Review: Linus Klausenitzer – Tulpa

Style: prog death metal, technical death metal (mostly harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Obscura, Beyond Creation, Alkaloid, Necrophagist
Review by: Andy
Country: Germany
Release date: 6 October 2023

Debuting in the sphere-of-Morean (of Alkaloid) on Noneuclid’s The Crawling Chaos, Linus Klausenitzer’s career as a premier tech death bassist has been nothing short of staggering, including stints in acts like Obscura, Obsidious, Alkaloid, and Eternity’s End–essentially, he is embedded in the sound of modern German prog/tech death. In other words, Klausenitzer is easily among my favorite musicians, and his debut album, Tulpa, has been incredibly anticipated around these parts. After the already iconic Obsidious album of last year and the still nubile Alkaloid  record Numen, does Klausenitzer have what it takes to release three albums of well-composed, pensive material in the span of a year? 

He’s ensured a bare minimum of technical virtuosity, gathering Hannes Grossmann (ex-Obscura, ex-Necrophagist) on drums, Javi Perera (Obsidious) on vocals, and Ian Wayne (Soreption) on the ax to forge a tech death dream-team, in addition to a high profile guest soloist on nearly every track. The performances, it goes without saying really, are off the damn chart. From more straightforward melodic death metal riffage a là recent Obscura to sublime, floating bass solos to absolutely fire solo sections where the guests get a chance to shine or sexily harmonize with Wayne (the best example being Shred Dad Phil Tougas of First Fragment on “Axiom Architect”), every song is guaranteed to impress anybody except the most jaded of ex-Obscura fans. Naturally, Klausentizer’s fretless bass is the star of the show, its effervescent tonal quality allowing the instrument to bear the main melodies as often as the more traditional guitar does. 

Compositionally, Tulpa plays it safe for a prog artist, but safety can be enticing still. Mostly verse-chorus with an added solo section or two (and with an instrumental, “Sister in Black,” at the midpoint), the songs fly by and are quite catchy; however, especially with Perera on vocals, comparisons to Obsidious will inevitably follow, and Klausentizer hasn’t written a chorus as amazing as several options on Iconic: This isn’t helped by the distinctly sparing use of Perera’s excellent, theatrical clean vocals, making Tulpa feel disappointingly one-dimensional next to the aforementioned Iconic as well as Numen. However, this facet of the sound will make any old-school Obscura fans very happy as the various fragmented side projects have, for the most part, leaned proggier–here’s a more mid-2010s style tech death option. 

“Sword Swallower” in particular has a phenomenal solo courtesy of V. Santura (Dark Fortress) who injects a shreddy, blackened intensity that speeds up what is mostly a mid-tempo album. The irony of a guitar solo being the highlight of a bassist’s solo album is not lost on me, but Klausenitzer composes in a mature manner, never letting overt wankery be the focus and instead letting the intricacies of his playing reveal themselves after several listens, as on his riffs to start “The Devil’s Tongue.” The titles are legitimately literary, too, with Tulpa being an explicit concept album of the German book Die Sphinx, which I’ll have to add to my reading list. The general plot seems to be about a lord trying to create humans through alchemy and the pragmatic and philosophical implications of such a task; Tulpa does well exploring these themes with Klausenitzer’s thought-provoking lyrics. 

The production, though, is the most frustrating aspect of Tulpa. Both Klausenitzer and Grossmann have produced some excellent, crisp albums, so I’m not sure what’s going on here between the strangely quiet vocals and the muted solo sections. While the instrumentation sounds organic, Perera is as buried as can be, a real shame considering his immense skill and varied harsh vocal approach. Even more disappointing is how quiet the guitar solos all are, doing the opposite of something like Equipoise who boost every solo in the mix. Even the highlight solos on “Axiom Architect” and “Sword Swallower” feel strangely muffled, hampering my enjoyment just as the sound is dampened.
Klausenitzer’s solo work pales a little standing next to titans like Iconic and Numen, but this is certainly still an instant purchase for the German tech death fans among us (myself included). Klausentizer didn’t lean into progginess as much as I’d anticipated, but this is still an exciting foray into the solo band-leader world and a strong inclusion into the tech canon.

Recommended tracks: Axiom Architect, Sword Swallower, Queen of Hearts
You may also like: Equipoise, Obsidious, Metasphæra, Hannes Grossmann
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal-Archives page

Label: AOP Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Linus Klausenitzer is:
– Javi Perera (Obsidious): Vocals
– Ian Waye (Soreption): Lead & Rhythm Guitars in all songs
– Aaron Homma (Annihilator, Killitorous): Lead & Rhythm Guitars in song 1, Acoustic Guitars
– Vanesa Jalife: Piano
– Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Triptykon, Ex-Obscura, Ex-Necrophagist): Drums

With guitar solos by:
– Roland Grapow (Masterplan, Ex-Helloween) in song 1
– Phil Tougas (First Fragment, Chthe’ilist) in song 2
– Ian Waye (Soreption) in song 3, 4, 7, 8
– V. Santura (Triptykon) in song 5
– Dee Dammers (U.D.O., Dirkschneider) in song 6
– Chris Hermsdörfer (Beyond The Black, Serenity) in song 9
– Nicolas Alberny (Gorod) in song 10