Technical Death Metal

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    Job for a Cowboy – Demonocracy (2012)

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    The constantly morphing Job for a Cowboy (JFAC) have taken 4 years between full-length releases and with “Demonocracy” they keep getting closer and closer to the Technical Death Metal genre with this release. Many people give shit to this band from leaving the Deathcore category, but their slow transition has been quite interesting and something to admire since they are bringing with them plenty of fans that otherwise would never dabble with Tech DM bands.

    Opening with the commanding “Children of Deceit”, the band makes a huge statement with its brutal and technical approach. The drumming is furious, the riffing is very well crafted, and the bass guitar track is almost up to par to something that Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Pestilence, ex-Obscura) would come up with. The ups and downs in this song are very well crafted and don’t feel too Deathcore-ish to us.

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    Hour of Penance – Sedition (2012)

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    With a massive and destructive sound, today we have Hour of Penance and their latest release “Sedition”. Waiving the Technical Brutal Death Metal flag, Hour of Penance delivers high intensity brutal music with a nice technical edge that puts them over their closest competition. While not as technical as Obscura, Decrepit Birth, and similar band, this release compensates with intense drumming and a more brutal feel to the music.

    After the opening instrumental, the band delivers its first punch with “Enlightened Submission”, a very brutal and crushing opening song. The growls are as deep and brutal as you can get, but the massive drumming is what immediately sticks out. “Decimate the Ancestry of the Only God” and “Fall of the Servants” keep pummeling your ears with insane levels of brutality, thanks to the hellish vocals and powerful riffs that accompany the extreme drumming.

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    Gory Blister – Earth-Sick (2012)

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    Making their contribution to the highly exciting Technical Death Metal scene, today we have Italy’s Gory Blister and their latest full-length release “Earth-Sick”. With a name more apt for a Grindcore band, this Italian band took us by surprise with their high energy songs and blistering drumming. Deliver 10 tracks of well executed music, this band will surely make some noise in this very crowded genre.

    Opening with the deceiving “The Breeding (intro)” track, we thought we will reviewing a Melodic Power Metal album instead. However, with “Earthsick” things get down and dirty with some heavy riffing and intense growls. The band style borders between Melodic DM and Technical DM with some very impressive speed ups, but never as intense and powerful as bands like Obscura and Spawn of Possession.

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    Spawn of Possession – Incurso (2012)

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    If brutality and technical wizardry are your things, Spawn of Possession’s latest release “Incurso” is just what the doctor ordered. With the technical skills of Christian Müenzner of Obscura (and ex-Necrophagist) on guitars, Erlend Caspersen (ex-Blood Red Throne) on bass, the band has a very impressive roster complemented by their other guitar player Jonas Bryssling and their super fast drummer Henrik Schönström.

    Being huge fans of Obscura, we can definitely hear some influences of them in this release, but Spawn of Possession is more brutal and in some places even faster. This collection of musicians have managed to craft one of the most technically impressive (and very melodic) set of songs we have ever heard, and we can’t wait to be able to see them live.

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    Psycroptic – The Inherited Repression (2012)

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    In a time when all the Technical Death Metal bands are graded base on how many notes they can whip out in the least amount of time, it is nice to listen to a band that actual focuses on how well the songs listen and structures them around melody and not technical level. Australia’s Psycroptic presents us their fifth full-length release “The Inherited Repression” with a high level of maturity and musicianship.

    Pummeling through nine tracks, “The Inherited Repression” keeps the focus on the melodic aspect of things and the nice technical details are mostly playful elements that increase the band’s appeal. With some hints of the great Death, the band delivers waves of excellently crafted riffs and a less annoying version of Chuck Schuldiner-styled vocals. This is immediately evident with the opener “Carriers of the Plague”, a track where the guitar work is very elaborate but the song is also very catchy and effective. We particularly love the melodic passages that get repeated through the song, and the massive drumming as well.

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    Dystrophic – Dystrophic (2010)

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    Delivering five crushing blows of chaotic Technical Death Metal with Grindcore elements, today we have Dystrophic and their self-titled debut EP. For a new band, the members behind Dystrophic are pretty good at the trade and create very brutal and technical songs that will make your speakers bleed.

    Starting with the traditional intro crap, the band fully explodes to full pace with “Total Existence Failure”. The drumming is very well crafted and keeps the pace of this song super hectic and brutal. The guitar riffing is pretty decent and some parts are blazing fast making it very interesting to listen. On “Withering at the Roots” the band kicks-off with a more traditional DM approach and suddenly the pace gets insane.

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    Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony (2011)

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    Can you imagine how Dimmu Borgir and Xerath sound on crack? Well Fleshgod Apocalypse is the answer to that question. As one of the most intense releases we have heard in 2011, “Agony” is by far a very though cookie to digest since there is just too much shit going on at the same time, and it’s awesome.

    The first impression the listener will get from the album is that this is just another overly exaggerated orchestral approach to extreme music. “The Hypocrisy” delivers ridiculous orchestrations (although very simple ones) on top of a brutal Death Metal foundation, something that might seem rather disconnected at first. The female sounding vocals (might be a dude) seem ripped off straight from the last Dimmu Borgir album and a bit of the darker atmosphere also sound very familiar.  

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    Massive Slavery – Global Enslavement (2010)

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    Relentless and Brutal are probably the two best words to describe Canada’s Massive Slavery debut album “Global Enslavement”. Featuring inhuman vocals and drumming paired with skillful guitar and bass guitar work, this release is as crushing and technically proficient as you can imagine for a veteran band, which Massive Slavery is not.

    Since the opener track “MediAssasiNation”, the band will blow you away with harsh vocals, very brutal drumming and an array of guitar riffs and solos that will make your fingers and hands hurt just by thinking on how to play them. The band specializes in creating hyper-fast songs that feature almost equal amounts of aggressive and melodic sections, creating a perfect harmony between the two of the (e.g. “Shade of Corruption”).

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    Origin – Entity (2011)

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    Origin has arrived with their highly anticipated follow up to 2008’s “Antithesis” and with brand new vocalist Jason Keyser joining the ranks as well they prove to be an unstoppable force of brutality. The onslaught of double-pedal drumming and shredding riffs joined by death metal growls and shrieks is enough to make your head explode like that one scene in Scanners but is it enough to hold your attention? These are all highly talented musician but there is the repetition factor that might turn off the listener.

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    Obscura – Omnivium (2011)

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    The man of the million riffs, Steffen Kummerer, returns with his Progressive/Technical Death Metal outfit Obscura, and delivers one of the most brilliant and aggressive releases in the last few years. “Omnivium” is a great improvement over the already brilliant album “Cosmogenesis”.

    With a more focused sound, the band delivers 9 tracks of pure technical brilliance paired with solid Death Metal structures. The songs in “Omnivium” feel a bit more straightforward and do not rely (solely) on virtuosity to be well appealing to the listener. However, this does not mean that you won’t get to listen to Steffen and Christian Muenzner rip through crazy guitar sections or Jeroen Paul Thesseling ‘pounding’ his 6 string fretless bass guitar like a magician.

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