Review Summary: Sometimes you just need to wank!
Fans of technical death metal are truly oppressed members of society. While there is a diehard subset of fans, much of the genre is easily dismissed as nothing more than flashy guitar playing. It's become an uphill battle to vouch for technical death metal over the years as musicians have pushed technicality to ever greater extremes. "Guitar wank" has become the go-to dismissive insult, and to be fair, it's not without reason. These bands can possess immense technical skill while also feeling completely directionless, as though they're little more than guitar wizardry hastily slapped together without any care for structure or songwriting. There are many different flavors of tech death, but the strains most focused on sheer virtuosity tend to garner the most attention, whether positive or negative, though usually the latter. It's easy to poke fun at laughably excessive guitar wankery, but sometimes you just have an itch that needs to be scratched. I heard "Stabwound" by Necrophagist when I was probably fourteen or fifteen, and it blew my tiny mind to smithereens. Sometimes you just keep chasing that initial high.
Who better to tackle the difficulty of blending memorable songwriting with ridiculous technicality than a supergroup? Arise From Worms is the brainchild of guitarist Sonny Lombardozzi, formerly of Incantation, and he assembled one hell of a backing band for the project. Steve Tucker of Morbid Angel handles vocals, the legendary Flo Mounier of Cryptopsy is behind the kit, and even Derek Sherinian, formerly of Dream Theater, lends his talents on keyboards to add some spice to this concoction. On paper, this lineup is absurdly stacked, and alone should at least pique the interest of anyone into death metal or progressive metal. You've heard it all before when it comes to supergroups: sky-high expectations, followed by the realization that they rarely live up to the members' pedigree or simply fail to gel. Thankfully, that's not the case here. Every cog in the Arise From Worms machine is well-oiled, and the musicians come together in fascinating, even unexpected, ways.
I love when a band has a strong opener that sets the tone for the album to follow and showcases everything the band does well. "Forgotten Kings" is exactly that. It opens with a traditional, meaty, driving death metal riff before you are slapped in the face with alien shredding, letting you know the kind of experience you are in for. There are so many tempo changes and distinct sections packed into this five-minute song that your head will be spinning, but in the best way. Despite this, it somehow never sounds like it loses focus. The song absolutely builds to a conclusion, just in a way that may not seem apparent at first. There are those aforementioned classic heavy riffs, ascending and descending scales, stop-start sections, neoclassical fretboard abuse, jazzy shredding, and atmospheric old-school progressive keyboards toward the end that tie everything together into a standout moment. Not to mention Steve Tucker's monstrous low growls and raw, high screams that contain some serious bite. It goes without saying that Flo Mounier is one of the best at what he does, and his presence is felt throughout the chaos. His blasts and fills never feel like simple technical flexes; they fit the almost improvisational nature of the music and demand your attention. It's incredibly densely packed with nearly every flavor of technical guitar playing under the sun while still maintaining forward momentum. Even if you hate the genre, you can’t deny that it keeps your attention.
One of the smartest decisions Arise From Worms makes is its 34-minute runtime. For those averse to this kind of guitar wankery, perhaps that brevity may put you at ease. This style can, of course, be a sensory overload that leaves you gasping for air, but around 30 minutes feels like the correct sweet spot. Not too long, not too short, just the right amount that leaves you craving more. The next three tracks fit this philosophy nicely. They are all quick hitters, none exceeding three minutes, but they still leave an impact despite their short runtime. "Power Obsessed" brings blazing-fast shredding, while the next two are a bit more traditionally structured death metal songs punctuated by the bizarre guitar masturbation that is as foreign as it is delicious to the ears. They even feature some killer, slow and groovy riffs that Tucker feels right at home crushing. The second song of this run even features a catchy screamed hook that you'll remember. Truly, madness. "Nine Walls" is the linchpin of the album, showcasing the band's avant-garde and progressive tendencies with Tucker taking a breather on vocals. You can definitely hear the influence of Derek Sherinian here, whose distinct, spacey vintage keyboards provide such a fantastic contrast to the pounding riffs and hypertechnical guitar virtuosity. On paper, it really is all over the place, but somehow each piece fits together, from the heavier first half with Mounier's pummeling double bass and relentless speed assaulting the senses, to the intricate leads and cascading arpeggios, to the more grandiose back half where the keyboards take center stage for a fittingly epic conclusion.
It’s unfortunate that after such a fantastic, lengthy instrumental, the album is followed by an instrumental version of the opening track, "Forgotten Kings." On my first listen, I didn't notice, but after revisiting it a few times, the similarities became clear. Sure enough, it is the same song with Tucker's vocals removed. This seems like it would have been much more at home as a bonus track or as part of an entirely instrumental release. It's a baffling decision that I can't quite wrap my head around, and following "Nine Walls," another sprawling instrumental, it feels doubly redundant and disrupts the momentum the album had built. Luckily, after that unnecessary detour, the band rebounds with the excellent two-part "Axes of the Viovode," which begins with a minute-long, fantastical orchestral opening that builds into some of the heaviest riffs on the entire album, along with some tasty jazzy basswork, and of course, some lightning-fast guitar pyrotechnics for good measure.
A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destructionis an album that, once you hear it, makes you want to dive right back in and listen more carefully, discovering all of its hidden intricacies. It’s near impossible to digest everything in one listen, and multiple listens have proven to be very rewarding, which is the mark of a quality album. This is an album that I’ve grown addicted to since I first heard it, throwing songs on here or there just to get a little taste. Does this style of excessive guitar wankery get old? Sure, it can. Is it also incredibly fun to listen to? Yes! It is pure ear candy, but you shouldn’t eat too much candy. However, in moderation? This is the kind of tech death I have been searching for. The album combines extremely impressive technicality, truly alien-sounding ideas, off-the-wall compositions, and speed faster than the speed of light with quality progressive songwriting that keeps you guessing. Will this have lasting staying power, or is it just a momentary flash in the pan that I will forget in a few weeks? Honestly, I can’t answer that but in the moment, it gave me what I’ve been looking for: a tech death album that is absolutely bat*** insane but doesn’t lose sight of actually crafting songs.
