Bar-do Thos-grol

So it wasn’t only dissonance… sorry, Dissonance parading as the sole representatives of the Slovakian technical metal underground. Another name should be added to this scant list: Reanimator. Although this talented outfit never managed to reach the official release stage, they should remain in the annals of the genre as one of its finest unsung heroes. Unlike the mentioned Dissonance, the band’s style wasn’t entirely modelled after the death metal roster, but also included bold strokes of thrash both sides firmly belonging to the classic canons on the excellent “Flight to Eternity” demo which featured exemplary technical/progressive thrash/death metal with nods to Death, above all, without neglecting the atmosphere the latter’s presence more tangibly felt due to the application of a handful of haunting keyboard sweeps.

On the demo reviewed here the guys have opted for a few adjustments one of which is the more sterile, more modern guitar sound. Fans of the debut demo may be left quite disappointed after hearing the mechanical jolts on “Victims” which may have come straight out of a Fear Factory, or a Soulstorm recording. A cool atmospheric nuance saves this track from being just another trite groover, and when “War is All Around” starts moving around with more volatile, less ordinary riff-structures the listener will have no choice but to reshuffle his/her perceptions.

Cause what’s coming is a most compelling listening experience; “Hate the Day” is a minimalistic technical creeper, a stunning mosaic of more or less expected tempo shifts and time-signatures achieved without a single stroke above the mid-tempo. “Chains” is a short instrumental piece with absolutely ravishing leads, and “The Secret Way” is a bizarre industrial etude, something which Treponem Pal or mid-period O.L.D. would be very proud to have composed. Then there’s a return to the more predictable approach from the first demo with “Virtual Fantasy”, a melodic deathy progressiver which briefly brings the shadow of Death before “Conscience Analysis” turns the tables towards the other behemoths from the technical/progressive death metal sector, Pestilence, with a couple of superb intricate, also quite melodic, pirouettes ala “Testimony of the Ancients”. The grand closure is titled “Telepatic Toy”, the highlight on this impressive obscurity, a progressive metal masterpiece which begins with original fusion-esque experimentations on top of stunning spiral-like riff configurations ala Coroner, not to mention the dramatic atmosphere and the few more hygienic, staccato escapades in the vein of Altered Aeon and Darkane.

This effort nearly matched the greatness of Dissonance’s “Look to Forget” released two years earlier, the only unmitigated flaw being the not very clear sound quality. Regardless, it remains a major statement of intent, or rather a glorified epitaph to a very short, but distinguished career, also turning the attention towards this, not very extensively traversed for metal part of the world; who knows how many more buried gems lie over there, waiting to be reanimated…