THE ANIMATION OF ENTOMOLOGY

'The Animation Of Entomology' - Blotted Science (9/10)

It's finally here.

In 2007, musical 'mad scientist' Ron Jarzombek and legendary death metal act Cannibal Corpse's bassist Alex Webster came together to release 'The Machinations Of Dementia' under the name Blotted Science. Taking in the best elements of both musicians, the music was viciously technical, heavy, and ultimately one of the most brilliantly complex metal albums ever made. Despite the overwhelming critical support and acclaim that Blotted Science received in 2007, I wasn't even sure that this project would see any future releases. After all, after virtually perfecting a sound at their first try, where was there to go? All the same, Blotted Science has come back again, this time in the form of a twenty-four minute long EP. Although it may sound like traveled ground for some, there's no denying that the band has done it again; Blotted Science have crafted another masterpiece of tech metal.

As I described the debut, Blotted Science's sound is essentially technical death metal, without the growls that seem to turn off so many prospective listeners. In any case, while Blotted Science may lack the defining feature of death metal, they remain heavy as hell, with guitars blazing, bass pummeling, and the drums firing as precisely as an atomic clock. While there may not be lyrics here, Blotted Science also tends to have albums based on a theme. With 'The Machinations Of Dementia', Jarzombek and company built this music on the foundation of brain disorders, titling their songs after brain disorders and gearing the music to revolve around what feelings they might evoke. On their second run-through, Blotted Science maintain their cold, mechanically oriented themes, this time dealing with the nature of bugs, and all of the different unsettling things they do. The album cover is crawling with them, and while I thought that the subject of brain dysfunction worked perfectly for Blotted's music, this new subject mirrors the music perfectly.

Over the course of seven tracks (four of which are bound together in a mini-epic), Blotted Science's number one goal seems to be to make their listener's heads explode in amazement. Sure, plenty of guitarists can shred and some even have a deep knowledge of theory. Still, I am hard-pressed to think of another band that is able to play together with such complexity as Blotted Science. The music is highly aggressive, with 'Ingesting Blattaria' opening up the album with a barrage of nearly incomprehensible tech-heaviness that soon breaks up into an incessant fusion of technical death metal riffs, sci-fi lead solos, and a surprising depth of atmosphere that lets the horror-styled undertones of the music get inside your head. Jarzombek and Webster are an absolutely devastating pair, whose respective styles compliment each other greatly. New to the band is drummer Hannes Grossmann, who brings a subtle jazz flourish to the band; I would say the intense and dynamic drumming here is even better than Charlie Zeleny's performance on the debut.

Despite a change in apparent subject from brain disorders to bugs that cause them, , the actual music of Blotted Science has barely changed, if at all. As much as I am blown away by what Blotted Science do with 'The Animation Of Entomology', there are no creative leaps here beyond what the band did on 'Machinations'. For this, I cannot quite consider it the classic that the band's debut is, even if Blotted Science have some even greater moments here. One thing I could mention that seems to set 'Animation' apart from its predecessor is that the mellower moments here are integrated a little more cohesively into the music that on 'Machinations', where the brutal tech metal and schizoid jazz explorations where largely kept separate from each other. While I may have been a little disappointed at first that Blotted Science's second album was only twenty four minutes long, this does work for the exhausting style of the band. I would not consider 'The Animation Of Entomology' necessarily to be an improvement in what Blotted Science has done, and certainly not a development. All the same, the depth in the composition is very consistent, and as impressive as it ever has been. While I thought their debut was a virtually impossible achievement, Blotted Science have gone out and done it twice.

Speed kills!

Sudden outbursts of blast beats and manic lead breaks with astonishing time changes are the stuff of dreams when it comes to technical metal. It is extreme, aggressive, weird, and downright inventive throughout. It is a form of Math metal in many ways, very technical complex time changes, and speed picking lead soloing. 'Ingesting Blattaria' simply is stunning speedy technical thrash. Undoubtedly the band love to stun a listener with incredible time sig metrics and rather odd structures in the tracks.

'Cretaceous Chasm' continues this blast of technical prowess with one time sig shift after another. It begins with doomy metal crawls and then a 'flight of the bumblebee' lead break. It is recognisable as the familiar bumblebee tune but it is varied enough to be innovative. Alex Webster's bassline is a heartbeat and the percussion of Hannes Grossmann is extraordinary. Ron Jarzombek's metal distorted guitar and lead breaks are a quintessential drawcard. Did I mention no vocals. There are none whatsoever and yet one might expect a death metal growl to come over at any second. I am grateful o the absence of this as I can concentrate on the incredibly speedy metal signatures.

'Vermicular Asphyxiation' is an apt title or a death metal band, and it begins with violin effects on guitars, and sweeping keyboard sounds. Amazing how these sounds are generated by one artist. Jarzombek is incredible. This is a slower song but no less adventurous. The time sigs are unbelievable. Soon it launched into a chugging low riff and speedy lead guitar sweeps. A new time sig locks in and more lead guitar as another sig clashes in and the tempo is incredibly fast, like a nest of hornets just buzzing furiously. Hence the wonderful album cover art. The illustration on the cover is the insect world's answer to "Kill 'Em All". The next epic in 4 phases is in contrast to the insect infestation on the cover.

