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Vex > Thanatopsis > Reviews > Stillborn Machine
Vex - Thanatopsis

Death By Melody - 91%

Stillborn Machine, May 6th, 2012

As a genre is first "born" out of protoplasmic soup of another it has a tendency to begin to branch off into a wide variety of directions all linked together by a stronger over-arching idea. In death metal this resulted in not only a deluge of sub-genres and regional approaches but also varied compositional one that when combined, left the listener with something that might seem aesthetically "similar" yet beneath said surface meant a far more varied animal. However, these can have their downsides and the controversial genre of "melodic death metal" was perhaps the worst victim. Starting out as both a predecessor to the 90's black metal to come and a re-uniting of usually-Scandinavian death metal with ideas from bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, many of its progenitors and innumerable newcomers quickly watered it down into a poorly done rehash of the traditional, power, and thrash metal that preceded it. Fortunately, this up and coming Texan band attempt to re-capture this approach's former glory, side-stepping the influence of sell-out works such as Heartwork and Slaughter of the Soul upon a stillborn genre.

In Vex's music we find a varied heritage - Dissection, Iron Maiden, Metallica, folk and progressive rock. Organized into long and graceful streams of melody, Thanatopsis encapsulates whole generation's worth of metallic melodic sensibility into a single distinctive voice all of its own. Songs do not rely as much upon lower-register precision rhythm playing as most American style death metal, opting for a noticeable emphasis on lead-rhythm riffs. While they may feel rather light and airy, they still retain their drive through their unrelenting usually tremolo-powered surging, resulting in a highly streamlined listen. To avoid becoming simply passing the user by with no sense of contrasting conflict however, Vex carefully use various techniques such as thrash-style muted strum blitzkriegs, spacious dirge-like ("doom") riffs and acoustic segments to moderate a song's development, keeping these displays light in relation to the song as a whole, thus avoiding merely becoming a showboating of personal influences.

Songs are structured in a somewhat narrative manner, building their sense of the dramatic and the intense through melody in a way similar to bands such as Maleficarum (Ita) and earlier At The Gates. They often begin with simple riffs but through their powerful sense of motion, these are enhanced through layers of textural elaboration. Through stacking these progressively strengthening melodies upon one another a linear if powerful sense of both atmosphere and direction arises, also holistic in its ability to capture and continue the same sense of force whether it be through death/black style lead rhythm or delicately picked traditional metal guitar flourish. Although it does not have the same multi-directional orchestration of masterpieces such as The Red in the Sky is Ours or Cenotaph's Sailing Our Black Oceans, its powerful sense of focus and concise songwriting give it a comparable feel of the hallowed and a gravitas in a more straight-ahead manner.

The guitar work is eloquent as the best of NWOBHM and its numerous direct descendants but interprets and integrates these lessons into rigid, militant expressions of death/black riffing strength. Bass follows behind subtly, lacing subtly enriching low-register commentary throughout songs like a librarian carefully re-archiving a precious collection. Drumming charges behind all of this doggedly, stripped down to free up space for melodic development, deftly breaking its sometimes blasting rhythms with certain cymbal/tom hits at times for a bit of additional punch. Vocals are a harsh black metal howl, occupying the mid-high registers and carefully matching the levels of intensity surrounding it in both scream duration and precise enunciation.

Reaching far back to the obscured roots of the genre, Vex use elongated melodies and careful usage of technique to both re-captures the lost spirit of "melodic death metal" and help to find the beleaguered subgenre a new voice. Thanatopsis closes the divide between classic extreme metal and the melodic metal forms it separated from, side-stepping the legions of failed NWOBHM and late 80's thrash cover bands with harsh vocals "melodeath" is mostly composed of. While some may find its lack of lower-end crush and rather linear songwriting to be off-putting, those able to appreciate this forgotten approach to death metal will discover a diamond in the rough that captures the promise of a style that never really was. Although they still have a fair share of distance to cover before the full potential of their capability can be realized, this debut will join the works of acts such as Miscreant (Swe), The Chasm, and Eucharist (Swe) as great examples of death metal's lesser known nature.