Hey there tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Once again, I've got another sick exclusive for your ears today, and that'll hold true for next week as well so be sure to check back next Tuesday. Before we dive into today's focus, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking for even more sick bands, all prior editions of this series can be perused here.
For those who are new to SlaveOne, the group hails from France, and their name comes from the ship Boba Fett uses in Star Wars. This is hardly their first go around, having released a 2009 demo and a 2012 ep, Cold Obscurantist Light, before releasing their 2016 full-length, Disclosed Diotropic Principles which I loved quite a bit and covered here in this column last year. Now only a year later, and they're back again with a new EP called An Abstract and Metaphysical Approach to Deceit. Luckily, we've got you covered since this is an exclusive early stream of the EP ahead of its official release this Friday through Dolorem Records.
While their music is still often informed by old school progressive death metal influences, SlaveOne on their new release have done away with the mainly mid-tempo mode of their 2016 songs and are exploring something new on An Abstract and Metaphysical Approach to Deceit. This is quite a bit different sounding than their 2016 effort, a lot of their identity from last year’s album is still here, with flourishes of old-school prog/tech in a Death, Pestilence, and Cynic influenced way paired with some airy middle eastern type melodies and pauses. But on the three core songs here, there’s more of a Behemoth and Nile gone Ulcerate with a touch of Gorguts flavor to the material, paired with a noticeable Obscura influence. Overall, the music here shows a far more dissonant, atmospheric focused, and speedier version of SlaveOne, and the result is an interesting evolution in sound only one year after their last release.
The three new songs that form the core of the material are fucking sick and add up to almost 20 minutes of quality material. Kicking off in high gear right from the onset with opener "Tunguska", which segues nicely into the even more expansive and adventurous following track, "Through illuminated void and meditative resonance". Closing out on a strong note with "Urobic", which stands as the track here that hews closest to their prior progressive death focused sound, but with those darker and speedier upgrades woven in that are the more prominent focus musically on tracks one and two. An Abstract and Metaphysical Approach to Deceit is high-octane powerful technical death metal with an adventurous prog death-tinged vibe to it, and the quality is always top notch no matter what they're exploring musically. After track three, it ends with a Dimmu Borgir cover as a bonus, which is for their song "Blessings upon the throne of tyranny", and while I personally am not a fan of it, the three main songs on the release are well worth nabbing this for even if the cover isn't to your liking either.
I was already a fan of SlaveOne prior to this EP, but this new release feels like a big step up for them which is always exciting to hear from a band you enjoy. So jam our early exclusive stream below, and if you dig what you're hearing, An Abstract and Metaphysical Approach to Deceit can be pre-ordered through the Dolorem Records Bandcamp page. Be sure to follow SlaveOne over on their Facebook page as well.
