Album Rating: 5.0

Agreed entirely with hype. Killer album BUTT

Album Rating: 4.5

just as a piece of music i probably would still take this over the non-human 90s death records, i view this more from a fusion lens though. its actually kind of shocking to me that so many people who would never be caught dead listening to jazz fusion love this album

Album Rating: 4.5

i remember digging this when i was 12/13 trying out "smart person's death metal" for the first time (since i was still largely convinced all death metal sounded like metalcore and farts based on mtv2 and hot topic) and i actually dig it a lot more nowadays after having heard thousands of 70s prog and fusion records

i mean I think I this album’s major strength is that it seems to appeal to people who aren’t really into the genres it’s pulling most of its influences from. id say that’s a pretty good indicator that it’s a well done record, even if it doesn’t appeal specifically to me.

Album Rating: 5.0

"since i was still largely convinced all death metal sounded like metalcore and farts based on mtv2 and hot topic" lol

anyone who thinks this isn't death metal is a complete goof lol sorry hype and ford. traced in air aint dm but this is

Album Rating: 5.0

I think he's right tho. It pulls a lot of influence from dm, but categorically it's such a crossover album that it can barely be recognized as dm

i think it is simultaneously a crossover album while being instantly recognizable as death metal. these are not mutually exclusive qualities

“anyone who thinks this isn't death metal is a complete goof”

play this back to back with any cannibal corpse record and tell me they’re even remotely related. like, is it influenced by the scene? sure. but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an ocean of separation between actual true death metal and the fusion stuff this album is doing.

like imagine this band opening for Deicide. literally everyone would leave.

Album Rating: 5.0

Alright im bowing out of this convo lol

yeah because every death metal band needs to sound like cannibal corpse lawl. i get what you're saying but it's such a lazy argument imo

this is undoubtedly progressive metal but i think it's also death metal and very recognizable as such. it pulls enough from death metal stylistically that this is a core component of its sound, despite the many extraneous elements that radically differ from death metal

idk man I just disagree. genre talk is kinda pussy shit anyways even though I do love fightin about it.

the only thing that really matters is if you dig it or not.

disclosure's two LPs have just as much in common with tech house and progressive house as they do with uk garage but you don't see heads running around denying its status as a UKG album. this is not a problem with the level of style being pulled from death metal, it is a problem with parts of the death metal scene's ability to tolerate ambiguity

Album Rating: 4.5

cynic actually opened for corpse in like 94 and got booed

Album Rating: 4.5

Cynic were probably the first rock band to use a laptop for live shows

Album Rating: 5.0

Lol sonic. I believe that

Yea I’m pretty sure they broke up because people were yelling slurs at them and shit it’s pretty sad

I don’t really see this album as “genre tourist”-y tho. They have that fusion aspect but they’re not really doing a million different sounds, the first track is pretty much the vibe you’ll get from the whole album.

As far as it not being death metal I think I probably lean more towards it being progressive metal with some dm and thrash influences seeing as they were a thrash band before this, and the 91 demo versions of some of a few of these tracks feel lot more deathy than this as well.

Album Rating: 4.5

this album is sick

Album Rating: 5.0

"I don’t really see this album as “genre tourist”-y tho. They have that fusion aspect but they’re not really doing a million different sounds, the first track is pretty much the vibe you’ll get from the whole album."



I'd say the same. It's a pretty unified aesthetic and the riffing is some of the strongest in metal.



"yeah because every death metal band needs to sound like cannibal corpse lawl."



This is kind of a copout, honestly. There's plenty of progressive/technical death metal that's pretty distinct from Cannibal Corpse in the years preceding this album. Focus just has more in common with Sanity Obscure/Dimensions, Control and Resistance, The Principle of Doubt, etc. than any death metal and a lot of the riffing is descended from that while still being a completely unique album like a lot of those were.



I will say that while Roadrunner maybe didn't market them the best in the touring department, they definitely recognized this when they put Cynic and Believer on the same comp, The Breed Beyond. Everything I've just said could easily be applicable to Pestilence as it was the same case with them on Spheres.

Album Rating: 5.0

"I'd say the same. It's a pretty unified aesthetic and the riffing is some of the strongest in metal."



Agreed. It encompasses several different genres - progressive metal, jazz fusion, death metal, thrash, etc. - but it fuses them all together in such a way that the record feels completely unified and singular. Much like the best 70s Queen albums