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| Progressive/Technical Death Metal - Listening List
Wanted to share this preliminary list of technical, progressive, 'dissonant' and otherwise 'weird' death metal that I have been listening to recently, and variously enjoyed, as well as, mostly preceding that, some death metal on my growing listening list that I am, for now, quite excited to check out (organised in no particular order). Have focused here on slightly more obscure bands that, I think, deserve more attention than they have hitherto received. Feel free to add any additional recommendations based on what I have already listed here. | | 80 |  | Labor Intvs
Sunken Crucible
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some devastatingly dark avant-gardistic heavily blackened deathly doomy metal from this Finnish DIY project (sounds like it has a particularly intriguing combination of sounds).
P.S. After listening: relatively standard death doom with blackened dissonance-infused inflections which, for the most part, plots along at a middling tempo of slowed-down fairly simple, by-the-numbers, death-doom riffs, occasionally speeding up into blackened death outbursts containing equally by-the-numbers riffs: the soundscapes lack almost any forward motion, generally building to nothing, each intensification simply returning us to the same point shortly thereafter, whereat the structurally flat death-doom unfoldings resume. Its hellish atmosphere being its one redeeming factor (helped by the gritty production), yet it cannot save this record from being gratingly, vexingly, vapid in the end (~2.0). | | 79 |  | Crimson Massacre
The Luster of Pandemonium
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of avant-gardistic technical death metal, heard it described as the closest one can get to an avant-garde progressive rock tech death fusion (colour me intrigued).
P.S. After listening: hyper-technical, relentlessly structurally dense, remarkably rigorously non-repetitive (though not invariably) shreddy progressive technical death metal composed with stunning intricacy and executed with awe-inducing technical competency: impenetrably intense in its incessant contrapuntal riffage, choatically ordered drumming, and continual compositional evolutions (with more motivic development than meets the eye). The vocals are perhaps the least refined and most monodimensional element of this record. Its least appealling feature the folksy acoustic intermezzo at the midpoint (though it might be a welcome reprieve for most). Magnificent hidden gem in the truest sense. Impeccable record (~4.5). | | 78 |  | Order From Chaos
Stillbirth Machine
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of old-school death metal (highly rated on this site also) which supposedly has strong blackened inflections and thrash/war metal inclinations.
P.S. After listening: very punky/crusty/thrashy old-school death metal, with overly gritty production (which buries the guitar/bass/drums far too much below the technically unrefined throaty rattling vocals) that is not my cup of tea, with some occasionally more dense outbursts, constituting its main redeemable moments alongside its general intensity, but which is, for the most part, limited to fairly straightforward dm (with some short-lived wailing solos thrown in), too repetitive, temporally basic, and structurally flat, to leave much of an impression (~2.5). | | 77 |  | The Levitation Hex
The Levitation Hex
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a rather strange, possibly avant-gardistic, iteration of progressive death metal with supposedly stoner/psychedelic rock inflections (?) (sounds at least rather intriguing).
P.S. After listening: more or less all my criticism of the dreadful Anabyss album below apply in equal measure to this travesty of a record. It sets itself apart in its addition of heavy psych elements which add absolutely nothing here, and whose rhythmic/tonal simplicity is entirely out of line with the prog death approach it miserably fails to do justice to (~1.5). | | 76 |  | Uiv
Frigus
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a new iteration of avant-gardistic blackened technical dissonant death metal with post-metal inflections (which might actually be more blackened than deathly but we will see).
P.S. After listening: a curious mixture of swirling angular blackened disso-death of appreciable intensity, density, and technical precision, with almost ethereal, yet icy cold, (post-)black metal passages and clean proggy interludes which represent this record's sonic spectrum's quieter end: the former are its main attraction, the latter are less appealling (and not a great stylistic fit). The overall package is, at least for the most part, mildly enjoyable and even rather promising for a debut EP (~3.0). | | 75 |  | Cabinet
Hydrolysated Ordination
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some nasty dissonance-inflected and death-doom tinged death/war metal (whose album title and track list titles strongly suggest one might be in for a good time).
P.S. After listening: hyper-compressed, exceedingly narly, (warlike) doomy death metal distorted into an atonal mush that almost but not quite hides the utter vacuousness of the instrumentation and compositions: the unending reiteration of the same boring dm riffs accompanied by the same utterly bog-standard drum patterns, without variation, for the entire record, without any appreciable dynamic contrast or complexity. A few eerie sound effects that add nothing being the only ‘exception.’ Its atmosphere is unnerving, but besides that it's dreadful stuff (~1.5). | | 74 |  | Cosmophage
Sidereal Malignancy
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some tightly executed progressively inflected death metal from this quite recently released debut EP by this Brazilian outfit.
P.S. After listening: an album that is similarly flawed, in many ways, to the Polyptych record, if, here, we get a far more old school approach to death metal (with far fewer, if any, dissonant and progressive inflections). Exasperatingly derivative, sonically vapid (~2.0). | | 73 |  | Harmony in Grotesque
Noumenon
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently rather strange avant-gardistic genre-bending technical doom death metal defined by extended genre-fusions (incorporating funeral doom, thrash metal, blackened elements etc.).
P.S. After listening: a strange, altogether not entirely successful fusion, of various extreme metal styles, primarily death (doom) and progressive metal, with some blackened, thrashy, and jazzy inflections (though these are highly sporadic), with the record taking the most bog-standard iterations of their tropes a stretching into overwrought, overly long, structurally flat compositions that bore to no end. The only moment of promise arrives in the final track when skronky saxophone is thrusted into an extended almost-djenty breakdown that, however, lasts for far too long, and bespeaks, in many ways, the record’s total failure to sonically fulfil its aesthetic potential (~2.0). | | 72 |  | Exuvial
The Hive Mind Chronicles - Part 1: Parasítica
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently ambitious, strongly progressively inflected technical death metal which, as I understand, belongs more to the Obscura (band, not record) side of the tech-death spectrum.
