The Body Cosmic

Iapetus is an extreme metal studio project from Long Island, New York, brainchild of Matthew Cerami (guitar, vocals, bass) and Jordan Navarro (guitars, keys, programming). On the 9th of November their second studio effort will see the light of day, a 70 minute long colossus of extreme technicality, complex songwriting and out of this world melodies. “The Body Cosmic” is a concept album of epic proportions, exploring “the life cycles of the Universe, its human inhabitants and the indelible connection between the two”. Any way you look at it, that is not a usual concept, nor is this in any way an ordinary piece of music. It is undoubtedly the best offering of extreme metal that I have heard this year. Joining the two brains behind this project is no other than the god of blast beats himself, Dan Presland from Ne Obliviscaris who is undoubtedly one of my favorite drummers of all time and a more than important figure in the progressive metal scene! Given his participation, I knew this is an album I simply have to hear and now that I did, I can’t regret it for a second!

On every aspect of a technical death or extreme metal spectrum, “The Body Cosmic” scores big. It is insanely technical and challenging, properly heavy and really creative. I doubt it should be necessary to mention that this album contains some of the most extreme drumming possible. What I find most surprising about Dan Presland is not only the unbelievable speed that he can push his performance to but also the endurance and precision that he can maintain throughout. The very first song of the album is a 10 minute epic and from the first second until nearly half way those kicks just keep on grinding like they’re driven by a machine. Ridiculously fast and flawlessly precise. But it’s not just that. He is very creative and he can throw in detailed cymbal work and perfectly placed accents while maintaining the ongoing onslaught. Plus when the music tunes down, he can all of a sudden completely shift gears and deliver some incredible grooves that perfectly fit the vibe and pace of the song. I’m also starting to obsess about the way he can support a gradual build-up by filling in more and more details over a certain pattern and increasing the intensity, and that is something you will hear a lot on this album. And to be honest, he is the perfect fit for “The Body Cosmic” because everything else is on the same level.

Enough about drums though. As much as I’d love the jaw-dropping performance, this album is actually more music than extreme metal, if that makes sense. From the beginning you’re assaulted by a massive wall of sound with impactful riffing and punch but it doesn’t take long to notice the genuinely beautiful, haunting melody that comes along with it. There’s an entire structure of layered tremolo picking guitars, harmonizing and it’s just an absolute treat to try to follow and keep track of where each one is going and how they complement each other in an impeccably puzzled soundscape. The bass is prominently in the background but every now and then it just springs forward and joins the intertwining of melodies. If given enough time to sink in, you’ll notice that despite the extremity, this album sounds peaceful and calming. And I don’t mean the acoustic parts. I’ll get to those. But even when the blast beat is constantly grinding in your ears, those soaring melodies just hypnotize you and carry you away. It’s “close your eyes and drift away” sort of material. And I’d strongly recommend you listen to it in headphones to really be able to tell all the different elements apart and notice how they’re pieced together. And at some point the thick wall of sound clears out…

Now we get to the second component of this album’s sound, which is heavily relying on silence. The driven guitars disappear. The grinding stops and the acoustic elements take hold. There’s so much acoustic guitar, there’s piano, clean guitar with lots of delay and incredibly clever samples to support these instruments and properly immerse you into the atmosphere. And it may be calming but it’s so much more than that. Every time they tune down they do it in a different way. Sometimes it’s really slow and silent. Other times it’s more upbeat and playful. The drums or some fantastic percussion effects may join in and add more color to it. Ironically, despite my ridiculous affinity for technical death metal, one of my favourite pieces in this musical journey was the 0% metal “Hadean Heart”. That song evolves and builds so beautifully, adding layers of acoustic, clean and solo guitar with keyboard, percussion and backing vocal effects. I honestly feel it could be represented visually in a kaleidoscope of colors and effects. It’s just so alive and vibrant and constantly building up energy. In these soft and really melodic interludes, the bass also springs to life in an incredible way and adds so much dynamic.

This album is extreme but it is not aggressive. The only element that I actually perceive as aggressive is the screaming, and that’s loaded with catharsis! But it’s not a dominant element in their sound. There are also a lot of clean vocals and lengthy instrumental passages. In the 10 minute opener there are hardly any vocals. And that doesn’t make it boring because the music is so full that it often doesn’t leave room for it. The word that would actually describe the feel of this album most accurately is actually in the title. It feels cosmic! From the use of silence, to the sheer size of this thing and the incredible concept, it seems to always drift into a deep space sort of imagery. The spoken word recordings in the “The Body Cosmic”, “The Star of Collapse” and “Angelus Novus” also contribute to that impression giving a “distant transmission” sense, though it was a bit difficult to understand what is actually being said. I do hope the lyrics will be available at some point so I can really get the full experience.

There really is too much to say about this album. I know for sure there’s still a lot to uncover if I keep listening to it. I didn’t even get into the guitar solos! See those for yourself! Fantastic blend of technicality, melody and emotion. But no matter how much I’d try to dig into the different directions and layers, there’s no way you’ll understand what it’s about unless you experience it yourself. I know it’s 70 minutes but trust me, no matter how busy you are, it’s more than worth trying to clear out that time window and just dive into it. It’s meditative, contemplative, epic and it feels aimed to stir some surreal things inside you. It fixes my vibe. I honestly don’t know how else to put it! But it’s not just something you enjoy. It has a deeply positive effect on you. I guess a good summary of what it’s trying to say is the line "For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love", quote from Carl Sagan that shows up at the end of “Galaxy Collective”. That’s a really deep moment. So yeah, there you have it:  ridiculously long songs, insane technicality, diverse and original songwriting and an incredibly advanced form of expression. Think you have what it takes to handle it? Try and find out!

Originally written for The Metal Observer.