Review Summary: This is the perfect band for people who want both Cryptopsy and Yngwie Malmsteen in their music.
Necrophagist's first recording, Onset of Putrefication sparked many positive comments in underground death metal. It was all done by one man(Muhammed Suicmez) who programmed everything else in the album. The album contained over-the-top tech metal full of head-on brutality and outstanding guitar musicianship, namely on the arpeggios. Necrophagist's new album finds him with actual members this time, and boy, they are good. They are probably some of the few people actually able to keep up with Muhammed's technical guitar playing. More or less, this is a great follow-up to the much-acclaimed Onset of Putrefication, a very excellent album.
Stabwound, the opener, is possibly the best Necrophagist song recorded to date. It begins with an uncompromisingly brutal riff that already shows that the album will require a bit of attention and stamina to listen to. About a half a minute in, Muhammed Suicmez shows off his classical guitar skills, doing many cleanly executed runs with the strings. This song just completely sets the pace for the other songs that follow it. The Stillborn One shows a slower side to the band. It still remains its technicality though. Special note: Muhammed pays special homage to Beethoven, doing a part directly from Fur Elise.
Ignominous and Pale doesn't fit the album as well, it seems. Sadly, it gets a bit repetitive after a while, and the speed doesn't make it up. However, Diminished to Be follows, switching things up a bit. This is also the longest track, clocking in at 5 minutes. It's a better and more solid track than the one before. The rest gets even better, though.
Here's where the album gets awesome. Here we have the title track, storming right out of the gate with a powerful heavy riff. The pace of the drums never falters and neither do Muhammed's crazy maniacal guitar runs. After this is one of my favorite songs of all time, Only Ash Remains. The bass solo is just phenomenal in the beginning. Afterwards, we get treated to a massive solo section by Muhammed. His vocals are very, very loud in this one, so it's a word of warning. Still it's all worth it with such a great song on their hands.
Seven is a more doom-esque track in the beginning, but not without the sense of a progressive vibe to it, just like the other songs on the album. It eventually catches its breath and speeds up like the other songs on the album. This is one of the most technical songs on the album. The last song, Symbiotic in Theory probably IS the most technical song. It changes the most time signatures and switches around a lot in the music. There are some Opeth-like sections in the song, too. Overall, this is a great ending track.
This album was a great follow-up to a great debut. What also made this album better, however, was the lyrics of the album. They traded in the gore for more philosophical and abstract lyrics that deal with society and the mind. Overall, this is the perfect band for people who want both Cryptopsy and Yngwie Malmsteen in their music.
