Technical Death Metal

Psycroptic – The Inherited Repression Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 2, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, Australian Metal, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 1 comment

Psycroptic may be one of the best known technical death metal bands out there today. Their high profile is largely the result of the fact that they make a type of technical death metal that moves about a mile a second, but while managing to not be too abstract. The band has historically had catchy hooks and great melodic parts, while never backing down on the guitar gymnastics and with vocals that have been just as diverse and unique as the music behind it. Psycroptic is the real deal, so there was never any hesitation on my part when I got a hold of the Tazmanian band’s 5th full-length The Inherited Repression.

Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Beyond Creation – The Aura

By Angry Metal Guy on January 24, 2012 in 2011, American Metal, Canadian Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2011, Technical Death Metal, 6 comments

I made comments earlier to the effect of that I’d not heard the 2011 death metal record of the year. Nader Sadek definitely fills in that gap deftly, but Beyond Creation’s 2011 release The Aura from some obscure Canadian Label that is going on a 6 month vacation so you can’t actually order records from […]

Dim Mak – The Emergence of Reptilian Altars Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 7, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Hammerheart Records, Reviews, Willowtip, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 2 comments

Dim Mak arose from cult heroes Ripping Corpse in 1996 (after Erik Rutan ran off to join Morbid Angel) and they decided to do something entirely different. And yes, I believe that Dim Mak definitely qualifies as that. A thrashy, techy death metal band with martial arts themes almost exclusively (yes, their first record was called Enter the Fist), The Emergence of Reptilian Altars is the band’s fourth full length and first since 2006. Five years (well, six if you’re looking at the Euro release date) is a long time to wait between albums, so you’d like to think that they were preparing something super special (like the Touch of Death!) for their return. But during that five years down, original vocalist (and Ripping Corpse member) Scott Ruth left the band and was replaced by newcomer Joe Capizzi, whose style is markedly different than his predecessor.

Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 8, 2011 in 2011, 3.0, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 13 comments

In 2009 a record came sort of out of nowhere that really took me by surprise, and frankly, kicked my ass something fierce. It was from Italian technical death metallers Fleshgod Apocalypse and the record was called Oracles. What I loved about the album, and the thing that made it so addicting, was that it was beautifully melodic and unabashedly technical at the same time. It blended these two things into what was easily the most unique technical death metal or melodic death metal record that had been released in a very, very long time. I was blown away (and still am). I didn’t review it at the time, but it made the #3 spot on my Top 10(ish) of 2009 and I have been waiting for the follow up ever since. Agony, the band’s first record on Nuclear Blast records, is that follow up and it’s a great album that bugs me.

Obscura – Omnivium Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 22, 2011 in 2011, 4.5, Death Metal, German Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Technical Death Metal, 11 comments

March has really been one hell of a month, hasn’t it? To think after Amon Amarth and Vintersorg we get to follow it all up with Obscura’s Omnivium. If any record counts as the most-anticipated of the year, Obscura is probably getting pretty close to that level. Having released in 2009, what was really a hell of a surprise for most listeners (including people who’d purchased their previous record) in Cosmogenesis, these technical death metallers built on their Necrophagist cred (and sound) and on the legacy of the mighty Death with their technical, progressive death metal, complete with awesome fretless bass attack. So, while this isn’t really a record that can fall victim of the sophomore slump (being the band’s third record), it certainly is an album that could fall victim to overly heightened expectations. And, I must admit, this Angry Metal Guy certainly had heightened expectations

Abysmal Dawn – Leveling the Plane of Existence Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 5, 2011 in 2011, 3.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 2 comments

I’ve been waiting for a long time to get to Abysmal Dawn’s new disc Leveling the Plane of Existence. Having had a 2010 that was sadly devoid of mind-blowing technical death metal (excepting Hour of Penance’s Paradogma), I was really looking forward to a slab of technical death metal mastery that is being sold by Relapse as the savior of American death metal. While I wouldn’t go that far, Abysmal Dawn does offer up some solid technical death metal that is well-played, well-written and full of enough novel ideas and good riffs to make the record enjoyable. And the band has a unique, melodic voice that separates it from the pack.

Defiled – In Crisis Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 18, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, Death Metal, Japanese Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 0 comments

I’ll admit it, I’m a biased motherfucker. When I think of Japan, I think of anime and J Pop and bands like over-the-top shit like X Japan and the crazy clown lookin’ girls, not brutal death metal bands like Defiled. I guess I should have learned this lesson already from bands like Gore Beyond Necropsy and Sigh and others who break against this stereotype in their own way, but no, my bias remains. Though I guess you can really say that Defiled is over-the-top, as they are an excellent, but also very brutal and pretty technical death metal band that is releasing their fourth full length. However, I can say that I was right surprised to get this record since I had no idea it was coming out and it has been 8 years since their Season of Mist debut Divination. But whether or not I had warning, Defiled has put out another ball breaking slab of death metal crushingness.

Aeon – Path of Fire Review

By Angry Metal Guy on May 27, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 0 comments

Swedish death metal, I mean real Swedish death metal with the legacy of brutality that everyone can identify in the form of (insert your favorite Swedish death metal bands here) lives on in Aeon, a band that hails from Ã–stersund a city in JÃ¤mtland (which is basically in the mountains and towards the Norwegian border). Astersund, while not known for its thriving metal scene, has indeed birthed one of Sweden’s current and most brutal death metal bands who were signed to Metal Blade and released an album a couple of years ago entitled Rise to Dominate which really excited fans of the tech and (more-or-less) brutal styles of death metal. I believe when I was introduced to them the words “fucking ridiculous” were definitely involved somewhere in that conversation.

Arsis – Starve for the Devil Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 8, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 1 comment

In the new wave of technical, fast, melodic death metal bands that have been coming out in the last few years Arsis has stood alone with its professional blending of melodic death, technical death and thrash. Basically an instant success story from their first CD A Celebration of Guilt, the band has gone through a lot of line-up changes and has been out there pretty much consistently since their break in 2004. Starve for the Devil follows on the heals of 2008’s We Are the Nightmare and there are a lot of expectations to be met and surpassed with this new album.