P.S. After listening: a relatively straightforward progressive techy death metal record with extremely polished production, competent playing, and a decent level of dynamism, yet too structurally flat to make much of an impression, overly relying on stretched out by-the-numbers prog death riffs and jagged almost djenty rhythms interspersed with simplistic clean sections consistently overstaying their welcome: it lacks intensity, aggression, consistent forward motion, its overly repetitive mid-tempo plotting arrangements too shallow to impress (~2.5). | | 71 |  | Khthoniik Cerviiks
SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia)
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some vicious dissonance-inflected death/black metal from outer space, or the dark depths below, with progressive leanings (seen comparisons to Voivod as well).
P.S. After listening: fairly by-the-numbers blackened death metal with some disso-death inflections which is largely comprised of alternating mid-tempo blackened death grooves saturated with derivative quasi-crunchy blackened death metal riffs and faster blast-beat led sections featuring similar such riffs, each frequently going on for too long while alternating in a fairly predictable fashion that fails to create any enjoyable sense of jagged intensity: if the atmosphere and overall tone of the record is darkly on point, the soundscapes are flat to the point of tedium (~2.5). | | 70 |  | Zvylpwkua
The Outlying Entities
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some fairly avant-gardistic blackened dissonant technical death metal with elements of jazzy free improvisation and, even, death doom inflections (?).
After listening: extremely poorly produced blackened disso-death whose amateurish attempt at generating a suffocatingly choatic atmosphere falls flat in by-the-numbers death metal drumming, a dreadful guitar tone and approach (oscillating between various unappealling forms of flat atonal/dissonant noise), annoyingly quiet vocals, and various quieter interludes that add nothing (~1.5). | | 69 |  | Vitriol (DEU)
Chrysalis
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some technical/dissonant death metal inflected with progressive, avant-gardistic inflections (same name as a thoroughly impressive American death metal band: also recommended).
P.S. Clearly the start of something (possibly better): poorly mixed/produced debut EP with a far too quiet muffled drum sound, not particularly competently performed vocal lines, and a fairly weak guitar tone: mildly enjoyed some of the jagged dissonance-inflected blackened death metal riffs, but these were sporadic. Quieter moments, including, especially, the extended kinda noisy, then largely acoustic, intro starting the second (and final) track, gratingly drag and add very little (~2.0). | | 68 |  | SouphL
SouphL
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some experimental/avant-gardistic nasty technical death metal from, of course, Québec (which, if anything, is a rather positive sign: if you know, you know).
P.S. After listening: first two tracks provide an extended spoken-word/electronics prelude that vastly overstays its welcome after which the album unfolds across a set of winding technical dissonant death metal compositions that remain too structurally flat/insufficiently structurally dense to leave much of an impression, with the appealling strangely-voiced death metal riffs few and far between while the quieter moments drag incessantly. The album is mostly inoffensive if rather underdeveloped, though still showing minor glimpses of promise (~2.5). | | 67 |  | Shavasana
Shavasana
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some avant-gardistic dissonant technical brutal death metal from outer space (supposedly fusing most of my favourite death metal aesthetics into one: colour me intrigued).
P.S. After listening all the way through this 30-minute debut (3 times) I think I can say that this is a decidedly promising iteration of progressive/avant-gardistic technical dissonance-inflected spacious death metal which is at its strongest when it leans into these angular, jagged, intense bursts of structurally dense neck-bendingly groovy (blackened) tech-death flurries, but drags a little when it ventures into its quieter intermezzos and sometimes has a habit of flattening out its slow-moving heavier sections with smidgens of over-repetition. Tone/production amazing, bass work noteworthy (sound is incredible). Much potential (3.5+). | | 66 |  | Ur Draugr
With Hunger Undying
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some progressive genre-bending death/black metal fusion (which could have just as easily ended up on the black metal list I have recently created); supposedly Opethian (?).
P.S. After listening: Ibid to the Polyptych record described below, except more blackened, with a needless overly long acoustic Opethian interlude included, and even more structurally flat, bloated, and tedious (~2.0). | | 65 |  | Polyptych
Defying the Metastasis
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some technical death metal with a strong blackened inflection and even some doom metal influences (wonderful artwork by the way).
P.S. After listening: lots of decent-enough, if generally underdeveloped, technical and progressive death ideas and dissonance-inflected excursions, foremostly over-stretched to the point of grating exasperation within bloated meandering compositions too structurally flat to leave much of an impression. Mediocre (~2.5). | | 64 |  | Anabyss
Dehabilitation
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some rather proficient and refined progressive death metal, supposedly with some blackened inflections, from this particularly obscure New Zealand outfit (whose single record I had to add to the site myself when expanding this list).
P.S. After listening: very disappointing, if not downright awful, 'progressive' death metal record whose compositions mostly rely on taking the most derivative uninteresting 'prog-death' riff one can think of and gradually beating it to death before belatedly introducing another riff and starting the same process all over again: painfully derivative, gratingly structurally repetitive and boringly flat (~1.5). | | 63 |  | Uzumaki (USA)
Knowledge of a Language One Has Never Learned
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some rather nasty avant-gardistic dissonant technical death metal fused with free improvisation, accompanied by rather raw production (sounds right up my alley).
P.S. After listening: grimy, slithering, dissonant (technical) death metal winding across disordered, highly dynamic compositions (that feel as though they are partly improvised) comprised of jagged screechy atonal riffs and unpredictable, angular drum patterns, and accompanied by not particularly impressively performed raspy growls and shrieks, held together by gritty thin production. The music is intensely chaotic, it never sits still for long, its caustic dynamism is unrelenting: yet, in part perhaps because this is a one-person project, its technical intensity remains a little too constrained, thus also limiting how unhinged the music sounds. Still this is a promising, blistering attempt to push dissonant death metal to its limits (~3.5). | | 62 |  | Once Them Edens
The Year Is One
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently another instantiation of proggy avant-gardistic (technical) death metal also including, so I have heard, black metal inflections and post-rock tinges.
