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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great album, and not just for death metal fans, August 23, 2004
I must say, I was a bit befuddled to hear "Fractured" repeatedly described as a death-metal album, because it has a lot to offer outside the generally narrow boundaries of DM. If anything, this album is closer to Dying Fetus's technical death-grind than it is to "traditional" death metal a la Deicide or Morbid Angel. With its freeform song structures, wacky time signatures, and fearsome screamed vocals, this album even approaches the niche occupied by hyper-technical math-metal bands like the Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge. While the musicianship here is virtually flawless as a whole, drummer Jordan Suecof definitely deserves special mention. At times he's practically soloing along with the music; at other times he delivers the blastbeat fury that's more or less obligatory in this type of metal. The guitars are excellent as well, forgoing simplistic riffage in favor of complex structures and piercing lead lines that sound like nails being driven into your ears. That said, the band does misstep a bit (in my opinion, of course) in mid-album with "Machines" and "Icon of Malice," which feature guitarist Jason Suecof on vocals and showcase a more straightforward death-metal sound. These two songs are by no means terrible, but they're not quite up to the exacting standards set by the rest of the album. Of course, hard-pounding tracks like "Ingrained," "Perpetual Catatonia," and "The Scourge Trial" (check out that time signature!) more than make up for any problems elsewhere. When all is said and done, "Fractured" is one terrific album that effectively blurs the boundaries between old-line death metal and modern technical stuff. A definite must-have for discriminating headbangers.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible Tech Death-Metal? , February 18, 2006
CAPHARNAUM - Fractured
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Tech-Metal is a genre that is constantly growing like most bands in the genre, much of the influences of this album can be traced back to Death [c.1990+].
What makes this album stand out is that it has good sense of melody and the songs flow very nicely. It isn't obscurely technical or too heavy to make it difficult to appreciate. (Yeah, I'm looking at you Cryptopsy.) This album blends a lot of start-stop tempo/time shuffles, a la Dillinger Escape Plan, with the grinding madness of Dying Fetus or the Red Chord. The Drummer (Jordan Suecof) has some serious skills, and actually reminds me a bit of Chris Pennie (DEP) during the odd-tech stuff... Guitars are great, with fantastic leads and solos from Canadian Daniel Mongrain (x-Martyr) The Bass, though no Steve DiGiorgio is very competent by DM standards... Just listen to his work in Perpetuate Catatonia.
[NOTE: *Since listening to Death's Human + ITP and Quo Vadis's, Defiant Imagination... All Metal Bassists will be judged by DiGiorgio standards.]
Now here comes the shocker... Matt Heafy (Trivium) is the Vocalist! Funny thing is when I first heard them I didn't even pick up on it... now that I know that it definitely stands out whenever I listen to it. Surprisingly he has an incredible DM voice which Triviuim only hinted at... Luckily he leaves out the Emo-ish singing and the Hetfield-talking voices.
[It should be noted second guitarist Jason Suecof does the Vocals on tracks 4+5]
Overall this is a very solid debut and it is actually some of the more (And I use this term loosely...) accessible Tech/Death Metal.
Recommended for anyone who likes harder edge music - Fans of Red Chord, DEP, Cryptopsy (Unless you're a 100% Purist) Arsis, and even Trivium would likely find this appealing.
Favorite Songs: The Scourge Trial, Fractured, Perpetuate Catatonia, and Ingrained.
-4.25 Stars
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A technical masterpiece. It is obvious., May 5, 2005
Guys, this album will rip you into shreds. There are growling vocals as well as screaming. Believe it or not, the vocalist is the same one as Trivium's. If you dislike Trivium, it's time to find out what talent is available. Its very hard to find albums that are as good as this. Best of all, it doestn' take any "getting used to" or anything. You will realize the mastery in the first listen.
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by Capharnaum 
