TECH/EXTREME PROG METAL

Songwriting controversy or not, Obscura sound more or less like they have done since the release of their second album "Cosmogenesis" (2009). Technical death metal with a progressive edge, influenced by 80s/90s death metal acts like Death and Pestilence (the technical death metal albums by those artists) albeit appearing in a more contemporary skin and sound. Obscura have lifted the foot from the technical playing pedal though, and "A Sonication" overall sounds a bit more straight forward than what Obscura have released since "Cosmogenesis", although "A Valediction" also leaned that way. There are a lot of melodic death metal tendencies here too, and although Obscura have always been quite a melodic inclined technical/progressive metal act, they have increased the melodic death metal elements on "A Sonication". The vocals as usual vary between snarling raw vocals and deeper growling. There are occasionally some raw shouting and slightly more melodic tinged singing on the album too.

Although the material on the 8 tracks, 39:07 minutes long album is overall well written and the album features high level musicianship and a crisp, sharp, and detailed sound production, it´s still like something isn´t right. Obscura sound a bit tame and uninspired and "A Sonication" is an album lacking fire and passion. For a death metal release this is pretty limb, and although no one should ever expect to hear Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse brutality on an Obscura album, a bit more bite and intensity wouldn´t have hurt. It´s not a bad quality release, but it does sound a little sterile and lacking in energy. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved, but this seems like a crossroads for Obscura, and It´ll be interesting to see where they go from here.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Changing from an act featuring a vocalist to playing fully instrumental music would be a major change for most artists but Aghora already played a music style on their previous releases, which could well have worked without the vocals. In fact the vocals were often a distraction and felt like an afterthought on the preceding albums, so the lack of vocals on "Entheogenic Frequencies" is to my ears a bit of a blessing.

The jazz/fusion/world music influenced technical/progressive metal style of the preceding releases is continued in all other departments, and Aghora are still an incredibly well playing band. Thompson surprises me here, as I´m only familiar with his playing from the King Diamond albums he plays on and the King Diamond concerts I´ve attended through the years, and I´ve always felt that he had a stiff, unimaginative, and sligthly tedious playing style which held King Diamond´s music back, but his playing on "Entheogenic Frequencies" has given me another view on his abilities and the dynamics of King Diamond as a band (clearly Thomson just plays what he is told, and is not allowed much imput and creative playing), because this guy can play and there´s nothing wrong with the creativity and power of his playing. In fact the playing from all involved is amazing.

"Entheogenic Frequencies" features a detailed and well sounding production job too, so upon conclusion it´s a good quality release from Aghora and fans of artists like Cynic and the related Portal should find lots to appreciate here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Stylistically the change on the keyboard player position hasn´t meant much for the overall sound of Barren Earth (and that´s despite Mårtenson being one of the main composers of the band on the past releases), as the material on "A Complex Of Cages" is a continuation of the progressive death/doom metal sound of the band´s past releases. Opeth is the most valid and immediate reference point, as Barren Earth have a similar love for 70s progressive rock and the occasional nod or two towards ethnic Scandinavian folk, but Barren Earth still have a sound of their own with more melodic death metal leanings and more use of keyboards. Faroe Island born lead vocalist Jón Aldará has a commanding brutal growl but he also sings a lot of semi-operatic clean vocals throughout the album, and to my ears his vocals are now a much more integrated part of the band´s sound, compared to the way they worked with the music on "On Lonely Towers". This probabaly has something to do with the fact that Aldará wrote almost all lyrics on "A Complex Of Cages" and also contributed vocal melodies to a lot of the material.

So, this more collaborative approach to the songwriting (while bassist Olli-Pekka Laine is still the main composer, some of the other band members picked up the torch after Mårtenson left, and has also contributed material) has paid off and "A Complex Of Cages" features memorable and effective songwriting which is both heavy and brutal, but also sophisticated and clever. Add to that a powerful, organic, and detailed sound production, and some high quality musicianship, and "A Complex Of Cages" is as a result a high quality progressive death/doom metal release. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