P.S. After listening: a quirky slab of progressive, jaggedly technical death metal with strong prog-rock inflections, strange complexly phrased guitar lines and bass noodling, a subpar vocal performance, and a propensity for derivative chuggy riffing, indeed, for saturating its complex song structures with relatively straightforward riffs and drum lines that fail to impress. Add to that its tendency toward repetition and toward falling back into quieter intermezzi that bore to no end (including a pointless distorted sample of a ‘moaning woman’ that feels totally out of place), and one has a record that surely is aesthetically strange but fails to appeal, sonically, in almost any way (~2.0). | | 61 |  | Abhorrent Expanse
Gateways To Resplendence
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a rare instantiation of a radical avant-gardistic fusion of technical death metal and avant-garde/free-form jazz (hence combining two of my favourite musical styles: colour my intrigued).
P.S. After listening: this 'avant-garde' slab of ‘death’ metal, is, in fact, barely death metal at all, nor, even, is it experimental jazz with a noisy tinge: save the first track (which is mostly bog-standard, poorly produced death metal with a vaguely experimental edge that wanders aimlessly and goes nowhere), this record is filled with tedious interludes that drag on endlessly, pointless repetitive (atonal) noodling that amounts to nothing, and extended passages of noise, plain noise (with some instrumental tinges, a wailing guitar that does not nothing but wail, a few scattered cymbal hits, etc.). A failed experiment that amounts to nothing in the end (~1.5). | | 60 |  | Growth (AUS)
Under the Under
Not listened to yet (new addition): this band's debut record absolutely blew me away, taking a particularly jagged, angular, and unrelentingly structurally dense approach to Ulcerate/Gorguts-inspired progressive dissonant death metal with, I am inclined to say, mathcore-esque edges, combining most of my favourite death-metal based sounds into a single release; even if this sophomore cannot live up to that debut I am sure it will probably hit a similar aesthetic and musical sweet spot.
P.S. After listening: maintains the stunning mathy progressive disso-death sound, while providing more breathing room to sonically explore its thematics of (inter)personal disintegration (less dense moments whereat increasing repetition, greater metric consistency, and cleaner vocals take over) which are, to me, less aesthetically appealing even if they are affectively devastating. Exemplary (4.0+). | | 59 |  | Tetragrammacide
Primal Incinerators of Moral Matrix
Just finished a first listen to this debut full length from this Indian blackened noise death/war metal band: absolutely pummelling, immensely intense, impenetrably dense, extremely narly blackened deathly noise spirals that do blend together a little by the end (3.0+ nearing a 3.5). Will be checking the sophomore.
P.S. sophomore is even better: more technically and compositionally refined, even more death-metal oriented, just as unrelentingly devastating as the debut (3.5+). | | 58 |  | Cranial Incisored
Rebuild: The Unfinished Interpretation of Irration
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some absolutely wild mathy, technical, brutal, dissonant deathgrind (great album title by the way).
P.S. After listening: it is clear that this technical deathgrind record is going for undiluted musical insanity, organising its guitar riffs into jugged, intense miniatures: their short runtime hides the fact, however, that these very riffs are rather by-the-numbers and simple, sometimes even repeating to the point of making this painfully obvious. A similar such judgement can be made about the drumming/bass lines. A few jazzy excursions fail to add much substance to the overall sound. Add to that the fairly technically poor vocals and one ends up with a record whose greatest quality might be its brevity (~2.0). | | 57 |  | Blasphemer
On the Inexistence of God
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some intense technical brutal death metal on this Italian band's debut record.
P.S. After listening: absolutely relentless (savee an interlude or two) technical brutal death metal with an unerring commitment to structural density (which is how I like it in this style) and incessantly intensifying aggression. It is also wonderfully produced (that fucking bass) and performed with immense competency, if a little unvaried: not breaking any new ground but very admirable in execution (3.5+). | | 56 |  | Exuviate
Exuviate
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of mathy avant-gardistic technical brutal death metal constituting this obscure Holbrook-based outfit's only release.
P.S. After listening: a fairly standard, if fairly brutal and mathy, old-school tech death record with nothing much to write home about, if containing some almost-decent jagged grooves: most of its riffs are generally uninspired, its rapid dynamics failing to impress even by the standards of this more old school style. Add to that the dreadful vocals and horrible sounding drums, and you end with, at best, a below-average sounding tech death record (~2.0). | | 55 |  | Monochromatic Residua
Eternal Mountain
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a rare instance of microtonal technical death metal from this Pittsburgh-based group's debut EP.
P.S. After listening: unlike the Enantiodromia, this band’s microtonal approach features a 17 et (as supposed 16 et) division of the octave which, unfortunately, is also not exploited as fully as it could be perhaps. However, this record’s stronger mathy, technical death metal approach, replete with extended lead guitar lines, lends itself more to extended utilisation of microtonal phrasings, while, overall, rendering the compositions more hectic, less predictable, and, indeed, more consistently engaging. Even if some these songs remain underdeveloped in my view, there is much promise to be found here (3.0+). | | 54 |  | Thunraz
Incineration Day
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently a one-man sludgy/industrial death metal project.
P.S. After listening: a similar approach to the preceding Nucleus record bringing with it the same set of weaknesses, if this time with a kind of mathy sludge influence (alongside some psychedelic and proggy inflections, including some tepid cleans). Again too structurally flat and aesthetically derivative too leave much of an impression (~2.5). | | 53 |  | Nucleus (USA-IL)
Entity
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some high-quality techy death metal from 'outer space.'
