to expect from the rest of the album. Activation Synthesis Theory. Where to begin.... this is an epic track from start to finish. One of, if not my all-time favourite from Blotted Science. Bleeding in the Brain, Narcolepsy, and Sleep Deprivation -> leading into The Insomniac are more amazing tracks on this album. Amnesia alsodisplays an incredible bass solo, but afterwards gets a little bit too intense for me.

Amazing debut album, can;t wait to hear the next one by these guys.