Hey there tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Once again, there's an exclusive premiere for you here today that's well worth your time. I'll have another killer premiere for you next week as well from The Ritual Aura. Before we dive into today's edition, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking for more shred jams, all prior editions of this series can be perused here.
Similar to last week's focus on Arkaik, Inanimate Existence is another long-running California-based technical death metal band who needs no lengthy introduction. That said, I've been a really big fan of these guys since 2012 when their first album, Liberation Through Hearing, came out and really blew me away. It was obvious even then that they had a lot of talent, but it was their more experimental and progressive ideas on that album which really gave them a unique sound all their own within the brutal minded tech-death sphere. Over the years they've continued to expand their sound and abilities songwriting wise on the subsequent albums that followed Liberation, and I think the group has finally hit a new sweet spot between shred-heavy brutality with a slice of prog death beauty and melody on Underneath a Melting Sky.
While opinions varied regarding their 2016 album, Calling From a Dream, this latest offering that's about to drop already seems to have garnered a much more unanimously positive reaction among both fans and critics. I'll admit to being surprised to see such a short turn around from the group, coupled with the material here being so strong in spite of this coming out a mere year after their third album. Few if any bands can drop a full-length follow-up only one year later and have it be this damn good from start to finish. To me, it just proves that Inanimate Existence is the real deal, and once again, more than capable of reinventing themselves while staying true to their core sound at the same time.
The album starts off with a real face-melter of an opener on "Forever To Burn", and there's an almost catchy feeling to the riffs and vocal delivery here that constantly gets stuck in my head. Once the first song is over, the band delivers one killer song after another all the way to the end, with plenty of variety and different combinations of their style present to make the journey worthwhile. Closing on a particularly strong note with "Formula of Spores" which was launched as one of the early singles so most of you have probably already heard it. Inanimate Existence has always tended to close their albums out in grandiose and epic form, and "Formula of Spores" continues that trend in admirable fashion.
Four albums in and Inanimate Existence seem poised to continue a limitless upwards trajectory as rising stars in the tech-death realm. As a long time Inanimate Existence fan, I couldn't ask for a more enjoyable and killer new album from them than what Underneath a Melting Sky delivers in spades. So be sure to jam our early album stream below, and if you dig what you're hearing, you can pre-order the album through The Artisan Era website, through Itunes, and also through Bandcamp. You can follow the group over at the Inanimate Existence Facebook page as well. Underneath a Melting Sky officially drops this Friday, August 25th through The Artisan Era.
