Review: Replacire – The Center That Cannot Hold

Style: technical death metal (mostly harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Vale of Pnath, Archspire, Revocation, Black Crown Initiate
Country: United States-MA
Release date: 21 June 2024

Flashback to March 2017: I was finishing up middle school and Dream Theater’s biggest fan, scanning metal blogs for other things with similar amounts of technical mastery—“most technical metal song” and “best metal guitar solos” were regulars in my Google search history. That’s how I was introduced to Replacire’s “Spider Song.” Note, this was mere months after finding Opeth and still before I more than tolerated harsh vocals¹, yet the guitar solo at 3:00 (and edgy but cool lyrics during the clean vocal sections) was enough to sell me on the track, and a love for tech death was born. Pushing through the harsh vocals on “Spider Song” was a key step in my metal journey as unconventional as a first tech death song as it is. Seven years later and my taste is well-honed, having heard hundreds of tech death albums as well as just about every major metal album ever, and Replacire are following up Do Not Deviate. I have a fond nostalgia for that album, so does The Center That Cannot Hold stand up by its own merit?

For older fans of the band, Replacire still have the same rhythmic, knotty technicality, feverish drums and intricate guitars. As soon as the album begins, Replacire sound like a mix of Vale of Pnath, Archspire, and Revocation with an endless supply of hyperspeed chugs meeting Poh Hock’s (Native Construct) ungodly guitar leads—and even if you’re surprised that Poh Hock plays in this style, you surely aren’t surprised at how insane the skills he flexes are. New in studio for the band, James Dorton (Black Crown Initiate, The Faceless) fits the band like a glove, his powerful harshes spanning the full vocal range, testing the limits of the human pharynx. Also pushing corporeal limits is Joey Ferretti on the drums, who provides the foundation of Replacire’s sound; uncompromisingly groovy in any time signature, Ferretti scurries around the kit endlessly and impossibly fast with as much energy as I’ve ever heard. It sounds as if he’s about to hit a hole right through his drums so hard does he bang them, yet he never sacrifices disgustingly tight precision, especially with his footwork.

Completely straight edge tech death this is not. Although Replacire never stray far from technical death metal, they incorporate enough tangential influences as to remain consistently engaging, be it the Revocation-y thrash riffs of “Living Hell,” the unhinged guitar effects and mathcore of “The Helix Unravels,” the ending breakdowns (“Living Hell,” “A Fine Manipulation,” “Hoard the Trauma Like Wealth”), or the particularly notable morose singing. The album is an uncomfortably dense forty-four minutes—Replacire should have gone for the Archspire “less is more” album-length effect—but despite the lack of breathing room, The Center That Cannot Hold is thoughtfully varied throughout. I do wish some influences were more prominent, mostly that Poh Hock got the opportunity to more frequently solo and riff melodically rather than rhythmically, but the drum-forward aural attack of Replacire is addicting.

Mixed and mastered by the masterful hand of Jens Bogren, The Center That Cannot Hold sounds burly compared to Replacire’s previous efforts, and minutiae reveals itself slowly over multiple listens like an Archspire record. The production is imperfect—to capture a recording like this is to force an octopus into a jar, and the drums are a little loud despite their phenomenal tone—but Bogren’s done Replacire’s vision justice. I can really sink my teeth into every meaty riff and feel the juices run down my body. The album has too many strong riffs to possibly name, but a couple highlights are 1:53 in “The Helix Unravels” and 2:30 into “Bloody-Tongued and Screaming.” They’re frantic and violent just like the rest of The Center That Cannot Hold, but they feel particularly emblematic of the band’s many strengths. 

Sure, The Center That Cannot Hold is an exhausting listen, but it takes Replacire’s previous output and bolsters it in every way: the riffs, production, drumming, and vocals are simply better, nostalgia be damned. These guys are the real deal of tech, so while it’s certainly a bit of a random first tech band considering Necrophagist exists, I feel validated that their quality holds up seven years later.

Recommended tracks: The Helix Unravels, Drag Yourself Along the Earth, Hoard the Trauma Like Wealth, Uncontrolled and Unfulfilled
You may also like: Aronious, Deviant Process, Cognizance 
Final verdict: 8/10

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

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

Replacire is:
Eric Alper – Guitars
Kee Poh Hock – Guitars
Zak Baskin – Bass
Joey Ferretti – Drums
James Dorton – Vocals

1. In fact, I found their effect in “Spider Song” so unnecessarily comedic as to be absurd, and I probably listened to it so much to spite my poor mother, and while I’m sure she knew, I hadn’t admitted it until now. ↩︎