SPIRITUAL MIGRATION

What a monster of an album. Every album this band has released I have enjoyed greatly, but Spiritual Migration is something else. This is Persefone at its best, firing on all cylinders. This is some of the most jaw dropping technical musicianship that I have heard in a long. It is unrelenting. Yet the technicality never overpowers the songs, with the music being highly melodic and memorable with many moments that will stick in your head long after the album finishes. This is very much a record where not a second or note is wasted in its 70 minutes duration. This is just another example of where prog metal is most exciting for me at the moment, in the realms of extreme metal.

Unadulterated chaos? Check. Tasteless screaming? Check. A million beats per second? Double check. Barely distinguishable from about 2 dozen other bands? Triple check.

This album came highly recommended from a friend of mine, so I had to give it a shot even though tech metal and I do not have a charitable past. Last year, every one was raving about Enslaved: I thought the album was juvenile. I have similar feelings for this album.

Persefone's style features double bass mania with little or no variation, djenty guitars, and really harsh vocals. This describes many, many other bands, and Persefone definitely does nothing to sound different at all. The one exception to this is the fairly good symphonic arrangements that are very strong in the overall mix, and they range from very simple to slightly complex. In other words, they can't save the album.

Not every track on this album is a thumbs-down for me. There are several instrumental songs that are generally slower, more dynamic, and melodic. In fact, there is some piano on these tracks that is quite good. "Zazen Meditation", "Consciousness 1 and 2" and also the "Outro" are all fairly good. I actually enjoyed them,as they do feature some rather interesting chord progressions and musical hooks. However, I really can't overlook the rest of the album. I mean, I'd love to discuss the seemingly profound themes, but I can't understand even one word of the lyrics. Tech metal and I are not friends, and this seals the deal. I was hoping for something along the lines of Sybreed (the one and only tech metal band that I LOVE), but all I got was a giant mess masquerading as music.

"Spiritual Migration" is the 4th full-length studio album by Andorra based progressive death metal act Persefone. The album was released through ViciSolum Productions in March 2013. The news value and the novelty of Persefone being an Andorra based metal act (which is the first time I´ve ever heard of a metal band from that small country) has passed by now, and while the band´s debut album didn´t exactly make waves (it did turn heads), the two predecessors have really helped Persefone make a name for themselves. Not because the band come from an exotic country, but as a result of their high quality music on those releases.

The high quality of the output has not decreased on "Spiritual Migration". If anything the quality level has increased a notch or two. Persefone play a progressive type of melodic death metal. Soilwork is an obvious reference to my ears, but Persefone are generally far more progressive and keyboard heavy. There are extensive fast-paced harmony guitar/keyboard parts throughout the album. The vocals alternate between aggressive growling vocals and clean vocals.

The tracks are structurally challenging and features great dynamics, and as a result "Spiritual Migration" is a relatively varied listen. The tracklist includes both vocal tracks and a couple of instrumentals. The musicianship are outstanding on all positions. Persefone are arguably a very talented bunch. "Spiritual Migration" features a clear, professional and powerful sound production, so it´s safe to say that the band fire on all cylinders on this one. And with great success I might add. The only issue with "Spiritual Migration" is the 70:34 minutes long playing time. It´s not that the quality of the music drops at any point during the playing time, but a playing time that long is bound to exhaust the listener, when the music is as busy, detailed, and bombastic as the case is on "Spiritual Migration". On the other hand there is real value for the money here, so maybe I´m being a bit unfair. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.