The album starts off with “Surface” and its a pretty nice heavy beats and weird guitar riffing, its kind of a mixture of by the number death metal with some weird twists, i like it, then “Society’s Disposable Son” is also a pretty good track, it has flare i give it that, with some nice sounding breakdowns and guitar licks, its not earth shattering stuff but its smooth and as such pretty nice, then we have “The System’s Failure” and again a pretty wacky track, with a pretty headbanging hardcore moment at about 1:30 ehhehe, again its a mix of by the numbers death metal and some other stuff… again one for the books.

Now I’m going to talk about “The Stench Of Misery”, its not one of the best of the album… so why talk about it anyway?, cause its still kick ass death metal, but it seems like a remix of the music before… the album has that feel to it, if i listen to them in different times i would say both are kick ass, but one after the other, seems… odd, then “Untitled” ohh this one is old school heheeh with the buildup its basic but hey i like some interludes, and a sure fire way to build to “Modern Age Slavery” that again seems like a remixed version, it all sounds very familiar, don’t get me wrong i like it… but maybe not so much as i should.

Then we get “The Invisible Hand” and again a solid track, really liked the groove blast at 2:15, “Better off Dead” is a bit of the same, “Long Forgotten” is again a bit of the same … well until about half way in, seems like it changed into a different song, nice one, “Sleepless” finished the album kinda like it started groovyyyy.

The album plays pretty much as one big track, well in the sense that from start to finish the tracks are pretty similar, its kinda good and bad at the same time, although i do like variation (and there is some), its kinda blasting all over the place from start to finish and i don’t mean just the drums… it feels like every music starts pretty much the same and then half way or in the end they mix it up a bit for freshness, don’t get me wrong i liked Beneath The Massacre, but probably this one is mostly for death fans and not so much music fan.

Official Site Beneaththemassacre.com

Beneath The Massacre – Societys Disposable Son
Beneath The Massacre – The Systems Failure

So the album starts with “Mirthless Perspectives” and it’s quite a good start, it goes from angry as it gets, to a more clean vocal chorus, with loads of blasting in between, that is until the guitar solo, that although well conceived, it just killed it for me, it seemed out of place, well next track is “An Emptier Void” starts with another blasting/groovy death, and after 2 “mockup” chorus, we get into a calmer part, and a quite good one i might say, with a melodic eerie feel to it, then it resumes to a more shout/blast, and yet again the same feeling, the eerie part just doesn’t fit the blasting, it feels like they are 2 different tracks, now the title track “Irradiant”, uhhh this one starts with some heavy blasting in between slower sections, with a extremely simple catchy chorus, finally a good track, then comes “Asphyxiate” that brings a more jumping/groovy sound, more in tune with groove/math metal, that added with the guest appearance of Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah fame, brings this one home as being one of the best of the album, then comes up “Hyperconscience” again a good track, it has a nice melodic death metal feel to it.

“The Perfect Disaster”, you can say this one is the calm song, actually after the initial intro, it’s actually a slow burn metal tune, almost stoner metal, then “Molten Scars” returns us to the blasting, and that swedish feel, loads of aggression building up to some more clean cut chorus and some in between guitar solo, then when i thought the album was on it’s way out, they sneak this one in, in the form of “Fireproven”, really nice, loads of interest here, hell even the solo works great, this is one 6 minute hellblazing track, that drives us to the end with “Boiling Calm” that even though as a lot of interesting bits, it’s a bit of a mess and gives me a little “bitter end” finish.

Retention is the key word here, sure it’s catchy, has great pace, loads of wacky riffs, impressive drumming, technicality, hell even flare, some of the tracks are surprisingly brutal, and we all love that shit, but as Psycroptic latest, and in my view, that’s just not enough, this isn’t metal school, i think its a good album, and it has a lot to offer, and i’ll be sure to listen to it some more, but is it memorable? …No, is it good enough to spend your well earned money? … Well … yeah, why not, the boys have skill, and you won’t get that “i wasted my money” feel, that only Fear Factory’s can deliver.

Scarve – Mirthless Perspectives
Scarve – An Emptier Void

A band’s 1st album can be a great work, or just good enough to brake through (let’s talk about the ones that survive this process, obviously).

With the 2nd album the “tests” begin. Or you do worst and you can forget about it, or you can really do better and stay “above water”. Let’s suppose that you do great and manage to get to a 3rd album.

By this time, you have no excuse to do a bad album anymore. You must have an idea how your band should work and sound by now.
You really should do THE “killer” album. Otherwise its just on more “band X” album… People will start to loose interest. (yeah, why should we listen to another median record from band X? We have the other two records from them and many other bands to get into) OK, so you do the best album ‘till date. That’s great! Three albums in the bag.
(Some of the 80’ / 90’ classic metal albums are the 3rd in the bands career. We have Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, Slayer’s “Reign in Blood”, Morbid Angel’s “Covenant”, and so on…)

In order to continue a “decent” career you should really improve your work. We now have two options. You continue doing albums with the same formula – and become another AC/DC phenomenon – or you manage to continue building up, instead of stagnating. So let’s see where Nile is…

“Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka” was a killer album. I was stunned with this work. They mixed death metal with Egyptian influences – lyric and music wise. What a great idea!

