Fuck yeah! I loved their full-length and this quick sampler from their forthcoming sophomore effort "The Killing Plan" is even better. Minor lineup shifts see new bassist Sean McCann joining the ranks, with guitarists Joey Capizzi and Brandon Diaz now splitting the vocal duties, and a stronger recording coupled with more powerful and perhaps linear songwriting amps up the intensity level more than would be expected possible. The title track kicks things off and takes a midpaced rhythmic route with lots of churning chord progressions and unusually shifting time signatures, making it evident right away that a lot of dual guitar layering is going on with this new material. Most of the vocals are sort of snarled with a hoarse rasp in this one, and despite a few thrashier increases in speed and a sick solo the track's pretty consistent in its surging pace. Towards the end of the piece things take an extended instrumental run, complete with some fucking amazing drum fills and interesting rhythmic arrangements. Then "Freezing the Spirit" has a classic technical death metal vibe, blending growling vocals and midrange sneers over lots of alternate picking riffs and subtle hints at dissonant melody - imagine a combination of some of Cynic's harsher demo work with a little Morbid Angel and Emperor tossed in (for added density and quirky discordance, respectively). The fucker even opens with a beautiful acoustic passage! I love it! The production was handled by Eric Rutan and sounds stronger than most of this work that I've encountered. The tones are clinical without losing feeling, the mix is crisp and clear, etc. I really like the guitar tone because it's controlled and has a nice crunchy edge to it, the bass isn't too prominent but is audibly filling in the gaps, the percussion is taut but has a good presence of resonance and warmth that all helps to highlight a pretty damn impressive performance, etc. The disc comes in a full color slipcase with blood red waves on the cover and text on the back along with minimal imagery. That's about it, but the cover definitely catches the eye. To my utter disbelief the band is actually still unsigned and looking for label, despite the fact that their record is basically done, so... there's simply no way in hell they'll remain free agents for long, because if these songs are any indication of the entire full-length? Look the fuck out. I'm tempted to give this a 9/10 but I'll save the overbearing praise for the real deal when it finally hits the streets - hopefully sooner than later! In the meantime you can snag this from the band for $4ppd in the US, and I highly recommend it.
[Hypercube]
Running time - 9:08, Tracks: 2
[Notable tracks: they both kick ass]
The Dying Light - [email protected]
