Thresholds

This is some killer stuff right here. The members of the band seem to not be into too many other bands, but Mike Browning of Early Morbid Angel fame is here and he does a great drumming job. The production on this album is pretty nice, and really helps the awesome songwriting shine through. This is very technical. Think along the lines of Coroner mixed with Max Cavelera (Arize-era) on vocals, mabye a little Vio-lence because of the riff changes, also some Atheist and Death-ness in the riff work, and some very nice keyboard work sorted throughout the album for flavor. Get the picture? Yeah, it's out there.

We start of with "Climate Controller". It has a bit of a cheesy intro, and starts out midpaced, some noodly leady guitar, and then BAM! It goes through 150 riff changes ranging from very fast to midpaced. It goes on for 7 minutes without getting boring. The lead guitar is amazing. Similar to Coroner, but with a bit more Neo-Classical feel. It does a bunch of runs and fills at points to keep the song moving along. "Tribal Vodoun" has a more of a Death Metal feel to it, until the last minute and a half of the song. At that point it goes into total Coroner mode, with some tastefully used keyboards complementing the riffs. This is very progressive stuff, but is 100% brutal. No wankery at all. "Nocturne in Bm" is a very atmospheric instrumental with some nice guitar work and keyboards complementing it. "Artic Crypt" starts out melodic, and then goes into total Thrash. Almost "Stormrider"-ish here. We get a short clean interlude that moves the song along and some solos., then a time change. There's just so much happening it's hard to describe. The ideas all work very well, but sometimes you wish a riff would come back again, and they keep moving on instead. The song ends with some cool Thrash riffs and a keyboard solo over it. Sound strange? It is, but it works. This is how Melodic Death Metal should be done. Those idiot Swedes and their Gothenburg crap have nothing on this. "Aquatica" has some really cool Death Metal riffs after a keyboard intro. Kind of like something off of Death's "Human". Then some lead guitar breaks. There's a lot of time changes in here that are blatant, but it all flows very well. Oh yes, the drumming is great! It compliments the riffs perfectly. No grind crap here. It goes on for 7 minutes without getting boring. There's even a midpaced section with some Andy LaRoque-esque solos. "Subterranean Infiltrator" starts out sounding like a futuristic battle scene from a Terminator movie, and then busts into some riffage that sounds like it could have been on "Piece of Time" with those really well done keyboards. There's a few times where this one sounds like it could be a Watchtower song. It gets that technical. Then a melodic break that sounds like it could have been from "Peace Sells". There's just so much going on here, but all of it is so amazingly solid it's mind boggling. "Alter Reality" starts out more Death Metal sounding until a monster Thrash riff hits you. In this song riffs actually come back and they repeat themselves for once, which is nice. There's more a Marty Friedman-esque soloing style on this one. "Gridzone" is another one that is more Death Metal-ish, with some "Human" sounding riffs and a more Tommy Vetterli lead guitar style.There's actually a few blastbeats in the middle of this song with some Death Metal riffs. They really throw in influences from everywhere.

This isn't an album. It's an experience. Too many highlights to name. As a whole song though, I would have to say "Artic Crypt" was my favorite. If you like any of those bands that I said this band sounded like at times within this review, then find this. Easily one of the best Death Metal albums out there. They keep it very technical, with out losing the riff intensity. Why no one really knows this band is beyond me, this shit rules! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED