Unmoored "Indefinite Soul-Extension" CD
[Code666]
I've been wanting to check out this Swedish act for awhile, and this is my first chance to do so. This here is some fucking impressive melodic, thrashing death metal with incredibly forceful low vocal growls/shouts mixed with beautiful singing, lots of tempo variation, and so on. Aside from a few flashier than average drum fills, "Commit to the Fire" is a chunkier and more straightforward track that contains a few riffs of the more traditional Swedish death metal variety, contrasted with basic proto-thrash chord progressions and one slick break of singing that subtly layers in acoustic guitars against the distortion. But make no mistake, this is not a one-sided record at all. The solos have a flashy 80's metal or progressive angle happening to some degree, there are a lot of carefully placed layers of instrumentation that add mild technicality to the mix, the drumming is restrained when need be but drops plenty of colorful fills/patterns, etc. Just check out the fucked up discordant riffing that opens "Leave-Taking", eventually opening into a gorgeously lush acoustic passage with some Opeth-esque singing that explodes into a more black metal influenced run (complete with midrange vocal sneers) morphing into a thick set of rocked out leads that jumps from the Carcass realm to something more like a Shrapnel records virtuoso... oh, and there's a violin solo!? Insane. There's so much going on. And it's great, because despite songs that routinely top six minutes, it doesn't come off as overly technical or slapped together, and they're generally far heavier than most such bands, achieving a perfect balance between aggression and atmosphere (making tactful use of the occasional smattering of keyboards). The chorus of "Cinders Veil" is also incredibly awesome, layering a ton of different guitar parts together before quickly shifting to a strange dissonant rhythm and slightly left of center traditional metal riff. "Final State Part III (Posthumous Writings)" is heavily based around intense melodies and acoustic guitars with some of the finest singing of the entire record - a true standout that closes the disc excellently. The production is fucking awesome. The guitar tone is crystal clear but perfectly honed in its tight heaviness, the drums are nice and resonant, the vocals sound killer, etc. I'm not making out a great deal of bass, but I'm such a huge fan of the guitar tone that I don't mind that absence in the least. I guess at times the mix could be ever so slightly clearer in benefit of the vocals, but I think it sounds superb overall. The disc comes in a beautiful glossy digipack covered in bleak yet somehow peaceful foggy landscapes. The booklet contains all of the lyrics, which are fairly strange and tend to deal with strange transcendental sort of cosmic topics on some level. "Ethereal stronghold, Metempsychosis nocturne, Labyrinthian transition, The spirit shifting shape, Resurrection final event..." This is a great piece of work. Fans of Opeth, Vintersorg, and the like should absolutely look into this. Trust me when I remind you that it sounds very little like those bands (it's way heavier and not so overtly complex), but there are minor similarities and a general sense of powerful creativity that holds enough weight for me to make such a recommendation. Very fucking nice work here. (8/10)
Running time - 45:34, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Commit to the Fire, Leave-Taking, Final State Part III (Posthumous Writings)]
Code666 - http://www.code666.net

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