P.S. After listening: can say many of the same things about this record as the one directly below it, except that here we have fewer allusions to Gorguts-style disso-death and a more direct throughline to a Demilich-inspired/weird psych-death sound world: perhaps one could say, a less technically and compositionally refined, more plodding, Blood Incantation. Ultimately, fairly derivative and boring (~2.5). | | 52 |  | Vengeful
The Omnipresent Curse
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some intense technical death metal concluding with a 20+ minute closer featuring Luc Lemay (of Gorguts) on vocals: sounds right up my alley.
P.S. After listening: fairly boring, extremely derivative, overly repetitive and structurally flat death metal with some dissonant and technical inflections, at its best (yet still fairly uninteresting) when it leans into the more aggressively intense dimensions of its sound, but often falling back on these doomier or sludgier plodding hyper-repetitive grooves that quickly grate and bore (~2.5). | | 51 |  | Aeon Of Horus
The Embodiment of Darkness and Light
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some very proggy (keys included) technical death metal.
P.S. After listening: unimpressive, overly ‘polished’ yet also overly repetitive, in my view, proggy/techy death metal, with some poorly recorded, fairly vapid, keys thrown in for good measure, that is far too reliant on predictably developing soundscapes saturated, guitar wise, by these mind-numbingly boring jagged chuggy modern riffs: little to anything sets this record apart from most bog-standard proggy tech death, suffering many of the same flaws, without in any way moving beyond the genre’s aesthetic constraints. This is but a poor iteration (~2.0). | | 50 |  | Azooma
The Act of Eye
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some proggressive technical death metal from this Iranian outfit's only (full length) release.
P.S. After listening: an ambitious, if not altogether successful, progressive technical death metal record that is at its strongest when it mixes meticulously through-composed shreddy prog-death excursions with disso-death inflections, but falls flat or looses the plot in its quieter (more cleaner) moments, eventually running out of ideas in its second half when compositional unpredictability really falters (~3.0). | | 49 |  | Cambion
Conflagrate the Celestial Refugium
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some high-quality vicious technical death metal.
P.S. After listening: in many ways possessing similar qualities (and weaknesses) as the Chaos Inception album below, if with an even more intense, far more technical thrash sound, and fantastic sounding drums performed with exemplary skill: an unerring fury of grinding (if a little uninventive) riffs and unrelenting percussive fury across rather dense compositions. Brutal and technically intense (~3.5). | | 48 |  | Aethyrvorous
Akephalic Palingenesis
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some dense, dark, dissonant (?) blackened death metal.
P.S. After listening: effectively an inferior version of the Bloody Sign record at 43, with the same flaws and far fewer of its strengths. Disappointing (~2.0). | | 47 |  | Chaos Inception
Vengeance Evangel
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently viciously intense blackened Morbid-angel-esque death metal.
P.S. After listening: not particularly distinguished, innovative, or mind-bending, but still particularly impressively executed Morbid-Angel-style Florida death metal with some modern technical flourishes thrown in: not sure about the drums but besides those this sounds excellently produced. The performance level is highly laudable. The compositions, if still a little too predictable for my liking, are unrelenting as is the album’s general intensity. Largely enjoyable if far from distinctive (~3.0). | | 46 |  | Discordant Meditation
Tragic Creature
Not listened to yet (new addition): apparently some intensely vicious technical dissonant death metal (the band calls their sound 'psychotic death metal' on their Bandcamp page: colour me intrigued).
P.S. After listening: far from as unhinge as the phrase ‘psychotic death metal’ would suggest, this is largely fairly boring, structurally flat, and sonically derivative death metal with some tinges of (techy) jaggedness and some elements of dissonance: does not in any way push the boundaries of the genre technically or musically, nor is it a particularly impressive iteration of its core aesthetic. Was left (exceedingly) bored by the end (~2.5). | | 45 |  | A'sh
לא שם
Not listened to yet (new addition which I had to add to the site myself): apparently some angular blackened dissonant death metal with sludgy inflections on this debut EP by Haifa-based outfit A'sh titled 'Not There'.
P.S. After listening: exceedingly derivative, almost amateurish, blackened disso-death record that more or less (if barely) succeeds at creating a foreboding, cold and icy atmosphere which serves as a translucent façade ineffectively covering over the structurally flat vacuousness of the compositions where barely a single alluring instrumental passage or riff can be found. An exasperating release (~2.0). | | 44 |  | Ages Gone
Ages Gone
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some avant-garde death metal from this obscure German band (their only full length release).
P.S. After listening: an underdeveloped experimental/avant-gardistic mismash sounds, or, rather, regular old kind of jagged (if not particularly angular or structural dense) death metal interspersed with pointless voice samples, boring-asf interludes, by-the-numbers jazzy excursions, and keys/piano. Some of the leadwork is almost inspiring, but other than that I can find little appeal here: none of the individual sections stand out on their own and the compositions are too fragmentary to effectively interweave them (~2.0). | | 43 |  | Bloody Sign
Chaos Echoes
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some pretty avant-garde/strange (blackened) death metal.
P.S. After listening: relatively well-produced blackened dissonance-inflected death metal with some nifty, narly, crunchy moments of dense, shifty, intensity which, unfortunately, is committed to this belabored, overly structurally repetitive, largely mid-tempo, over-emphasis on ominous atmosphere over abrasive intensity: hence its stylistically unvaried soundscapes weary over time. Ultimately lackluster (~2.5). | | 42 |  | Unbinarize
Nameless I Stand
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some blackened dissonant death metal (with great bandname articulating a philosophical sentiment that I can fully get behind).
P.S. After listening: a fairly derivative, and very raw, debut EP featuring technical disso-death that starts off with a promising intensity, structural density, and ferocity but tails off rather quickly while unappeallingly prioritising the crafting of ominous atmosphere over structural/technical exploration. Disappointing (~2.5). | | 41 |  | Psionic Madness
Warhead Crucifix
Not yet listened to (new addition which I had to add to the site myself): apparently some very filthy, very nasty, dissonant (brutal) death metal.
