Hey there tech-fiends! Once again, it seems the latest Tech-Death Tuesday stream was a hit with you all with last week's early dive into the new Singularity EP, Voidwalker. While I won't have another early stream edition of Tech-Death Tuesday until next week, I do have reviews and music from two newly released 2016 gems below you all will enjoy. As an early warning, both items today are brutal, merciless, and full-throttle forms of technical brutal death metal. So I'm not expecting both (or either) to be to everyone's taste. But that's what I like about doing this column, I can switch up the format or styles of tech-death on display each week to hopefully carry something to most fans taste at least every other week or so. Here's the usual reminder before we begin that anyone on the hunt for more sick music can peruse all prior editions of this series here.
Neurogenic – Ouroboric Stagnation
Much like last year's new Repulsive Dissection record I obsessed over, the debut full-length by Neurogenic fits two similar criteria as that group and record did. First off, it's likewise an international super-group that draws immense talent from all over the globe in pursuit of a singular and evil sonic goal. And secondly, it somehow seems to be slipping under most people's radars even as it mops the fucking floor with most all of their contemporary brutal death metal and technical brutal death metal peers. Our resident underground MI scout Trevor Strnad from The Black Dahlia Murder rightfully covered it in his most recent August edition of The Obituarist post here at the site. And even so, I still feel strongly enough about Ouroboric Stagnation to cover it yet again here for us at Metal-Injection.
Neurogenic's sonic playground on Ouroboric Stagnation draws strongly from the Suffocation and Deeds Of Flesh school of brutal death metal, but take it to 11 in the spirit of Spinal Tap with an infusion of extreme speed and dexterity in the vein of acts like Brain Drill, Malignancy, and Severed Savior. The end result, and whether you dig it, is a matter of nuance. If you're familiar with this kind of music, you'll be able to recognize that this is several cuts above what's average for the sound from the top-notch riffing from sole guitarist Vlad Melnik (Back Door To Asylum) , to the maniacal and near inhuman drumming of Lord Marco (Anomalous, ex-Brain Drill, live for Sleep Terror, etc), the skillful bass playing of Anton Zhikharev (Back Door To Asylum, FleshBomb, etc) that's given an audible punch in the mix, and the excellent lead guitar playing littered over top all of that.
The band's decision to craft songs on Ouroboric Stagnation that never once even top the three minute mark is another wise choose. As music like this deserves brevity in order to reach maximum impact and effectiveness. Guest spots by talented cretins such as guitarist Dave Suzuki (ex-Vital Remains/etc), vocalist Mallika Sundaramurthy from Abnormality, mind-bending bassist Jeff Hughell (Six Feet Under, his solo work, Reciprocal, ex-Brain Drill, etc) , and Malignancy vocalist Danny Nelson are just further proof that this is sick, as it'd be hard to get all these grade-A talents involved if the music wasn't up to par for them. If you can take a beating, but get some kind of sick pleasure out of it, then you'll find a lot to love on Ouroboric Stagnation. The album can be ordered digitally through the Neurogenic Bandcamp here. Likewise, physical copies of the album along with merch. bundles with the CD version can be ordered through their label, Comatose Music, here. Be sure to follow Neurogenic over on their Facebook Page too!
Unfathomable Ruination – Finitude
As one of the best rising stars of brutal technical metal from the UK, Unfathomable Ruination have been on quite a tear since forming back in 2010. Up until recently the London based sonic wrecking ball have delivered a frightening initial self-titled demo, then a 2012 full-length, Misshapen Congenital Entropy, followed by a 2014 two song EP called Idiosyncratic Chaos. Their latest release, Finitude, just came out six days ago, and has already garnered plenty of positive well deserved praise. And rightfully so, as this is not only the bands best release to date, but shows off a keen compositional sense often lacking from the often rather straightforward and endlessly blasting nature of brutal oriented death metal. Which isn't to say that that's lacking here, it's not, merely that there is so much more going on in the music beyond attempting to bash your fucking head in like a crazed devil.
While I rarely quote from band, label, or PR company press releases when doing my write ups, a snippet from the band's Bandcamp write up about the album encapsulates what it offers perfectly, a portion of which quite accurately states that Finitude is "an atypical Brutal Death Metal record. Each song is an amalgam of different influences from bands such as Ulcerate. Deathspell Omega, Dying Fetus, Monstrosity, Iniquity, Death and Origin. The band has managed to keep the brutal essence of Death Metal while their new album arrangements provides thought-provoking diversity and evokes strong emotions in the listener, all of which combines to set them apart from other bands in the genre.” That statement in itself says a lot about this record and what Finitude is all about. I couldn't have stated that better myself. Unfathomable Ruination – Finitude is out now through Sevared Records and can be purchased digitally through the band here. Or in physical format and band merch. bundles through their label here. Be sure to follow them over on their Unfathomable Ruination Facebook Page too!
