The year 2015 so far has been an exceptional year for good modern death metal releases, namely for Metal Blade Records..
Apophys is a relative new band that already have a mature sound that you can count on as being among one of the death metal elite hailing from the death metal spawning-ground of the Netherlands. Fans of the modern death metal outfit will find pleasure in what "Prime Incursion" has to offer, being crisp production, blistering technical and groovy riffs, relentless and accurate drumming and take-no-prisoner throaty vocals.
I mentioned that this band dabbled more in the technical side of death metal. Do not expect mid time signature changes, higher tuned guitars for sweep-picking, technical, neo-classical guitar wankery and continuous non-stop blast beats and gravity blasts that are ostensibly synonymous of the genre. If you are familiar with bands such as Dyscarnate, Ageless Oblivion, Beneath and their related material then you can expect a death metal album which brings a nice blend of straight forward brutality, precision and groove.
More on an instrumental side note; what I personally liked of this album is the very flowing, legato-like sound of the rhythm and lead fills and the flowing yet dynamic fill of the drums. No shredding are to be heard with little yet tasteful solos to be heard. The only element lack from the album is the bass fills are nearly inaudible. Overall the focus was more on the song writing and how all the instruments came together to accomplish such a rare feat nowadays in modern technical death metal.
Ever since the inception of the band's promo, Apophys have been nothing short of impressive. Apohpys already set the bar quite high with this debut, I only hope that this band will be innovative in their next release and exceed my high expectations of the next album
Keep your eyes peeled on this band for future releases, they might not have not have a large fanbase but they have the potential to release nothing short of excellent modern technical death metal!
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 7
Production: 8
Performance: 8
