SUPURATION

"Reveries..." is however not an album featuring freshly written material, but instead a release featuring eight re-recorded tracks which in their original form appeared on the 1990 "Official Rehearsal" demo, the 1990 "Sultry Obsession" EP, and the 1991 "Empheral Paradise" single. In addition to the "old" tracks, Supuration has also recorded three covers by Paradise Lost, Twisted Sister, and Anthrax for the 48:10 minutes long album.

The original material is old school death metal with a semi-progressive twist. Relatively intelligible growling vocals placed high in the mix, good rhythmic variation, and overall a fair amount of brutality. A couple of thrashy sections are also featured in the music. Regarding those sections the sound production is a slight problem though, as the palm-muted rhythm guitars sound very thin and muffled. It's too bad because other than on those sections the sound production is relatively well sounding. The semi- progressive tag is mostly a result of the sometimes unconventional song structures, and a few dissonant sounding riffs. Both features Supuration would develop upon on their subsequent releases. This is predominantly old school death metal though.

The three cover tracks are all of a decent quality. "Shattered" by Paradise Lost is delivered very true to the original, which is alright but nothing too exciting. "Among the Living" by Anthrax, is well performed but it's a track that sounds slightly odd with growling vocals. Supuration has picked a perfect Twisted Sister track to cover though, as "The Beast" is delivered with commanding brutality. Maybe it's the relatively slow pace and anthemic nature of the track, which suits Supuration so well, but to my ears it's THE highlight of the album. It's of an equally high quality as when Benediction covered "Forged in Fire" by Anvil.

While the overall quality of the material is relatively high, there are still moments where I'm thinking the original material could have been a bit more memorable. Taking into consideration when these tracks were originally written, they are actually pretty mature, but compared to Supuration's later output, the original material on "Reveries..." doesn't quite hold up. Still a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn't all wrong.

The debut album was a really interesting mix of progressive Voivod dissonance and (early) Paradise Lost doom/death metal and that musical style is continued on "Incubation". The dark sci-fi atmosphere is intact too. There´s the occasional goth influenced clean vocal part featured in the music too (and other clean vocal styles) in addition to the predominantly growling vocals, but that was also the case on the debut. In fact it´s pretty amazing how consistent the band are after 10 years. Both when it comes to the musical style and when it comes to the quality of the music. The compositions are adventurous and intriguing, but not as such technical. The band emphasize atmosphere over technical playing, which also results in their music being progressively structured because that´s what the material calls for, rather than being progressive for the sake of it. The lyrics are a concept sci-fi story and all tracks have months in their subtitles to signal a time span of the events taking place in the story.

The sound production is sligthly sharper and more detailed than the case was on "The Cube (1993)" album, but also less dark and gritty, which I personally found rather charming about the debut. Overall "Incubation" is a great sophomore album by Supuration though, and fans of "The Cube (1993)" should not hesitate before purchasing this one. To the more casual listener I´d say that Supuration´s sound is so twisted and different from the norm, that it´s probably very much an aquired taste and therefore a listen before purchase is adviced. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

The music on the album is very unconventional sounding progressive death/doom metal with a mystical sci-fi theme. I´m not sure I would call it avant garde, but it sure is different from most other death metal releases I´m familiar with. There are brutal growls alright and some heavy riffing too, but other than that you´re in for quite a ride with this one. Supuration generally focus on atmosphere over brutality and most guitar riffs on the album are not brutal, downtuned and raw. Instead I hear quite a few influences from psychadelic rock (early Pink Floyd) and progressive rock/metal in the way the guitars are played and also in the varied rhythm arrangements. The song structures are adventurous and provide the music with a surprise element. In addition to the growling vocals there are some futuristic sounding clean vocals on the album too. The clean vocals remind me slightly of early nineties Voivod. Actually quite a few elements on the album remind me of Voivod. It´s not completely wrong to say that "Nothingface (1989)"-era Voivod and "Gothic (1991)"-era Paradise Lost are valid references.

The sound production is delightfully raw but not in a lo-fi way, so you´re fully able to hear everything that is played, which is great because these guys are skilled musicians. It´s in the songwriting department that they really excel though. "The Cube" is a very original sounding album and Supuration combine all their influences seamlessly into a sound of their own. Things never sound forced or out of place and the band are just so full of adventurous ideas that this is an album that is entertaining and twists conventions throughout. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Considering the fact that there are 10 years between the band's album releases it's actually amazing how consistent in style and quality all three albums are, because "Cu3e" pretty much continues where "Incubation (2003)" left off. The band have tweaked their sound enough for "Cu3e" to stand out as an individual sounding release though but the band's take on progressive death metal is intact. It's still a rather alien sounding type of metal featuring both death, doom, goth and progressive metal elements. The riffs are often dissonant and Voivod is as always a valid reference, but the Paradise Lost (early) influence is still there too. The material aren't overtly complex, but neither is it instantly accessible. "Cu3e" does require more than one spin to sink in.

Supuration are seasoned musicians and everything is delivered with conviction and passion. The vocals are both growling and clean, but mostly growling. The sound production is powerful and suits the music well. I guess the tracks could have been slightly more catchy, which would have meant that they would have stood out more from each other, but that's about the only issue I have with "Cu3e". Otherwise it's a great album with a great atmosphere and if they maintain this quality level, I guess I can live with waiting another 10 years for the band's next album to be released. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.