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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What an odd album. Very good, though. 4.5 stars., October 1, 2004
I picked this album up on a total whim last Saturday. I just saw it sitting there, remembered that Lord Chimp gave it a positive review, and felt like I could go for some more death metal, so I picked it up. I'd been informed that this was tech-death, so I presumed it would be something like Suffocation or Cryptopsy or Nile or something along those lines. Nope. As I listened to this album that day two words kept coming to mind: Spiral Architect. Yeah, it's got growling and tons of double bass and blast-beats, but the actual guitarwork has little in common with anything else that I've heard classified as Death Metal. The guitar tone is sharp and clear and, frankly, not THAT heavy.(not light either, though...) The riffs are unimaginably fast and startlingly melodic much of the time, and the very frequent solos would not be out of place on a Dream Theater album. Though this is should be classified as death metal, the static and oppressive din associated with that style is nowhere to be found. Although the combination of straight up prog-metal guitar work and a death metal vocalist seems like an odd one, I think it actually works very well. Sometimes they may clash, but it's always pretty interesting, and not much like anything else that I've heard. As you'd presume from the description, the instrumentalists are of great skill. Odd rhythms and frequent tempo changes rule the day, though sheer blazing speed is most frequent tempo. The drummer draws less attention to himself than is typical in death metal and prog metal, but he's clearly very good, and he still provides the pounding rhythmic bass needed, even if he lacks some of the stylistic frills you'll often hear. The bassist is given a relatively prominent position, and he contributes nicely, particularly in the form of a few brief shredding leads. Sadly, the vocalist is pretty vanilla. An utterly generic death growl, not particularly good or bad. I think I slightly higher, shriekier voice would've worked better, but he's acceptable, if not terribly inspired.
There are a few other minor flaws. The most notable one is the guitar tone. It's not quite heavy enough. A conventional death metal tone wouldn't have worked at all, but they definitely could've beefed it up a bit without losing the the cleanliness and precision of the sound. Not a massive problem, but worth mentioning. Also, the leadwork could use a little more variety. It tends towards incredibly fast shredding. It all sounds good, but I like slower, moodier leads too, and those are in short supply here. It's tough to pick out standout tracks as there isn't much variety, but it's all good stuff. The absolute best track is the opener, Stabwound. It's got a bunch awe-inspiring solos and an utterly fantastic harmonized lead. The riffwork is spry and melodic and very memorable, too, and thus it displays all of Necrophagist's stylistic traits at their finest.
It's tough to say whether or not someone will like this. If you're only a Death Metal fan the relative cleanliness and melodicism of the guitarwork will probably turn you off, and if you're not a Death Metal fan the vox and drums will almost certainly annoy you. And even if you like both styles you may not think that the combination works. Still, if you are a fan of both, you ought to check it out, as that's obviously the only way you'll ever know.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
i'm starting to think Relapse is a pretty killer label., September 9, 2004
Necrophagist = imagine Michael Romeo possessed by a demonic spirit and given an awesome death growl and writing incredible, technical, unique death metal music. Necrophagist is chaotic yet incredibly tight and refined, with sound production quality that is a cut above the death metal average. The sinister, virtuoso guitars leads are plentiful but not merely guitar wanking adhered to the arrangement. The songs are well-crafted and the band is an organic unit where different instrumental elements weave, join, and fracture. Song structures are wild, overflowing with shifting times signatures, herky-jerky rhythms, and with a level of finesse that summons the "thinking man's metal" tag ascribed to Spiral Architect, but with a brutality and intensity that could only be that of death metal. RECOMMENDED!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ok i just sh** my pants, March 5, 2005
I FINALLY got this album in the mail. And basicaly, it's one of the greatest death metal cds ever. This band is the definition of insanity. For a basic idea of what they sound like, think the greawt Spiral Architect with death metal vocals. It's just insane. This cd has TONS of depth. Very progressive. This band pushes the boundaries of death metal and then some. If you think of death metal as tons and tons of water piling up against a dam and raging against as hard and fast as possible then necrophagist is what happens when the water breaks free.
Insane. This cd will melt your mind.
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