Missed Album Review: Alkaloid – Numen

Style: prog death metal, technical death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Obscura, Black Crown Initiate, Augury, Gojira, Gorod
Review by: Andy
Country: Germany
Release date: 15 September 2023

Do you wish Obscura were proggier? Do you love squids, Lovecraft, and sci-fi? Perhaps you’ve waited patiently for five years for the new Alkaloid as I have? Well, look no further because Numen is here in full force. I distinctly remember the day in high school when Liquid Anatomy released because Beyond Creation’s album The Algorythm, which I was admittedly more excited for, also dropped, but it was Alkaloid who blew me away with an eerily catchy prog death sound that bordered on tech almost purely from the musicians’ skill and not from any over-the-top compositional wankery. 

On Numen, once again Alkaloid’s greatest strengths are those performances. Christian Muenzner proves himself as the pinnacle of death metal guitarists—stints in Necrophagist, Spawn of Possession, and Obscura certainly already gave him the pedigree. His solos and intricate riffs are restrained here to an appropriate 8/10 on the jaw-droppingly mind-blowing scale: moments like 4:30 in “Shades of Shub-Niggurath,” the pre-chorus of “The Fungi from Yuggoth,” or the main melody of “Qliphosis,” an achingly performed line with the best guitar tone on this side of John Petrucci, all show off his obscene amount of effortless skill. Muenzner’s long time musical other half Hannes Grossmann unleashes a monstrous performance on the drums, as perfectly, inhumanly blasting as ever but with a heavier emphasis on a progressive groove redolent of Gorod or a tech death Gojira (see “The Fungi from Yuggoth”). Linus Klausenitzer, who released his debut solo album just a month later in a similar style, plays an absolutely essential role on bass here, providing far more than mere grounding. When his basslines and jazzy flourishes escape to the front of the mix, they’re always a track highlight like the solo of “Qliphosis” or throughout the epic finale, “Alpha Aur.” Finally, the genius behind it all: Morean. Muenzner himself has said, “The guy is probably the most amazing guitar player I ever met,” and beyond his dual shredding with Muenzner, his vocals on Numen straddle the line between Supertramp and death metal, forging the crux of the unique identity of Alkaloid’s sound as a strange, progressive death metal machine.

The album starts with one of the most impressive track sequences of the year, only rivaled by the greatest-of-all-time themselves (Ne Obliviscaris). From “Qliphosis” to “Shades of Shub-Niggurath,” Numen does. not. miss. The songs are insanely catchy, grooving with the relaxed poise of virtuosos in their element. “Clusterfuck” has a chorus you’ll be singing for days on end, and the main riff of “Shades of Shub-Niggurath” is as resplendently indulgent as imagining Cthulhu raving in the depths with his tentacles dancing all about. The sounds Alkaloid spew into the universe are as wonderfully refreshing as Obsidious’s debut last year (or a glass of lemonade if you’re Elvis), a paradigm-shifting death metal opus that more bands would copy if only they had the compositional and technical chops.

The zenith of the album—heck, of tech death in general basically—is positioned early in this run: “The Cambrian Explosion.” The song covers more territory in a cohesive four minutes than most prog bands do in fifteen. This is proof it’s not the length but what you do with it. Exploding into being with a frenetic, old-school Obscura riff befitting of the talents of Muenzner, Klausenitzer’s bass soon interacts in the filthiest way with it, as if they’re having the nematode sex to spur the impetus of the Cambrian explosion. The lyrics here chronicle an epic story of evolutionary biology from the start of life onwards, including the single greatest lyric of all time: “IN THE MUCK THINGS START TO FUCK.” I want to continue to rhapsodize on how surreal this line is, but I think it probably does itself enough justice. Beyond the old Obscura techiness and amazing lyrics, Alkaloid pull out all the tricks in the bag. We’re treated to an odd little flamenco section, a full choir like classic Augury, and a perfectly sickening jazz section redolent of Imperial Triumphant even. All of these disparate ideas are stitched together with the utmost care and with surprisingly tight transitions, too. I truly think this is the zenith of four minute songs for a prog fan—you can’t get much more bang for your buck.

However, this album is really frontloaded because of this early stretch of excellence. At a hefty seventy minutes, even the instrumental fominance and varied song structures of Alkaloid grow tiring, especially with two distinctly weaker tracks: “Numen” (yes, the title track is oddly weak) and “The Folding.” The former consistently utilizes a rather annoying reverb-laden main riff, and the latter attempts for some outright experimentation beyond progginess that doesn’t really pay off, the awkward electronica feeling a bit forced and killing the album pacing’s momentum. Without these two uncharacteristic hiccups, we’d have a much stronger, albeit still front-loaded, fifty-six minute album that would easily become a Zach 10/10 and an Andy 9+. Neither track is outright bad, but they feel misplaced and distinctly weaker.
I admit that none of us really missed this album when it came out because it was well above the listener cap and only recently fell below: I imagine many of our readers are already familiar with Alkaloid as you should be. However, I’m writing this review as a PSA to prog and death metal fans everywhere to listen to Numen (and as a love-letter to Christian Muenzner who seeing live with Obscura had me questioning things about myself). Alkaloid have crafted yet another essential record for any self-respecting prog fan’s collection, and you’d be remiss not to give this a spin or maybe a couple dozen.

Recommended tracks: Qliphosis, The Cambrian Explosion, Clusterfuck, Shades of Shub-Niggurath, Alpha Aur
You may also like: Obsidious, Linus Klausenitzer, Dark Fortress, Noneuclid, Hannes Grossmann
Final verdict: 8.5/10

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

Label: Season of Mist – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Alkaloid is:
– Morean (vocals, guitars)
– Christian Muenzner (guitars)
– Hannes Grossmann(drums)
– Linus Klausenitzer (bass)