Style: Technical Death Metal / Progressive Death(Mixed vocals)
Review by: Chris
Country: US (MO)
Release date: 23 July, 2021
At risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s so very rare these days that something in the technical death vein really surprises me. The last thing I reviewed which did so was probably Sutrah‘s latest EP, but other than that everything is typically varying degrees of competent within the same spectrum. One thing I always wanted was someone to bring a brand of technical death mixed with prog which has melodic sensibilities and arrangements. Boy oh boy has Prognostication provided that on Collapse, a debut album clocking in 51 minutes in length that has grabbed me like few things have lately this year.
Collapse opens on “Collapse” in a fashion true to the root genre and veiling its later nature; a light synth piece plinks into existence before a chugging techy riff joins another guitar tapping out the same line as the synth. The growls are immediate and dark before giving way to the first hint of clean vocals peek out right after. Soon afterwards the song thrusts itself into true tech territory where angular riffs and constantly moving drums are king. It is true chaotic techy mess for a long stretch, with small hints at later melody and harmony to come. A mashed breakdown of synth melodies and death breakdowns comes before the song really gives way to what makes this album different.
The next ensuing clean tapping section coupled with clean vocals doing multiple part harmonies is where my attention was grabbed. The next two minutes is a slightly jazzy affair that would fit right at home on Native Construct‘s Quiet World. This complete departure from the recent norm of darker and heavier tech is incredibly relieving and really lets the track breathe. Throughout the album this continued usage of actual thought out and expanded upon clean sections (rather than maybe the post-metal or ambient-esque breaks many bands employ) really provide the space needed to let the riff sections never feel overpowering or draining for the listener.
The jazzy diversion aside, the rest of “Collapse” (the track) fills its runtime with sections of ever changing technical filth, running guitar lines, and core-esque breakdowns. Later songs evolve on these ideas: “Incinerate” with its very BTBAM-esque lines and devolutions of riff into breakdown, “Voyage” with its almost mathcore style dissonant stabs. “Eclipse” has some wonderful chord based riffs with short 16th note bursts bookended by large chord hits and drawn out arpeggios. I’ll be honest, we could talk about riffs all day for this album (of course there are a lot, this is a technical death album) but it’s not really what brings me back. All technical death albums have riffs, some albums go harder in that department than others. Collapse has great riffing and heavy. sections, but it really isn’t what makes the album shine in my mind.
It’s the melodic choices and stylings which bring me back to this album much more than many things I’ve reviewed here lately. “Collapse”, as mentioned earlier, has the first glimpses of that with its first two clean vocal + guitar diversions. “Eclipse” has glimpses of it at 1:30, being marked by extended harmonized guitar lines. “Contort” stands though as the most distinguished by its evolution and resolution as a song. A long brood on a clean building section with the return of the multi-harmonized vocals before culminating in a large ocean of tremolo, chord stabs, clean vocals, and layered harshes as well. This was the moment that really sold me on this album. Absolute chaos coupled with true sense for clean stylings is something more bands seem to attempt these days, but that few ever achieve in any meaningful or impressive way.
The album is definitely let down a bit with the mix muddiness (especially in some of the harsh vocal sections) but the underlying musicality and performance underneath is of undeniable impeccability. Wonderful guitar writing and vocal sensibilities shine through despite any slight misfirings on the production end. The drums, while a bit mechanical at times in the less than pleasing way, know how to make themselves a vehicle when necessary and when to take over the feeling for short moments. There may be a bit over reliance on the bell-like synth sound, but honestly it works pretty much every time it comes up so I can’t fault it all that much. Otherwise some of the subtle padding here and there help provide a more. soundscape vibe akin to. say. a The Contortionist or similar.
If you are a lover of the strangeness and. anything-goes nature of your BTBAMs and Native Constructs but want to hear it packaged inside a more technical death genre-scape…well it’s like this album was made by you.
Recommended tracks: Contort, Eclipse, Voyage
Recommended for fans of: Native Construct, Obscura, Between the Buried and Me
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: Indepedent
Prognostication is:
– Members not disclosed
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