Illogicist "Dissonant Perspectives" CD
[self-released]
Here's the second demo from this impressive progressive death metal band from Italy, this time having brought in one new guitarist and a new bassist to the lineup, thus changing their approach a bit. The songs are still rather lengthy and technical, but this material is definitely heavier and more akin to later period Death than their last demo was in my opinion. If you combined "Symbolic" with "Individual Thought Patterns" the result would probably be similar to this, except that the vocal snarls here are a bit thicker and not as high-pitched and the solos, while exceptional, are in a different style than those of the mighty Chuck Schuldiner. They still fiddle with some unusual time signatures and some of their note choices suggest a little bit of a jazz influence, but they've pretty much shed the jazz fusion influences for the most part, aside from a few minor hints in the solos. There aren't any clean breaks or anything, and most of the Atheist/Cynic riffing has taken a back seat as well (the title track is probably the most intricate in that department). The production is pretty fucking great. It's a little bit on the dense side, but once you get used to it you can tell that they're definitely on the right track. The bass is very audible, the drums are crystal clear, the guitars are heavy as shit and you can really hear the detail in their picking patterns, the vocals aren't mixed too loud, etc. I'd probably smooth out the guitar tone a bit, taking away some low-end and turning up the bass guitar to let it handle more of that spectrum, but I have few real issues with the sound. The CD comes in a plastic sleeve with a two-sided insert. The front cover looks great and is in color, brandishing the band's superb new logo and collaging together bands of imagery that look like digitized textures and swarms of suffering bodies. Strange, but very professional. The back is black and white and has one band photo along with all of the contact and recording information, etc. Simple, but it works, and it's an inexpensive way to get the demo in the mail. This is another great demo from this band, and they should certainly be signed by now. I feel that the songwriting could use a bit more tempo variation and I'd like to hear some of the jazzier aspects of the writing come back into play, but they're still very capable and talented. Hopefully they'll get the opportunity to do a full-length soon enough... (7/10)
Running time - 17:45, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: all three have their moments]
Illogicist - http://www.illogicist.com

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