“These guys describe their sound as “imagine if Meshuggah couldn’t count,” describing a blend of the mathy pioneers’ wonky rhythms, Will Haven’s dissonance, Crowbar’s riffs, Car Bomb and Humanity’s Last Breath’s boundary-pushing technicality.” Baby’s got back (hair).
“Till the Dirt is comprised of Atheist members Shaefer, guitarist Jerry Witunsky, and bassist Yoav Ruiz-Feingold, as well as Soreption guitarist Ian Waye and Fermentor drummer Dylan Marks. With an Atheist-heavy lineup, what can we expect from Till the Dirt? Well, death metal with nu-metal was not on my Bingo card.” Things that should stay buried.
“Another month, another filter to scrape clean. We really should invest in a better air filtration system, or we should fire Holdeneye and Steel Druhm. Those two beefy hairballs of sweat and questionable odors really clog things up around here. But I digress…” Overlooked platters and mysterious splatters.
![The Ridiculous Year o’ Death Metal Round-up, Part 1 [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/dmwm-roundup1-768x403.png)
“A lot of good death metal came out this year. In the last six months, it has become an outright deluge, and Ferrous Beuller and I have doggy-paddled through it, coughing and sputtering and generally being overwhelmed. But even if great albums were few, enough good albums came out—and got passed over—that we’re in dire need of a recap. In fact the need is so dire that we can’t hope to cover it all ourselves.”
More lists for the list machine! The men who unwisely go by their real names, Mark Z. and L. Saunders boldly proclaim their best albums of 2018.
![Redemptor – Arthaneum [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Redemptor-Arthaneum1.jpg)
“By technical death metal standards, Arthaneum is an odd but compelling beast that stands-out by operating outside the box, while holding all the trademarks avid listeners of the style have come to expect. The intricate and complex musicianship impresses in all departments, but there’s a more measured, controlled approach, rather than purely focusing on unrelenting barrages of speed and cramming as many notes and ideas into each song as humanly possible.” There’s no place like tech-death for the holidays.
“I think we can all admit January was a less than spectacular month for metal. There were some solid albums, but no big, slobberknocking titans of terror. Lest we fear 2014 would be another off year, February came and kicked our collective asses with one huge release after another. This naturally led to internal strife at AMG over what album deserved the top spot and let’s just say, tempers flared and dishes were thrown (I’ve long been an advocate of removing all dishes from the AMG office). Now that decisions have been made, china has been broken and feelings bruised, we deliver to you the sweet, tangy fruits of our labor.”
Technical death metal. You know the images and sounds those three words conjure up: endless sweep arpeggios, slapped bass with only the freshest of strings, fast double-bass drumming, an album cover that utilizes colors on the cooler side of the Color Wheel (mostly hues of purple and blue) and has an alien somewhere in it, the band logo in a sharp, nigh-symmetrical font…. And for the most part, you know what to expect when someone tries to take the throne from the likes of Decapitated, Gorguts, or Necrophagist. We’re all about the Color Wheel here at AMG, but only the cool side. We also appreciate some good tech-death. Does this qualify?
