Technical Death Metal

  • Wizardthrone - Hypercube Necrodimensions (2021)

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    Unleashing one of the most over the top and yet brilliant Symphonic-whatever-Metal releases, today we have Wizardthrone and their debut full-length release “Hypercube Necrodimensions”. Featuring members from bands like Alestorm, Nekrogoblikon, Gloryhammer, and Æther Realm, this band creates a very explosive and lush Metal sound with tons of wacky influences and over the top orchestrations. Imagine Gloryhammer, Æther Realm, with a dose of Children of Bodom and Obscura, and you can almost approximate what this band sounds like.

    The release opens with the ravaging “Black Hole Quantum Thermodynamics”, perfectly blending dramatic orchestrations with heavy melodic guitars and a crafty use of harsh and clean vocals. The mood is set very epic from the start, and it never lets go as we can hear in the immersive “Frozen Winds Of Thyraxia” and the playful “Incantation Of The Red Order”, both tracks filled with killer guitar leads and well crafted tempo changes.

  • Fractal Universe - The Impassable Horizon (2021)

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    With the Progressive/Technical Death Metal scene getting crowded, it is hard to find releases that are both excellently crafted and technically proficient. It takes good musicians to do the latter, but an excellent band to do first. France’s Fractal Universe have been slowly refining their trade and with “The Impassable Horizon” the band reaches new heights. Rivaling cohesive albums from bands like Between the Buried and Me and Obscura, this release is brilliant in all its aspects.

    Opening with “Autopoiesis”, we instantly get blistering onslaughts of crafty drumming, intense guitar solos and a wide variety of crushing vocal arrangements. Not stopping at just awesome, “A Clockwork Expectation”, “Interfering Spherical Scenes”, and “Symmetrical Masquerade” perfectly blend virtuosity with excellent songwriting skills. With influences ranging from more traditional Tech Death Metal, to Jazzy and even Groove/Djent Meshuggah-esque elements, each track is a unique and expansive musical journey.

  • The Beast of Nod - Multiversal (2021)

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    Mixing up Technical Death Metal with Progressive and ‘Video Game’ Metal elements, today we have a very intense and exciting band from the USA called The Beast of Nod. With comparisons to bands like Dethklok, Powerglove, and similar outfits, “Multiversal” delivers over 50 minutes of playful high-octane music that is extremely technically proficient, fun, and greatly engaging.

    Opening with the magical “Flight of the Quetzalcoatlus”, we instantly get that Proggy/Techy vibe with intricate guitars, crafty drumming and playful tempo changes. The vocal styles vary between growls and shrieks, allowing for the music to change moods and intensity quite nicely, as the jazzy “Contemporary Calamity” showcases.

  • Psycroptic - The Watcher of All (2020)

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    Delivering a swift, short, and sweet EP, today we have Australia’s premiere Technical Death Metal unit Pyscroptic and their crushing EP “The Watcher of All”. Perfectly maturing over time, the band’s sound is as tight as ever with even some Thrash elements thrown into the mix to create a very high-octane set of tracks that will generate great expectation within their fan-base.

    The release kicks off with the crafty “A Fragile Existence” and its intricate guitar work. The band’s technical proficiency does not get in the way of catchiness as this track is both engaging, complex and perfect for headbanging. The mixture of screams and growls is well balanced, creating an intense atmosphere. The album title track starts off with a certain Testament-like vibe as it rages through intense riffing, superbly crafted drum patterns and a total balls-to-the-wall vicious intensity.

  • Sulphur Sun - Placodemic Heraldry (2020)

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    Hailing from Switzerland, today we have Sulphur Sun and their very interesting EP titled “Placodemic Heraldry”. Featuring a weird amalgamation of Death Metal with progresisve/technical DM elements, this release delivers a very promising 10 minute teaser for a uniquely weird band. If you like weird music that is both crafty and a bit chaotic, this is the EP for you.

    Opening with the madness inducing “The Temple of Dunkleosteus”, the band delivers intricate riffs, hellish vocal arrangements ranging from hypnotic throat singing to growls, and a very playful drum track. The band’s style is instantly hard to categorize as the song goes over multiple moods and styles. The chaos continues with the sinister “Trilobite Thief”, featuring some Satyricon-esque sounding guitars and more blistering drumming and odd tempo changes, all working in strange unison.

