Darkday Carnival

Cypher is an overlooked, and relatively unknown band that I think should seriously be watched. Yes, they play melo-death tinged deathrash, this shit's been coming out of Europe for the last five or so years especially so you may be asking yourself what makes this so special? To be frank, if you're not a fan of this Neo-thrash movement coming out of Europe this more then likely won't change your mind, it's just that Cypher execute it exceptionally well, and forgo the use of symphonic elements like Darkane or The Arcane Order to achieve a more stripped down more balls out sound. I would still check this out even if you aren't a fan of this particular facet, it might even change your mind, or at least cause you to make an exception for them.

With that out of the way, let's get to the music. There is a healthy dose of uncompromising speed and tight riffing that hits you with precise lethality in a way you don't hear often, Cypher at least in my opinion also manages to have a pretty distinct riffing style courtesy of Guitarist/Vocalist "T" and Guitarist Sander. The riffs, and thus the songs, have an odd thing you don't hear too often, where the songs are done in a time signature of 6/4 opposed to 4/4, but at the same pounding thrash pace. This gives the riffs an unusual "revolving door" kind of feeling that really sets Cypher apart from other bands of this style. "T" has a tendency of, dare I use this example at totally fucking myself over on selling this band, sounding like Matt Heafy if he had actual balls to his voice, and without the clean vocals. His vocals fit the music perfectly and I really couldn't imagine a different front man, the bass playing is pretty much spot on and right in the pocket with the guitars which isn't a bad thing, divergent bass work wouldn't have suited this band very well. The drumming is extremely tight and precise, usually kept to a technical minimum for the sake of providing the almost primal rage that's unleashed in these songs, groove is employed in the music but it's used in a sparing yet effective way so that when they start riding on a groove it really sets in and hits home.

Every song on this album is badass if you ask me, just download this and check it out, it's worth it, trust me.