P.S. After listening: a rather undercooked, overly long, and in my view, underdeveloped death metal record with brutal death influences and dissonant inflections with rather poorly sounding drumming, ultimately unsuccessful attempts at dissonant density (though some of the guitar leads are quite nice), and plodding, overly-repetitive, structurally flat compositions that ultimately go nowhere. The album, overall, lacks the necessary intensity, angularity, and structural density to pull off its style. Was bored senseless by the end (~2.0). | | 40 |  | Abstractyss
Omnipresent Misanthropy
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some very obscure dissonant death metal (but it has Total Dissonance Worship's sign of approval so colour me intrigued).
P.S. After listening: fairly by-the-numbers death metal with shreddy tech-death influences, chuggy almost djenty breakdowns, and varied dissonance inflections, which is, despite being excellently produced and competently performed, is simply far too derivative, far too straightforward in its compositional approach, far too structurally flat, to really capture my attention: there are moments of promise here, but, by and large, this feels too bog standard to really make much of an impression (~2.5). | | 39 |  | Okazaki Fragments
Abandoned
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some very jagged, mathy technical deathgrind.
P.S. After listening: rather promising, if rather short, slab of mathcore-infused, dissonance-inflected technical deathgrind of a highly jagged, angular, and quite structurally dense character that does indeed sound a bit like if Gorguts composed a deathgrind record with a little DEP added on top: though its riff phrasings are not nearly as innovative as the former nor are its rhythmic patterns as spastic as the latter (indeed there is no off the grid stuff on here, and it is a bit less linear I feel). Still, quite a lot of this sounds enjoyable unhinged and it is very tightly performed. Good stuff: wish this band had released more music (3.0+ nearing a 3.5). | | 38 |  | Last Sacrament
Enantiodromia
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some techy microtonal death metal (colour me intrigued)!
P.S. After listening: fairly by-the-numbers, if particularly well-produced and competently performed, doomy death metal whose one distinguishing factor is the usage of a 16-et microtonal division of the octave (as opposed to the regular 12-et division), which is used so subtly that most of the record’s sound barely deviates from the common death metal sound: indeed the potential of this extended palette of notes is never extensively actualised except in some moments (where the music sounds sort of off). I had higher hopes for this: I was expecting something far more experimental and far less sonically/compositionally straightforward (~2.5). | | 37 |  | Luminosity
Nebulae
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some pretty avant-garde technical brutal death metal.
P.S. After listening: some, I think, largely improvised technical brutal death metal that would have perhaps been a lot more enjoyable if it had not been produced in such a way that, most of the time, it is the (triggered) kickdrum (really?) that (completely) dominates the mix, thereby compressing all the atonal string violation into a nigh-unintelligible mush. The drums sound horrible, as do the vocals. Points for trying to be innovative, but there is little to appreciate here, even if this aesthetic approach has potential (~2.0). | | 36 |  | Karnarium
Otapamo Pralaja
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some high quality 'old school' Swedish death metal with dissonant inflections (?).
P.S. After listening: gritty, grimy old-school (Swedish) death metal with a few notches of modern almost-techy jagged aesthetics thrown in, that has some appreciably intense highs, but, too often, falls back onto these more plodding doomy sections that are overly repetitive and structurally flat, offering derivative groovy bm riff after derivative groovy bm riff, without much happening to push the envelope aesthetically or sonically. The quieter moments really drag (in particular a pointless 6+ minute interlude in the middle). Ultimately, it failed to leave much of an impression, even if it had glimpses of promise (2.5+ with some 3.0 moments). | | 35 |  | Hebephrenique
Decathexis
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some pretty intense dissonant blackened death metal.
P.S. After listening: fairly mediocre blackened dissonance-inflected death metal with an overly structurally repetitive and flat approach to compositional elaboration and a subpar production job (what is up with that snare sound?), which does, at times, manage to develop some almost alluring atmospheres/textures (~2.5). | | 34 |  | Daemogog
Yawning Expanse Yearning
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some pretty great technical dissonant death metal.
P.S. After listening: intensely impenetrable somewhat blackened technical dissonant death metal dragging the listener down into a Lovecraftian abyss elevated by immense production and tone (that fucking bass), whose labyrinthian angular (chuggy) disgusting (in a good way) 'grooves' are its primary appeal, while its primary point of improvement may be to sonically diversify more and increase the density (i.e. add even more angularity and dynamics). Very promising (3.5+). | | 33 |  | Charnel Grounds
Molecular Entropy Examined in the Bowels of a Grea
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some pretty great technical dissonant death metal also.
P.S. After listening: nifty little almost 10 minute EP filled with extremely well-produced tightly performed technical death metal (with some disso-death inflections) that, unfortunately, remains too structrally flat and repetitive, too monovalent in its compositional unfoldings, to make much of an impression (~2.5). | | 32 |  | Barbed Wire Maggots
Aural Leprosy
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently another weird instantiation of technical brutal death metal.
P.S. After listening: part of me can appreciate the absolutely unhinged, completely chaotic side of this slab of grittily produced improvised technical brutal death metal: the ruthlessly dissonant atonal texture, the total compositional de-structuration. At the same time, there is a certain monodimensionality here, this endless reprisal of the same set of tropes, no matter how chaotic the music appears at first glance. The drum somehow sounds amateurish, the guitar riffs feel constantly disintegrating but without packing much of a punch: the vocals a continual low gurgle that lacks a substance. By the end I was bored more than anything else, though there is potential here (~2.5). | | 31 |  | Infamia
Infamia
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently almost like a free/avant jazz tech death fusion (colour me intrigued)!