  • Hateful - Set Forever On Me (2020)

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    Unleashing nearly 40 minutes of crafty Technical Death Metal, today we have Italy’s Hateful and their third full-length release “Set Forever On Me”. While most bands in the genre currently focus on technical wankery, this band actually delivers cohesive songs that are both technically proficient and enjoyable to listen to. The band’s sound is a mixture of old-school Death/Necrophagist Tech Death Metal with a few modern touches, so you know you are in for a treat.

    The band quickly blasts into the playful craftiness of “On the Brink of the Ravine”, flanked by intricate drumming and engaging riffs, the band sets a very hectic pace. The band’s ability to still sound like a traditional Death Metal band is quite evident as tracks like “Phosphenes” and “Oxygen Catastrophe” have heavy roots and just need some technical sprinkles to come together, and deliver brilliant headbanging passages.

  • Aversions Crown - Hell Will Come For Us All (2020)

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    Not being huge fans of Deathcore music, it was a nice surprise when Aversions Crown release bleed into our review playlist and we found ourselves doing a double take on “Hell Will Come For Us All”. Blending Technical Death Metal elements with Deathcore onslaughts, this Aussie band delivers nearly 40 minutes of punishing music that is quite brutal and yet intricate and complex. If you like bands like Obscura, Necrophagist, and the like, you will definitely be interested in giving these guys a shot.

    Delivering a swift opening blow with “The Soil”, the band unleashes all hell with their singular brutality and technical proficiency. As “Born In The Gutters”, the breakdowns do appear here and there, but they are well crafted into an intricate onslaught of crushing riffs, hyper fast drumming, and an intense tempo. This track reminds us a bit of the earlier days of The Black Dahlia Murder.

  • Ulcerate - Stare Into Death and Be Still (2020)

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    As one of the most expected releases of 2020, today we have Kiwi’s Ulcerate and their impressive full-length release “Stare Into Death and Be Still”. Pegged as Technical Death Metal, this release is as refined as it is brutal, delivering nearly one hour of savagely crafted songs that will rattle your speakers and skull. With an unrivaled finesse, this release is by far on one of the best we have heard in 2020, so be ready to be blown away.

    Opening with the crafty layering on “The Lifeless Advance”, we are instantly immersed into the band’s punishing world of high-octane drumming and intricate guitar work. Juxtaposing walls of sound with the inhuman vocals of Paul Kelland, the band creates very cavernous and intimidating pieces like the crushing opener and its more playful counterpart “Exhale the Ash”. There is an underlying melodic aspect to the band’s sound that makes songs even more effective in delivering their contrasting fast-paced brutality onslaughts of intense riffs and growls, as we can hear in the moody album title track.

  • Exmortus - Legions of the Undead (2019)

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    As one of the most exciting and different bands in the USA Metal scene, Exmortus combines Melodic/Technical Death Metal with Thrash-tastic elements, creating a very fresh sounding musical hybrid. Featuring five tracks and over 15 minutes of music, “Legions of the Undead” is a nice sampler of the band’s musical abilities and unrivaled creativity. If you like guitar acrobatics and catchy tunes, look no further and pick up a copy of this EP..

    The release opens with the brilliant album title track, full of crazy guitar leads and a crystal clear production, this track sounds both familiar and fresh at the same time, something not very common. The guitar acrobatics continue in the sinister “Swallow Your Soul”, which delivers catchy tempo changes and headbanging melodic passages.

  • Allegaeon - Apoptosis (2019)

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    Riding high from their 2016 opus “Proponent for Sentience” and their countless tours, Allegaeon finally returns with new music in “Apoptosis”. Featuring eleven tracks of neck snapping Technical Death Metal, this release improves on their last effort while delivering catchy and highly memorable songs. With heavy competition from European bands, Allegaeon clearly establishes themselves as one of the premiere Technical DM outfits in the world thanks to this killer release.

    The album opens with an acrobatic bass guitar line that slowly transforms into a more melodic piece in “Parthenogenesis”. This track is the perfect lead-in to the crushing “Interphase // Meiosis”, a track filled with crushing growls and very dreamy melodic passages. Blending intensely melodic passages with technically proficient acrobatics is the band’s specialty and on “Extremophiles (B)” we get treated to a good dose of it. With songs being short and direct to the point, the band’s sound is quite brutal in nature as you can hear from “The Secular Age”.

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