Many bands make a big deal of how technical they are, how brutal or how intense they are. Acatelpsy’s modest write up which accompanied their EP describes their music as `technical and challenging death metal’, only goes part of the way to describing their intense, challenging and thoroughly absorbing extreme metal.
This EP is only 4 tracks long, but in these 4 tracks the band succeeds in pounding your brain into jelly, then soothing it and massaging it back into shape, and then smashing it once more. To describe Acatalepsy’s music simply as `technical death metal’ is to do it an injustice, there is so much more on offer here.
There is no denying that they do indeed have the aggressive, single note technicality of bands like Decapitated, and they have a lot of these razor-sharp riffs snaking maliciously out of the speakers and into your ear drums. However, they also have a wide range of other techniques which they use to maximum effect; there are some excellent, crushing doom passages throughout the EP, which really create a heavy, suffocating and hypnotic atmosphere. The first song begins with an unsettling, clean, jazzy introduction, which is reminiscent of avant-garde bands like Maudlin of The Well, before descending into a measured, slow but relentless pounding. This band really knows how to write vast, expansive music, which explores the outer edges of what has been done with death metal, and have really mastered the art of the dark, twisted riff. This is perhaps not too surprising considering that Acatalepsy is made up of members from other diverse, progressive and extreme underground bands.
The production on the EP does it a lot of justice too; it is sharp as a knife and clear, but also raw and aggressive at the same time. The guitars in particular are brought right to front, and the whole thing has a visceral, aggressive and overwhelming feel. It does sound a little like you are in the same room as the band. One thing I can’t hear too well however is the bass, it seems to be a little lost in the mix, and personally I wish the vocals were a touch clearer – it’s a shame I can’t hear the deep and original lyrics, although Ali’s vocals are certainly guttural, intense and anguished enough.
On the whole, this EP shows an enormous amount of promise – Acatalepsy mix the brutal and the sublime effortlessly throughout the 4 tracks, and show that they have a wide musical vocabulary. With an original and thoughtful approach to the lyrics as well as the music, who knows what they could achieve in the future? While this isn’t the catchiest, most memorable death metal EP I’ve heard, it is indeed vast, heavy, powerful and dreamlike at the same time.
http://www.myspace.com/acatalepsysounds
Jon Butlin
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