Greetings tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Before we dive into today's column, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking to find even more sick bands, you can do so here.
Are you ready for some rad new music from Australia? Because we've got the full early stream of Xenobiotic's new EP Hate Monolith for you today. Although the release doesn’t come out until September 2 via Unique Leader Records, I have another killer premiere for you next week so we were able to bring this to you super early as a result.
Like a lot of people, the group's 2020 album, Mordrake, was the release that caught my attention and made me a big fan of Xenobiotic. That album had a lot of buzz surrounding it, which was partly due to the album's unique approach to tech-deathcore mixed with progressive death metal alongside a strong atmospheric focus inspired by Fallujah. Now they're back with Hate Monolith, which features a few new pulverizing and heavy songs, a cover of I Am Eternal's "Sever the Ties," and a lovely live-recorded version of three songs from Mordrake as a nice bonus.
Hate Monolith at its core is the musical equivalent of a bulldozer attempting to bury the remains of a nuclear bomb going off. It's a bit excessive but in all the best ways possible. From the beginning of the opener "Autophagia" all the way to the closer "Pathos," Hate Monolith rarely relents from its primary caustic and punishing core approach, this is some really merciless shit that sort of reminds me of Beneath The Massacre. In between the crushing heaviness and destructive breakdowns, the band still makes room for some of their newfound atmospheric approach found on Mordrake from time to time on each new song here. Overall, I'd say this is a bit more straightforward than the material on Mordrake, save for "Pathos" the near seven-minute-long epic closing cut that reminds us once more that Xenobiotic is a force to be reckoned with.
So if you're looking to hear some fantastic heavy-as-hell tech-death, be sure to check out our early full stream of Hate Monolith below. Pre-orders for Hate Monolith are available here. You can follow the band over on the Xenobiotic Facebook Page and Instagram Page.