P.S. After listening: a highly fragmentary and, I would say, underdeveloped fusion of (avant-gardistic) jazz with death metal aesthetics expressed across a set of (possibly at least partly improvised) miniatures that, to me, sounds neither as unhinged as most free jazz can be at its best nor as blisteringly aggressive as the most technically intense metal: it occupies a, frankly, rather tame (mostly boring) middle zone between jazzy and deathened aesthetics without seriously pushing the edges of either (~2.5). | | 30 |  | Violent Dirge
Elapse
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of 1990s Polish (proggy) tech death.
P.S. After listening: even if some of these compositions are a little too structurally repetitive for my liking (with certain sections making their return a little too often) the unrelenting intensity, frequently immense density, and mind-blowing and awe-inducing instrumental competency on display (especially that fucking bass) make this an incredible listen: an exemplary instantiation of 90s-style technical death metal (ala Death's Human) topped with impeccable production (proximately a 4.0). | | 29 |  | Virulence
A Conflict Scenario
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of mathy, experimental (tech-)deathgrind.
P.S. After listening: a quirky slab of gritty technical, brutal, grindy death metal with strong mathcore-esque inflections and an extensive palette of jazz-fusion influences and excursions (effective only sometimes) which winds with appreciable intensity and technical competency across unpredictably organised, fairly angular, compositions that, sometimes, do fall a little flat (in derivative death-metal chunks or lazy jazzy quieter moments). Vocals range from an almost-wailing hardcore screams to gurgly grindcore burbs (the former a lot more affectively intense). The album feels rudimentary and underdeveloped but its moments of maximal in-tensity, and its genre-bending aesthetic, hold much promise/appeal (3.0++). | | 28 |  | Super Massive Black Holes
Calculations of the Ancients
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently another heavily jazz-influenced tech death record.
P.S. After listening: sounds exactly as advertised on the band’s bandcamp page: a quirky melodic yet groovy reiterative fusion of nineties progressive/technical death metal and classic progressive rock, with strong jazzy inflections, full of temporal displacements, jagged grooves, extended guitar lines and quixotic chord voicings, busy bass lines accompanied by (not particularly well-executed) harsh vocals and intense double-bass drumming. Its quieter moments are not much to write home about and many of its musical phrasings, if well executed, are repeated a little too often for my liking. Still, this is fusion tech death executed, for the most part, with admirable skill (~3.0). | | 27 |  | Fractal Point
The Bizarre Machinery Of Universe
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of (strongly) jazz-fusion infused tech death.
P.S. After listening: just extremely derivative and straighforward tech death, nothing anyone even vaguely familiar with the genre has heard many times before, which is far too structurally flat, far too repetitive, and far to simple, even despite its technical competency, to make much of an impression. Disappointing (~2.0). | | 26 |  | Fields Of Elysium
In Ancient Contemplation
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently pretty straightforward (but pretty good) technical death metal.
P.S. After listening: indeed fairly standard if very competently executed structurally dense technical death metal on the mathy, shreddy and more (melodically and harmonically) 'consonant' side of spectrum whose 'cleaner' sections lose me a bit and runs out of ideas a little by the end, yet provides some amazing highs (3.0+). | | 25 |  | Ferocity (GER)
Puzzled Into Various Spaces
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a 1997 promotional demo from this obscure German outfit containing weird (jazz influenced?) proggy technical death metal.
P.S. After listening: an immensely bloated, structurally unvaried yet sporadically promising demo of Atheist-like fusion-infused technical death metal with, for the most part, highly technically refined playing across foremostly unpredictable, quite dense, compositions, interspersed with exasperating quieter moments often marked by dreadful clean vocals: runs out of good ideas rather quickly (~2.5). | | 24 |  | Kuujeojabenojujanomiashikushija
The Hunting Boar! The Hunting Tyrant!
Not yet listened to (new addition: actually had to add this one to the site myself and, yes, that is the actual name of this band): apparently a really weird one-man avant-garde death metal project.
P.S. After listening: industrialised (techy) death metal meets Meshuggah-core guitar work, with sporadic dissonant undertones, delivered with a narly chunky guitar tone across short, rudimentary compositions where the derivative chuggy riffs unfurl in complex rhythmic patterns yet consistently overstay their welcome, while industrial tinges are thrown in to fill the space left by a glaring lack of ideas. Stylistically underdimensional and compositionally undercooked, overly derivative of its core influences, conceptually vapid (~2.0). | | 23 |  | Quasidiploid
Deconstruction
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of weird technical brutal death metal (also a possible Derrida reference? Sign me up).
P.S. After listening: quite refined technical brutal death metal lodged between the shreddy world of Necrophagist and the brutality of Cryptopsy (as various reviewers have pointed out), with the occasional jazz-fusion excursion aided by (underused) deployment of the very competent vocalist's trumpet: respectable production, poor base tone, excellent guitar tone. Short but sweet, if a little monodimensional and somehow, despite the technical intensity, relatively 'straightforward'; not as 'manic' as I had hoped (~3.0). | | 22 |  | Oksennus
Sokea idiootti
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of weird experimental disso-death.
P.S. After listening: there is an appreciable Demilich-esque weirdness to this iteration of psychedelic death metal, yet its general musical approach of lodging its strangely voiced riffs, noodly base lines, and slightly quirky grooves into this hyper-repetitive, structurally flat, death-doom formula strips the music of almost any angularity and gives it a rather simplistic, straightforward feel that does not align with its tonal voicing and general soundworld/texture. I found myself increasingly bored as the album unfolded, waiting for something more complexly angular to take the place of the endlessly repeating bog-standardy death-doom forms, but this moment never came. Disappointing; lots of unmet potential (~2.0). | | 21 |  | Karnak
Perverted
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a hidden gem of avant-garde technical death metal.
