Review Summary: An inspired labour of love by a Jack of all trades, master of... some.
Long ago in 2008, a Tasmanian death metal 5-piece named Separatist released a début album called "The Motionless Apocalypse". Its production was simultaneously monumental and amateurish, compressed to oblivion in a way that was both a detriment to its clarity and evocative of its apocalyptic theme. Despite this, the composition and musicianship was rock solid. A technical death metal base adorned with black metal and (tasteful) deathcore flourishes.
Unfortunately complications arose during the recording of their follow-up. The group disbanded shortly thereafter as band leader Sam Dishington became involved with numerous other projects. All hope seemed to be lost for Separatist and their sophomore album.
But in early 2014 the unthinkable happened. Former vocalist Sam Dishington took on the monumental task of not only recording the lost album all by himself (with the help of a few guests) but he also re-recorded "The Motionless Apocalypse" in its entirety. Both albums were released simultaneously without much precedent. This seems like necessary context when describing this album, as the hugely flawed original became the basis of the 2014 revamp "Motionless".
After a thankfully brief intro the album kicks off with dense, layered guitars and Dishington's menacing vocals. "The Reprieve" alternates between doomy chugging, acrobatic riffs and the occasional slam-influenced breakdown. It sets the tone for the rest of the album while allowing later tracks to offer a few surprises and diversions, though the oppressive mood and Biblical lyrical themes are fairly consistent from beginning to end.
The guitar work is precise and diverse for the most part, running the gamut from technical death metal legatos to huge, lurching breakdowns. In addition to this, there's still room to spare for razor-sharp black metal chords and wandering guitar leads reminiscent of post metal. While such a variety of different influences may come together haphazardly in the hands of most death metal bands, Separatist manages to meld them together seamlessly to create devious compositions. Interestingly the songs on this re-recording have been transposed down a few semitones from the original, making the sound murkier and allowing some of the more angular riffs to enter djent territory (such as the closing moments of "Anaclasis").
Due to the DIY nature of the album there are inevitably chinks in Separatist's armour. The production - while better than the original - is still lacking in some key areas. The production has an uneasy thinness to it, though it is thankfully not as loud and compressed as many contemporary death metal production jobs. The drums (now programmed) are adequate but sterile; sometimes bordering on obnoxious. This becomes very apparent in faster sections where the bass drums completely overpower everything else, obscuring some of the (excellent) guitar riffs. In terms of the bass playing... it may or may not be great but the sound is absolutely demolished by the drums.
Dishington's vocals are solid throughout the album. Like the guitar work it is diverse, alternating between black metal screeches, death metal grunts and ridiculous gutturals. There is one exception though... the clean vocals. It is admirable that Dishington is willing to include clean vocals in his "everything including the kitchen sink" approach, but his singing falls woefully flat. His voice on the re-recording isn't terrible (the original album's cleans bordered on excruciating) but it seems somewhat unnecessary, a box to be ticked rather than a necessary addition. The otherwise amazing "In Dissonant Silence II : Decessus" is marred by an inappropriate vocal delivery which feels detached from the song itself.
The album's hour-long runtime might test the patience of some listeners. While every song is great there's a noticeable loss of momentum two-thirds of the way through the album. Riffs begin to sound eerily familiar and the unrelenting bleakness becomes tiring. However despite the (very apparent) flaws, "Motionless" is an excellent display of technical death metal which avoids the self-indulgence of similar bands while remaining ambitious in its scope.