'A Sting Operation ? I Human Barbequed', 'II Cessation Sanitation', 'III Seeing Dead People' and 'IV Omitting Eyes'. The epic that lasts for about 9 minutes when heard in its entirety begins with buzzing bee guitar, and incredible percussion speedblasts, double kicking frenetically. It is slowed into a steady pace with consistent lead guitar arpeggios. The pace really slows into what sounds like keyboard but its phased guitar. Grossmann's percussion is technical brilliance speeding up and maintaining rhythm sporadically. There is a freak out of metal and then a welcome break into quieter acoustics. Then more breakneck speed metal and weird time changes to finish it. My ears need a break now but its only short and such a rush of energy it is astounding.

This is an awesome extreme tech metal album, a short EP but just so good. I urge all metal fans to get hold of this dynamic killer EP.

"The Animation Of Entomology" is an EP release by US technical/progressive metal act Blotted Science. The EP was released through Eclectic Electric in October 2011. The band´s debut full-length studio album "The Machinations of Dementia (2007)" was generally met with critical acclaim and the two mainmen behind the project, guitarist Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower, Spastic Ink) and bassist Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) opted to work together again. Drummer Charlie Zeleny (Behold... the Arctopus) has been replaced by Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist, Obscura).

Regardless of the change on the drummer position, the music on the EP continues down the same instrumental technical/progressive extreme metal path as the music on "The Machinations of Dementia (2007)". It´s completely "over the top", adventurous and at times bizarre. Just as we´d expect from these guys. The rythms are insanely complex and Ron Jarzombek´s guitar playing virtuosic and inventive. Fast runs, odd time signatures, breaks, jazzy notes and other impossible to play tricks. "The Animation Of Entomology" is a 7 track, 24:47 minutes musical experience that´ll keep you on your toes all the way through the playing time. It´s challenging and probably doesn´t stick the first couple of listens, but it´s the kind of release where patience is rewarded.

"The Animation Of Entomology" is a release for fans of the most technical metal out there. Expect to be amazed, challenged, and maybe confused about the direction of the tracks. I wouldn´t call it mindless noodling though as there are recognisable themes and hooks in the tracks. They just aren´t found right away. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Back in 2007, Blotted Science put out their first LP. The band, however, was not a bunch of newcomers to the tech metal scene, but were actually 3 musicians from other tech/prog metal bands. Ron Jarzombek from Watchtower and Spastic Ink and Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse decided to start a new project that would take tech/prog metal to another level. They recruited Charles Zeleny, a session drummer, and released the LP "The Machinations of Dementia". Nothing new came of this band after this release until 2011, when this EP was released. A new drummer has been recruited in Hannes Grossman who had collaborated with Jarzombek in another project "Terrestrial Exiled". The result is this 7 track EP of very hard and heavy instrumental metal which was re-released on vinyl in 2013.

The first 3 tracks are mostly speed metal with countless time signature changes that will blow you away. The guitar parts are full of quick arpeggios and scales with the bass following along doing it's own thing, more than just a support to the guitar, but a bridge between the guitar and the rapid fire drums. Everything about this is prog tech metal. Themes are very difficult to pick out until you become more familiar with the music, so the payoff there, or the appreciation, don't really grab a hold of you until you listen to it several times. Before that, it is easy to feel lost and confused in this ever changing landscape of heaviness. There are a few breaks in there where you can catch your breath, but don't expect these more quieter breaks to last very long. There are times, especially in "Cretaceous Chasm" that you will swear that Jarzombek is playing a keyboard because of the clarity and phrasing of the notes, not to mention the speed of the notes flying by, around and over your head. The nice thing about all of this, is it's not ruined by growling or shouted vocals. This is completely instrumental. And ideas, melodies, key and time signatures change so fast that your mind won't comprehend it at first.

The last 4 tracks are actually movements of a longer work called "A Sting Operation". The overall work is around 9 minutes long, so each individual section doesn't go over 3 minutes. The style of the preceding tracks continue on these tracks, but in shorter form, as there are noticeable breaks between the movements. This actually makes the sound easier to wrap your head around, and you will pick out those subtle mood shifts between tracks.

Overall, this can seem like a bunch of chaos in the first few listening's, but it will start to make more sense as you hear it more. Typically, I'm not a big fan of Tech Metal, because it tends to lose emotion and songs can start to sound too much alike. This particular release however, is just the right length at over 24 minutes total. This makes it surprisingly more accessible, but there will be many that won't even be able to handle even that short length of time. No doubt that the players involved are talented and they even add dynamics to the various short subsections of the tracks, making things much more interesting. This, however, is not an album that I listen to a lot, because it's just not my taste. Sure I love hard and heavy music, but the technical aspects can tend to sound too much alike after so many minutes. But the good thing about this album is, I find it more accessible given it's shorter length and it might even work towards helping newcomers to this style of music to appreciate it more. I know it influences me to want to understand it better.