Cognitive

The self-titled debut album from New Jersey technical death metallers Cognitive offers a lot of highly impressive work in the genre but doesn’t really reach the higher peaks afforded to others in the genre.

One of the more modern-sounding tech-death bands, there’s a lot to like here. The guitar-work here is quite impressive as there’s a lot of different elements at play, most notably the technical prowess as there’s s lot of different complex patterns and riff-work on display. These incorporate spindly-based wankery which has become all the norm in this genre which adds a sense of familiarity and modernization to their sound. This is enhanced even more by the fact that this one really centers more on breakdowns for the majority of the riff-patterns here, though they manage to keep up the intensity of the faster, more fluid rhythms. The density of these breakdowns is centered around the tight chugging patterns bearing more of a sense of brutality to these rhythms, despite this still remaining quite far removed from true, traditional strains of brutal death metal and fulfills a burgeoning round of technicality in the end result. This is more apparent in the slower tempos where it can really focus on the breakdowns backed by that dense, heavy chugging all complimented by a rather spindly swarm of complex riffing which gives this the distinct feel of technicality.

On the faster tracks here, this one really exploits the technicality even more than the slower, chugging-based tracks as it descends back into highly complex arrangements that offer traditional technical wankery and blistering noodling that firmly keeps this rolling along in faster tempos. These faster tempos provide a rather impressive amount of time overall on the album which really lets those savage, technical riffs take center-stage while it lets the denser chug-patterns take the lead on the slower breakdowns throughout those sections so it definitely provides a wealth of variety here. It’s never locked in on one formulaic approach and unleashes some rather dynamic patterns in the riffs to differentiate between the select performances in the right places, and this is highly impressive overall. The rest of what’s on display here works out quite well as the other big impression is left by the drumming. Filled with thunderous, rolling patterns that just blast away with utterly pummeling rhythms, the drumming here provides just as much to like here with the stellar performance displaying technical complexity or impressive range all played at really loud levels which just enhances the dexterity and pounding qualities of these powerful drum patterns. Alongside the technically-complex guitars, noodling bass-lines that not only compliment the crushing drumming with their technicality but also gives this a rather loud, full sound helps get the most out of this material.

The album itself does have a lot to like about it. There’s a rather impressive coherence throughout this one in that it works these types of technical workouts throughout the course of this so that the whole effort comes together in a very natural sense. Its’ all quite streamlined in the presentations coming through both sections of the album, as both sides to this manage to employ roughly the same set-ups as this one revels in rather dexterous drumming and loud blasting merging through tight, complex chug-pattern riffing broken up by the occasional breakdown or the substitution of the chugging for tight, fluid riff-work full of sweeping patterns and complex riff-changes offset by melodic touches throughout, and while these formulas are performed professionally with plenty to like about them, these do present a rather vexing problem. The band really doesn’t do anything really special with its material to really stand out in the scene. This is not all that unique or creative at all or takes a different approach to technical death metal and never seems to do much that gives them their own identity in the scene. Each of these particular elements in play throughout here is utilized by numerous other acts in the genre which causes this one to get lost in an identity crisis as it goes through the deeper cuts here by taking all too familiar routes along the way. There’s a rather appealing ability here to play most of the tracks at the fastest possible tempo which drives the energy throughout this one to really lift it up and make this stand a little better within the glut of releases in the genre.

The other factor to take into account with this is the decision on including the two instrumentals here that really don’t mesh all that well with the rest of the music throughout, even though in theory this makes perfect sense and one of the tracks certainly accomplishes this goal admirably. As a general rule, the practice of including light, lilting acoustic guitars into a mix featuring the kind of explosive, raging work done otherwise on here is rather important in easing the tension and not let the overt technicality become too overwhelming as it hurtles along, only for this one to be quite troubling by including the second one that does nothing more than use an impressive riff over sampled newscast voices that serves very little point as an outro. Instead, as an intro to introduce the violence to come rather than release the listener after taking the beating would’ve worked a thousand times better so this is pretty wrong overall which holds this down somewhat.

On the whole, the tracks are quite impressive and really have a lot to like about them. Intro ‘Cut the Fuck Up’ utilizes utterly blasting drumming, razor-wire riffing and the occasional breakdown that remains on the whole quite raging with scorching technical leads segueing into dynamic patterns, serving an immediate highlight and giving a good impression of what’s in store here. The immediate blasting of ‘The Aftermath’ certainly allows the heavy, chug-based rhythms into tight complex sections underscored by plenty of melodic touches and a few spindly arrangements to make for an overall pleasurable track. Many of these are repeated in ‘Blood Hungry’ as the focus is on the tight breakdowns and dense chugging that soon turns into unrelenting blasting and fiery riffing that again settles into mid-range chugging that allows this one to come off even more impressive. ‘Worlds Beneath’ serves as the technical showcase here with all sorts of sweeping riffing and technical noodling with dynamic riff-changes that momentarily utilizes melodies and tight chugging riff-work to off-set the heavy technical work throughout, making for an even more enjoyable effort. ‘Regurgitated Existence’ focuses on breakdown-centered riffing with relentless blasting, spindly noodling and a more pronounced tempo switch-up, making this the showcase track for the style. The first instrumental ‘Oceanic Erosion’ is nothing more than light guitar lilting against sampled water and wave effects which causes this to be an effective breather track. The blistering ‘Willingness of the Weak’ manages more outstanding technical riff-work and spindly patterns along some of the fastest tempos on the album as it takes the series of thrashing breakdowns along through the technical leads here, being another stand-out effort. ‘Imbuing of Wrath’ is yet another technical showcase with intense leads and tight rhythms full of blasting energy that leads into technically-proficient patterns surging throughout the technical rhythms and breakdowns, being quite a fine track overall. Following up with the unrelenting ‘Fire from the Sky,’ the immediate, intense blasting wraps around a slew of ferocious, technical riff patterns full of intensity and energy throughout while still keeping the mid-tempo melodies intact with dynamic drumming and ferocious breakdowns, making a stellar impression overall. Final track ‘Affliction Humanity’ is nearly worthless as the recycled riff playing over the sampled voices leaves a wrong final impression and ends this on a sour note.

While this is a highly impressive offering that does generate plenty of impressive moments, the fact that there’s others in the genre doing more impressive work tends to leave this feeling a little let-down before getting to the broken pace with the instrumentals. This is still a debut offering so this could grow into a dynamic effort in the genre in the years to come so the most die-hard tech/death connoisseur would be the most invested in this one.