P.S. After listening: some jagged, angular, technical death metal elevated mostly by the immense drum performance, itself severely undermined by the godawful snare sound, complemented by neat fretless bass noodling, and overly chuggy mostly by-the-numbers tech-death riffage and standard gutturals, winding across generally unpredictable, quite dense, compositions (circa 3.0+ with some 3.5+ moments). | | 20 |  | Protrusion
The Last Suppuration
Not yet listened to: apparently a particularly good contemporary reiteration of 'old school' death metal.
P.S. Very well-produced old-school death metal with some very appreciable guitar and bass tones and some occasionally nifty grooves. Other than that, however, it remains fairly by-the-numbers death metal whose bog standard DM-riffs/grooves often overstay their welcome and whose dynamic range remains rather limited to the same repeating set of mid-tempo grooves, accelerated blasts, and grimey doom-tinged passages, occasionally interspersed with variations of that cliché wailing DM guitar solo one has heard a thousand times over. Vapid (~2.5). | | 19 |  | Alienation Mental
Ball Spouter
Not yet listened to: apparently another hidden gem of extremely strange techy death-grind.
P.S. On first listen: very exciting, absolutely unrelenting, jagged, wacky, incessantly structurally dense, hyper-dynamic technical brutal deathgrind whose quixotic forays into absurd genre-bending are perphaps its least appealling elements insofar as its primary strength lies in these impenetrably intense yet complexly layered techy grindy blasts, which, by the end, do start to blend together ever so slightly (a solid 3.5+). | | 18 |  | Urushiol
Pools of Green Fire
Not yet listened to: apparently weird avant-garde/technical death metal debut record from this obscure New York outfit.
P.S. After listening: I can appreciate this record's willigness to transgress established genre conventions and go in a different sonic direction with its continual use of these hard-to-describe wailing guitar noises. Other than that however, and on account of the dreadful production/mixing (with the fairly standard death metal drumwork and harsh vocals pushed into a largely unintelligible thin mush), there is not much that I find particularly appealing about this record: indeed, even its utilisation of strange guitar noises eventually comes across as repetitive. The novelty wears off quickly and what is left beyond that is, it appears, fairly by-the-numbers, messy, dreadfully produced DM (~2.0). | | 17 |  | Vuvr
Pilgrimage
Not yet listened to: apparently a hidden gem of heavily 'jazz' influenced (?) technical death metal from Czechia.
P.S. On first listen this sounds like a less developed, less intense version of Atheist's titular proggy jazz fusion approach to technical death metal: some intriguing nuggets of musical complexity and compositional unpredictability, though the contrasting worlds of quirkiness and metallic aggresion are not always fused as effectively as they could be in my view (approximately a 3.0). | | 16 |  | Florid Ekstasis
Trepanning
Not yet listened to: full debut record of avant-garde/technical death metal by 'metal music theory professor' Calder Hannan (heard only a few fragments from this but those were incredible).
P.S. Exemplary instantiation of avant-gardistic heavily dissonance-inflected expansive hyper-technical progressive death metal whose extensive explorations of textural complexity and, especially, temporal displacement and advanced metric modification set it apart from much of even the most angular death metal: spacy production provides a cavernous envelopment wherein extremely jagged winding sequences of spiralling metric movements tear apart any sense of temporal grounding. Such disintegrative complexity is complemented by dis/harmonic fragments at times almost approaching an eerie 'beauty' (which if anything, detracts perhaps a little, at times, from the record's ominous textures). Quieter moments can fall flat, indicating unmet potential to extremify further (solid 4.0+). | | 15 |  | Brute Chant
Killer Each Of You
Not yet listened to: possibly another hidden gem of very 'out there' (groovy) technical death metal.
P.S. Fairly enjoyable, somewhat whacky, at times appeallingly jagged, technical death metal with a (very) strong bass emphasis, a bass played with remarkable technical skill and verve, whose cleaner experimental forays leave a lot to be desired and which, despite its emphasis on complex instrumental interchange falls, at times, prey to over-repetitiveness and structural flatness. Indeed, the guitar, drum, and vocal work are far less impressive than the bass, here, which cannot alone carry this otherwise quirky techy slab of DM beyond mild enjoyability (~3.0). | | 14 |  | Neoandertals
Neanderthals Were Master Butchers
Not yet listened to: apparently another hiden gem of very 'out there' grindy/technical brutal death metal.
P.S. Frankly disgusting drum-and-bass brutal death metal filled with intriguingly angular yet barbaric grooves formulated through extremely messy drumming and twisty basslines with the nastied tone I may have ever heard: the minimal instrumentation and shitty production on the drums render this thinner that I would prefer for this style of music (where it is all about the density for me); gurgly vocals are proficiently performed but too low in the mix for my liking. Mildly enjoyable in the end even if it starts to drag at several points (~3.0). | | 13 |  | Orchidectomy
A Prelate's Attrition
Not yet listened to: apparently hidden gem of (technical and slamming) brutal death metal.
P.S. On first listen: fairly by-the-numbers at most mildly techy (slamming) brutal death metal with that rough muddy sound, unintelligible gurgly vocal style, relentless blasting, violent breakdowns and atonal over-distorted guitar playing: some interesting tempo play and nasty brutal riffage, but not much more than that - bit of a one trick pony (~2.5). Might nonetheless return to re-evaluate. | | 12 |  | Humanity Falls
Ordaining the Apocalypse
Not yet listened to: obscure (but apparently quite highly rated elsewhere) technical/brutal/death-grind record.
P.S. After my first listen: very exciting unrelentingly intense technical deathgrind with immense (if sometimes poorly recorded) drumming (unfortunately not helped by the strangly muffled kickdrum sound) that tears the listener all over the place, never sits still, and satisfyingly pushes the extremity of structural density (3.5+). | | 11 |  | Appalling Spawn
Freedom, Hope And Fury
Currently listening to, and very much enjoying: grindy, techy, sometimes melodic, progressive death metal from some of Lykathea Aflame's former members. Unrelentingly intense.
