Canadian technical death metal. When I read this most of the time the term 'northern hyperblast' jumps to my mind, because I don't know if there's something in the water over there but bands like Cryptopsy, Kataklysm and (more recently) Despised Icon have a tendency to put the pedal to the metal so to speak. While Neuraxis do blast away at regular intervals, they do have something different to offer and I (finally, this review is long over due) will tell you why.
After a short keyboard/sample intro called 'Introspect' the album blasts away with 'Clarity'. The first thing that you notice is that this band doesn't mindlessly bludgeon away, but sound very tight and focussed with quite some feeling for melody. While I am familiar with their former album, which sounded way more chaotic to me this sounds tighter and undone of all unnecessary frivolities.
This isn't just American sounding deathmetal. A lot of European sounds (almost later Gardenian-esque) are also thrown in the mix which creates quite a diverse sound. Not per se the oh so popular Swedish sound (Gardenian also surpassed that label with ease) in the vein of At The Gates but a more modern progressive sound with great melodic solos and some nice clean and electronic interludes to spice things up a little.
Not that Neuraxis are a catchy, commercial sounding deathmetal band, this is still high profile techdeath, but they throw enough variety in the mix to ensure a compelling listen. Take track 4, 'Shatter The Wisdom'. At first blasting away, slipping into a groove, bursting into some techbreaks and then falling back in a melodic slow part only to burst into action yet again. Great stuff, and never sounding forced. The rest of the album flows in a similar matter, with even some blackmetal parts in 'A Curative Struggle'.
All in all this is a fine record, full of brutal technical death and full of more sophisticated parts all thrown in a big blender creating quite an unique mix. It's not an 'awesome' album, I miss some really memorable parts that stick in the back of my head, but this is certainly a very good, technically proficient and even at times catchy, focussed record.
Fans of: Dying Fetus, Death, Gardenian, Despised Icon and The Black Dahlia Murder looking for some 'progressive' techdeath should check this out.
Line Up:
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Track Listing:
1. Introspect (0:38)
2. Clarity (3:30)
3. Thought Adjuster (5:16)
4. Shatter The Wisdom (4:28)
5. Monitoring The Mind (3:43)
6. A Curative Struggle (3:42)
7. Chamber Of Gaurdians (4:26)
8. Caricature (1:40)
9. Axioms (1:52)
10. The Apex (5:59)