'Aphelion' is no exception from the rule, yet it is one of the most consistent and coherent listens out of the entire recent catalogue, with its cinematic soundscape and moody passageways, there is a smoothness to the album that is perhaps counteracted by its labyrinthian instrumentation, giving way to the impressive vocal work of band leader Einar Solberg, as we observe him getting better with each new Leprous album. There is a familiar feel to 'Aphelion' but also a warmth that makes it immediately appealing. Starting off rather impressively with explosive and miraculously beautiful tracks like 'Running Low', 'Out of Here', and 'All the Moments', there is a clear tone of pensive melancholy to this work, all while the band provides the soundtrack to a rather exploratory musical odyssey, from the sweeping guitars and the pitch-perfect drum patterns to the orchestral bits and the ambient waves of synthesizer sounds. It seems like Leprous are still stronger when it comes to the heavier department of their music ('The Silent Revelation', 'Nighttime Disguise'), with the gorgeous crossover pop-metal numbers on this album, while the more forgettable pieces of music are represented by these structure-less and ghostly songs in the second half, 'The Shadow Side', 'On Hold', and to an extent 'Castaway Angels'. Still, a really solid work, 'Aphelion' is yet another excellently-crafted album by Leprous.

Stylistically the material on "Illusive Golden Age" is a continuation of the technical/progressive death metal style of "Fragmentary Evidence". Augury are still an incredibly well playing unit and they pull out one powerful technical death metal riff and drum part after another, and Dominic "Forest" Lapointe´s fretless bass playing also gets the occasional spotlight. The vocals are quite brutal, shifting between deep unintelligible growling and higher pitched blackened screaming, and there are occasionally other types of vocals used in the music too. The opening title track for example features some semi-melodic shouting raw vocals.

Although "Illusive Golden Age" features a lot of challenging and sophisticated parts, one of the great assets of Augury is that they never loose their extreme metal credibility or brutality. They are arguably in the more polished end of the death metal spectrum, but there is still an aggressive and brutal edge to their music (as well as unpredictable chaotic atmospheres), which prevent "Illusive Golden Age" from becoming a sterile and powerless exercise in technical/progressive wankery. So, this is an album where you can simoultaniously drop your jaw and bang your head. An achievement Lapointe´s former bandmates in Beyond Creation for example didn´t pull off on the contemporary "Algorythm" (2018) album.

Augury have been among the elite technical/progressive death metal artists since the release of their debut full-length studio album "Concealed" in 2004, and just as they did on "Fragmentary Evidence", they continue that trend on "Illusive Golden Age", which is another powerful, sophisticated, but still brutal and intense death metal release. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Generally consisting of fast-paced death metal songs with orchestral samples running in the background, the guitar riffs are hardly discernible in the final mix, and the listener might have severe difficulty in unearthing any of them, completely lost among the unnecessary and overblown use of symphonic elements and the scorchingly fast drumming (the overusing of blast beats does not help either), mechanical and all over the place, completely lacking any liveliness or musicality. Just crass and insensitive heaviness prevailing all over the place, hardly working together with the orchestral samples, ultimately hindered even further by the weak vocals, and this goes both for the harsh death metal growls (not particularly noteworthy in the context of the genre), and for the high-pitched semi-operatic clean vocals, entirely below par and uninteresting. Don't get me wrong, all the elements of a fine symphonic death metal album seem to be there, it is just that the execution of it all that is really poor, with most of the songs being virtually buried under the overtones of tremolo-picked guitars strumming that one chord, the indulgent use of orchestration and the extremely fast-paced drums, produced rather artificially. Still, among all the critical aspects, songs like 'The Deceit', 'The Egoism', and the title track, manage to present a better view of the aims of this record, butchered by the overall approach of the band and their production team.

Stylistically Beyond Creation continues the high energy technical death metal style with progressive songwriting ideas of the last couple of albums. The fretless bass provides the music with an audible bass presence and a fluid organic flow. "Algorythm" is in most other ways not organic at all. It´s actually a pretty sterile sounding release and the mellow excursions into jazz/fusion and progressive rock/metal territories do nothing to change that perception of the music. Beyond Creation are incredibly well playing and perform many virtuosic guitar riffs- and leads, the above mentioned technical fretless bass playing, a technical drumming attack, and vocals which shift between deep growling and higher pitched screaming/snarling. To my ears the most valid reference is Obscura, but the aforementioned Augury is another.