P.S. Yes, this is some of the better metal I've listened to recently. Weird, twisty, unrelenting, diverse and unpredictable, powerfully dynamic: everything I look for in my death metal (for now at least 3.5++). | | 10 |  | Eschaton (USA)
Techtalitarian
The album's title in many ways speaks for itself: particularly competent if aesthetically fairly standard/by-the-numbers technical death metal of the shreddy, darkly sci-fi inspired kind (~3.0). | | 9 |  | Ecchymosis
Ritualistic Intercourse Within Abject Surrealism
In many ways fairly standard if well-executed (technical) brutal death metal, of the unrelentingly structurally dense type where the compositions and their notes feel like they are constantly disintegrating (~3.0). | | 8 |  | Hexrot
Formless Ruin of Oblivion
Impenetrably dense, incessantly dark, unrelentingly aggressive, frankly twisted dissonant/techy/proggy death metal debut which holds much promise for the future of this band (3.0+ nearing a 3.5). | | 7 |  | Waxwolf
Our Love
Avant-garde progressive death metal record whose strangely innovative approach to the genre in many ways defies description, does not always (fully) succeed, but offers up some particularly rivetingly complex musical nuggets (3.0+). | | 6 |  | Synaptic
Enter the Void
Very techy, very proggy, death metal debut record from a German outfit showing (great) promise in crafting intricately woven, structurally dense, if not altogether innovative, death metal compositions (~3.0). | | 5 |  | Somnium de Lycoris
In the Failing Hours
Extremely ambitious, grandiosely progressive technical death metal with an eye towards grand expansive soundscapes filled with especially complex instrumental layering and extended guitar shredding (3.0+). | | 4 |  | Serdce
The Alchemy Of Harmony
For now, I think this is the most accomplished version of this band's grandly progressive, hyper-technical approach to death metal: extended virtuousic instrumental passages winding through unpredictable song structures in which the bass especially shines (3.0 + nearing a 3.5). | | 3 |  | Zephid
Manifestation of Chaos
A very exciting relentlessly intense technical brutal death metal record with sharply polished production and a well-developed sense of how to reconcile structural complexity with neck-breaking grooves (~3.5). | | 2 |  | Burning Palace
Elegy
Very exciting relentlessly intense technical/dissonant death metal album which constitutes a massive step up from the band's, in my view, relatively mediocre debut record (3.5+ nearing a 4.0). | | 1 |  | Aphelion Entity
Aphelion Entity
Narly, bass-heavy technical brutal death metal from New York, excellently produced by Colin Marston, with metal music theory professor Calder Hannan on guitar. Very promising debut EP (3.0+ nearing a 3.5). | |
NexCeleris
04.17.26 | This is an excellent list featuring some releases that are dear to my heart.
20 is not particularly dissonant and more like ninety percent pre-95 dm with just a hint of modern methodology. Quite possibly the most genuinely old-school-sounding contemporary record I've heard in a good while, with all the caveats such a label entails.
Recs would come very naturally here, but let's see what you end up rating the ones on your shortlist first. | MTObsidian
04.17.26 | Nice list, leaving a comment here so I can come back and find it since I've basically listened to none of these | MementoMori
04.17.26 | @NexCeleris: assumed I would find you here again. Thanks for the additional info on twenty. Waiting on the recs is probably a good idea as I am also going to be expanding this list (or making a second part sometime in the future) as I have a lot more (and I mean a lot more) records in the listening list. Just wanted to make a start.
@MTObsidian Happy to be of service! I'll probably expand this list or add a second part soon enough so stay tuned for that (might have more stuff that interests you).
P.S. just extended the list with many more releases (will probably not add any more myself for now). | Hawks
04.17.26 | Awesome list. | MementoMori
04.18.26 | Think so too! | Jmal00
04.18.26 | Impressive, very nice. | VlacDrac
04.19.26 | Stillbirth Machine is an absolute classic. | pyroflare77
04.19.26 | Nutty list | pyroflare77
04.19.26 | Was pretty impressed with 60, thought the core elements would be awkward but they fit like a glove. Haven't heard the debut though. | Azazzel
04.19.26 | @16 I dig how the album art, title 'Treppanning' and approach to the trem leads felt of a conceptual whole. liked that one a lot on release | Emim
04.19.26 | 60 does sound very interesting | MementoMori
04.19.26 | @Pyroflare77: excited to check out 60; as I stated above, their debut blew me away, so I would definitely recommend it (nutty as in super obscure/strange is what I was going for here; same with the black metal list I made the day after).
@Azazzal: ah, one of few people who appears to have enjoyed that record as much as I have. Does feel very aesthetically coherent indeed.
@Emim: indeed it does (though starting with the debut might make more sense). | pyroflare77
04.19.26 | I'm going to spin Growth's debut after flipping through a couple of bits of it on bandcamp. From what I can tell already they sound less like Gorguts on the follow-up (I was confused at all the comments saying they were basically Ulcerate + Gorguts because I heard no Guts, but the bit of the debut I heard has Steeve Hurdle inspiration all over it) | MementoMori
04.19.26 | Well, I hope it makes as much of a positive impression on you as it did on me. Will say, that they already have prominent mathcore-esque elements on the debut as well (mixed in with the more Gorguts-esque technical disso-death). | pyroflare77
04.20.26 | Yeah it was pretty sick. The Obscura-ness of it kind of blends in after a bit. Could definitely hear the mathy influence in the mix. So the follow up dials down the Obscura-ness and adds in metalcore, not just mathcore; my comments on the core elements should make more sense with that information, since mathcore could easily slide into tech death. The albums are different enough beasts imo. | MementoMori
04.20.26 | That sounds about right. Certainly this fusion of technical dissonant death metal and more mathcore-esque approaches is what drew me in on the debut, had hoped that perhaps that is a sound they would further explore, but I am still interested to see what a more generally core-like approach entails on their follow-up. |
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