Technical Death Metal

Augurium – Unearthly Will Review

Augurium – Unearthly Will Review

“Death metal, for all its vast influence, can be a chore. Walls of distortion, thick riffs, and roars all on the same plane of the low and gurgle assault the ears with reckless abandon, and I have long needed breathing room to fully appreciate it. While The Gorilla God Himself prefers it putrid and slimy and the gone-but-unforgotten Kronos prefers it layered and intricate, I prefer a death metal experience that takes me places. Saskatchewan five-piece Augurium is willing to throw their crusty platter of death metal into the ring.” Death on the road.

Alkaloid – Numen Review

Alkaloid – Numen Review

“German collective Alkaloid bucks the trend often associated with bands fitted with the ‘supergroup’ tag. With a line-up boasting members of such lauded acts as Spawn of Possession, Obscura, Necrophagist, Eternity’s End, Dark Fortress, and many others, on 2015’s striking debut The Malkuth Grimoire, and 2018’s phenomenal sophomore opus Liquid Anatomy, Alkaloid ascended to elite status in the modern progressive and technical death metal scenes.” Dream team on paper (but see the N.Y. Jets).

Cryptopsy – As Gomorrah Burns Review

Cryptopsy – As Gomorrah Burns Review

“Few death metal acts have a run of albums as divisive as Cryptopsy. Starting life as an uncompromisingly brutal tech-death act, they took the world by storm with 1994s Blasphemy Made Flesh and 1996s iconic None So Vile. Their hyperkinetic blend of speed, technicality, and heaviness set them apart from every other death outfit save Gorguts and Suffocation. Sadly, these epic albums proved hard to top and the subsequent years were not so kind to Cryptopsy.” Crypt skeptics reunion.

Dead and Dripping – Blackened Cerebral Rifts Review

Dead and Dripping – Blackened Cerebral Rifts Review

“I don’t know what possessed me. Maybe it was a genuine desire to get out of my comfort zone with some straightforwardly grimy death metal. Maybe it was the trusted Transcending Obscurity label, or the pleasing purple color scheme (though not the art itself, which is definitely not pleasing). Maybe it was just the name Dead and Dripping which amused me with its stereotypical death metal disgustingness.” Mop and lock.

The Zenith Passage – Datalysium Review

The Zenith Passage – Datalysium Review

The Zenith Passage’s debut effort Solipsist crackled with a flame stoked by the identity that The Faceless set ablaze with dry and percussive pick spittings, alien-warble soloing, and sneakily grooving rhythm, but it wasn’t all so cut from the same cloth. Main mind McKinney even then seemed to have thoughts a touch more mechanical firing in his brain chamber.” Man vs. machine.

Widow’s Peak – Claustrophobe Review

Widow’s Peak – Claustrophobe Review

“I’m not a particularly skilled musician myself, and I won’t pretend for a second that I could play anything that Widow’s Peak does on this technical extravaganza of groovy and deathy leanings. Fitting for fret-melting of this caliber, this Canadian outfit has enlisted the engineering talents of Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, many technical credits).” Peak tech-freakouts.

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration Review

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration Review

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods is a quartet from Christchurch, New Zealand, having gone through a rebirth with 2021’s excellent Nightmare Withdrawals. Previously a humor-based deathcore band, the act saw new beginnings with their third full-length, embracing a caustic blend of dissonant, technical, and progressive death metal with a much more surreal and punishing palette promising avant-garde realms and scenic vistas alike.” Out to the woodshed.

Chronicle – Where Chaos Thrives Review

Chronicle – Where Chaos Thrives Review

“An unheralded young act from Denmark, I tackled Chronicle’s third LP, Where Chaos Thrives, without previous experience with the band’s material. Nevertheless, that may be my own unfortunate oversight, as Chronicle play a bouncy, raging style of thrashy melodeath meets technical death shreddery that can certainly fit neatly in my wheelhouse if the songwriting goods are up to scratch.” Chronicles of anger.

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Fracturus – Versus the Void

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Fracturus – Versus the Void

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.” Void fractions.