Review Summary: A masterful accomplishment in the technical death metal scene that ups the ante for budding tech-death bands in one of the most scintillating displays of aggression ever released
Following the release of his debut studio album under the title of Necrophagist, Muhammed Suicmez recruited a full band and sought to put out an album that could one-up Onset Of Putrefaction. Necrophagist's first album was an uncompromising release in which its brutality was only matched by the unrelenting technicality across the board, from the programmed drums and bass to the explosive riffs and spectacular solos. This schizophrenic mix of hyper-technical instrumentation coupled with the rock-bottom gravel-like growls of Muhammed turned out to only be the tip of the iceberg when Epitaph finally dropped in 2004.
As one of the guitarists held in the highest of regards among the technical death metal community, a certain flair can be expected from any release containing Suicmez. Thankfully, Epitaph does not disappoint with a wide range of varied and enjoyable, catchy, memorable and incredibly intricate guitar riffs and masterfully written solos. The assortment of sweep-picked arpeggios and legato tapped sections are scattered throughout this release in abundance, whilst numerous quick string-skips are found in the riffs such as on introductory song Stabwound. This song is arguably the band's most popular song, featuring a re-used guitar fill that never fails to excite whilst the barrage of incredibly quick blast beats are only capitalized on by a shockingly good bass solo.
However, it is not just Stabwound where the band excels on Epitaph. The Stillborn One slows things down a little bit whilst using various metaphors for a titular stillborn child which Muhammed growls in his signature deep and furious growls. This song is noteworthy for the fact that half-way through it absolutely explodes into a riot-inducing mortar shell of pure speed-based guitar devastation. The guitar solo that lead player Christian Meunzner performs toward the end is nothing short of genius, including some of the fastest shredding and cleanest sweeps ever put to record. It is clear that on this album the band saw that the technical element of the first album was its main appeal, as they took it completely overkill on Epitaph, and this solo is just testament to this.
Every song on Epitaph lights a fire up under any listener who truly appreciates technical music. The erratic changes in tempo that make up works such as Diminished To Be and the beautifully melodic and yet absolutely chaotic, finger destroying solo on the title tracks are two more moments that illustrate my point. Something that a few people may indicate as being a little repetitive is the sheer relentlessness of Epitaph, but in reality this is one of its absolute best features. Few albums can claim to keep up such a savage assault on the ears for the half hour run-time that this release has. From cover to cover, each member of this band provides nothing more than a Triple-A experience and a lesson in technical music done right for all the budding tech-death bands.
Necrophagist's second release is a violent affair that bursts out of the speakers from the drum fill that opens Stabwound onward, and never lets up until the closing track. Cleanly played sweeps and superbly fast blast beats are the main course for this release, but the constantly adapting song structures and never-ending artillery blast of very creative riffs are the bread and butter here.