“Black Seeds of Vengeance” presented an even more brutal work. Production more clean, songs more complex, a second guitarist added, Egyptian / death metal symbioses pushed a little far more. Well… another epic album with more great arrangements.

“In Their Darkened Shrines” – my favorite to date – was a culmination of an amazing work. They were better then ever. The songs were great, the technical aspect was pushed to the limit, Egypt incarnated in Nile for good! Yeah, this was Nile. Now tha’s what i’m talking about…

So what now? Were to from here? Well…
Is technical death metal riffs and amazing Egyptian moods still surprising by now? I don’t think so…

“Annihilation of the Wicked” would be the band’s classic if only this was the bands 1st to 3rd album. But the reality is, Nile has already 3 records in the bag. In my opinion, this is just “another” Nile record – that AC/DC phenomenon starting to show up. The production is as sharp as it gets. Tremendous work. Songs are pushed to inhuman limits technique wise. Amazing musicians (shit I love Nile, really!) but, at this time, that’s not enough. They have done that already… Adding Egyptian chorus and stuff is not enough anymore. It’s still a very good album and probably the best death metal record of 2005.

I think Karl Sanders – if by any chance reads this non-sacred text – will probably curse me with some Egyptian old scripture (to turn me into a frog or something) but don’t get me wrong… I know the Nile guys really put some good effort into this record. I have no doubt Karl Sanders did his best on this one. Man, this record is great. My point is just regarding the complete bands work. That’s how I see Nile and any other band. As a continued work.

The Nile “magic” is somehow fading. I hope that in the 5th record they manage to revitalize their sound. Nile is a great band!

Nile – Lashed to the Slave Stick

With “Nihility” they sharpened their sound, and lifted the bar even more – technique wise. And this was one of the motives for me to get into Decapitated. Their tech riffs were great!

“The Negation” was next in line. I started to notice, a more simpler, direct “sound”, but, overall, the album was also great.

They now present “Organic Hallucinosis”.
I have been reading a lot of reviews saying that this album is great, it’s another step for death metal, the Meshuggah influences are great, whatever…

Well… let me give you my 2 cents.
The new vocalist is ok, I guess, but seems not to fit in the band. Sauron vocals were way more brutal. This guy sings like if he’s in a metalcore band.
The guitar job is up to Decapitated standards in most of the tracks, though some of that tech riffs, are kind of lost. They also recorded some tracks using a 7-string guitar but, for some strange reason, those tracks are not that heavy like they “should” be. I mean… What’s the point of using a 7-stringer if your other 6-string guitar riffs sound way more heavy? I personally expected more of Vogg in that 7-stringer exploring.
The drum job his greater then ever and I think that’s the best we can take from this album.
As for the external influences – Meshuggah and whatever – I never understood why bands struggle to create an original sound, achieved it, and then start copying other bands instead of exploring their achievements.

Decapitated are different and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Its better to change than record 4 times the same album. They are just going into a different path, with some elements I don’t enjoy much. If Decapitated fans will follow that path or not, we will see. I’m not sure if I will.

Decapitated – A Poem About An Old Prison Man

So why should you listen to “Epitaph”? Because “Epitaph” is a masterpiece. No doubt about that.
This record has about 30 minutes of ultra-technical death metal riffs, brutal voice, amazing neo-classical solos – as in “OH MY GOD MY LEFT TESTICLE JUST FELL!” kind of solos – and a pretty amazing bass / drum job also.
From the minute you start playing this one, ‘till the minute is over, you’ll be stunned and GOD yeah! head banging all the way through!

Don’t get me wrong on this one. This is not that kind of guitar masturbation kind of technical stuff. Ohh and the neo-classical solos are NOT the kind of the neo-pussy-malmsteen-classical stuff either.

I can’t describe any better this album. You should really listen to it by yourself. Take 30 minutes of your day and put “Epitaph” on. You’ll be sorry otherwise.

Necrophagist – Stabwound

Necrophagist – Seven

OK, now for the album itself. Production wise… This is the band’s finest work. It as the flawless, clearest, sharpest sound ever. High rate for that.
As for the songs itself… They truly raised the bar on this one. Prepare to be thrashed with the level of technique presented by Psycroptic. In some ways, it can also be bad. Some songs seem to be almost a guitar / drum workshop. Some times you’ll lost yourselves in the complexity of this work. The “hooks” explored in the previous work – The Scepter Of The Ancients – seem to be kinda lost now. And that’s a pity.

If you already knew Psycroptic then you’ll not be disappointed. The band’s original “sound” is still there and to a degree more refined than ever – perhaps even to much.

If this is your first Psycroptic contact and you love technical death metal then go for it. It’s a “must have”, though I would advise you to listen to “The Scepter Of The Ancients” too.

Psycroptic – Alpha Breed

Psycroptic – Epoch of The Gods