The sound production is massive, layered, and detailed, but I´m not blown away by the sound, which for all its well sounding qualities ends up presenting the music in a slightly powerless fashion. So upon conclusion "Algorythm" is a bit more shallow in the songwriting- and in the performance deparments than the band´s earlier releases and paired with a sound production which doesn´t provide the music with the needed boost of power, "Algorythm" ultimately comes off a less accomplished release than the preceding albums from Beyond Creation. It´s still a good quality technical/progressive death metal release, but it´s not exactly among the elite albums of the genre. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Opening with a melodic jazz/fusion influenced progressive metal instrumental in "Introspective" and then segueing into a technical/progressive death/thrash metal track like "Imperative"...yup it´s Alarum alright. Powerful, melodic, and intriguing technical/progressive metal with death/thrash metal brutality. Alarum still excel in the dynamics of shifting between melodic jazz/fusion influenced progressive sections and more staight forward technical death/thrash metal. It´s one of the great strengths of Alarum how well they make the different elements of their sound naturally flow together. You don´t question the relevance of a an atmospheric jazzy fusion part in the middle of a death/thrash metal dominated song (or visa versa). Alarum combine the two styles in a seamless manner.

If I have to compare "Recontinue" to "Circle's End" I´d say that the death/thrash metal parts of the band´s music have become slightly more punchy and straight forward, but then again Alarum have lost none of their progressive mindset, so in many ways "Recontinue" is just the natural continuation of the music style found on "Circle's End". The quality of the songwriting, the performances, and the sound production values are just as high as on the preceding album, so upon conclusion "Recontinue" is yet another high quality release from Alarum and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Stylistically the material on the 10 tracks, 46:08 minutes long album is a continuation of the technical/progressive death/thrash metal style of "Natural Causes". The difference between the two albums are that Palfreyman delivers his vocals in a slightly more aggressive shouting manner (there are also sporadic male clean vocals on the album and very shortly a female clean vocal section on "Crystals") and that the sound production on "Circle's End" is more powerful, heavy, and massive than the slightly less effectful sound production found on "Natural Causes". It´s a big plus in my book to hear Alarum´s music presented like this. To my ears the semi-jazzy death/thrash/progressive metal of Cynic is a big influence on Alarum, but Alarum generally go for a more straight forward and easily accessible sound.

So, although this is certainly a both technically well played and progressive tinged metal release, the song structures are predominantly relatively simple and easy to follow, and there is an almost instant gratification listening to the music. "Simple to follow" shouldn´t be misunderstood as if the music is primitive though, as it´s still quite intriguing and technically well played music. It´s also quite as eclectic in style and "Circle's End" is overall pretty varied and the tracklist is well thought out.

Upon conclusion "Circle's End" is a high quality release from Alarum and to my ears an improvement over the already great "Natural Causes". Alarum deserve much more attention than they probably receive, and I can highly recommend fans of Cynic and other similar melodic semi-jazz/fusion influenced death/thrash metal acts to check out "Circle's End" as a starting place to get to know Alarum. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Stylistically the material on "Kinship" is a natural successor to the material featured on "Access All Worlds". Progressive/power metal combined with both death, black, folk, and even doom metal elements, and all delivered in an epic and atmospheric package (it´s one of the better combinations of melodic tinged metal and extreme metal I´ve heard in a while). Lead vocalist Jón Aldará (Barren Earth, Hamferð) performs both epic clean semi-operatic vocals (both low end and high end cleans), death metal growling, and black metal snarling, and as a result the vocal part of the album is quite varied. The material on the 8 tracks, 68:23 minutes long album is both eclectic in style, epic in sound, but also powerful, heavy, and massive. It´s relatively polished, but still with enough rawness to pack a punch when that is needed. Other than the paatos filled and skilled vocal performance, one of the other great assets of "Kinship" is the harmony- and lead guitar work of the two Gräs brothers, Jens and Jesper. The album is loaded with soaring epic leads that´ll have you picture great mountains and beautiful valleys, fantasy castles and dark wizards. The scope of the music is almost cinematic in nature.

"Kinship" features a high quality production job courtesy of prolific Danish producer Jacob Hansen. This is a perfect sound production for this type of music. As mentioned above the sound is relatively polished and you can hear all details clearly in the mix, but there is still bite and rawness enough for this never to become a sterile listening experience. Combined with the intriguing, sophisticated, and powerful songwriting, and the high level musical performances, this results in a high quality sophomore studio album from Iotunn. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).