Essence

I got a hold of this album for two reasons:

1) The guys hail from Holland, and Holland was producing the highest quality classic metal in the early-90’s alongside Germany. So it had to be good…

2) A few months prior I had found “Spiral Seas” (1994), the only opus by the Germans Aeons End, one of the finest works in the annals of progressive metal. A band with a name like that can’t possibly “cook” something simplistic and unworthy.

Spiralsea appeared at the very right time, when their homeland was racing with Germany as to which country would produce more and better progressive/technical thrash metal outfits. The band belong to a very talented, essential group (Decision D, Sacrosanct, Altered Moves Two, Imperium, Donor, Osiris, Paralysis, etc.) which kept the flame of the old school burning so bright that at some point the audience started wondering whether the groovy/post-trashy/alternative trend would ever “visit” The Netherlands. The guys released a 4-track demo as early as 1991 which showed their readiness to play more technical, more challenging music although it was hard to place them: their approach wasn’t clinically technical and dazzlingly dexterous to side them with Osiris and Decision D; neither was it mathematically complex and meandering ala Paralysis and Donor… it clung more towards the pure progressive thrash camp where Anacrusis, Depressive Age, the French Threshold, and the Canadians Last Breath resided.

The album reviewed here elaborated on their characteristic formula which shifts from one song to another starting with the ripping “Through the Night”, a frolic shredder which also introduces the shouty vocals that come with an individualistic semi-hysterical blend. Before you know it, this 2-min introduction is over and “Passed Away” commences with the most shattering riffs around citing Slayer’s Reign in Blood” and Sepultura’s “Beneath the Remans” as “mentors”; still, this isn’t the dominant delivery as much tighter execution follows suit with more complex arrangements including a stupendous Coroner-esque technical stroke in the middle. “Clear Brightness” pours some keyboard-ornated atmosphere for a start, and the latter stays around in the form of slower semi-balladic interludes which are meant to intercept the prevalent steady steam-roller march; the march becomes marginally more dramatic later, but without any speedy tricks. “Earth’s Downfall” begins with a brilliant ambient passage that lasts for over a minute before the band take care of business with razor-sharp riffage the approach reaching nearly death metal proportions with more aggressive and also more intricate dashes.

“Misere” is another heavy steam-roller which stride gets more and more squashing until a brisk galloping passage enlivens the situation although the second half is immersed in doomy arrangements with seismic twisted guitars. “Overflow” jumps the technical thrash wagon with Coroner again the model to follow, but later on the staple heaviness returns as well as some really intense choppy thrashing; the brilliant technical rhythms are brought back to make this composition the highlight here not without the help of several finely executed lead sections. “A Voice Within” also “flirts” with more technical riff-patterns initially with a portion of hectic, stop-and-go gimmicks, and they remain in operation in the first half mixed with the trademark volcanic “activity”; expect to headbang like crazy later the guys unleashing a whirlwind of spastic vitriolic riffs. “The Sea Flood” commences with a flurry of busy semi-chaotic guitars which are tamed into impetuous gallops for a bit before a creepy doomy cut is provided to embrace the whole song all the way to the end. A bit of a ponderous opus despite the several tasty twisted licks “floating” into this “sea” of doominess, but “Balance” arrives to bring “balance” into the picture at the end with superb speedy rolling riffs that surround a cool atmospheric mellower passage.

A fairly interesting recording which doesn’t serve any particular trends the band just presenting their ideas in the best way they find possible, and it turns out a complex, multi-layered opus with plenty of nuances for both the thinking and the headbanging side of the fanbase. A strangely compelling style that would satisfy a wider gamut of metal fans who again may not be able to place it within more tangible frames. The guys never overdo it with unnecessary elaborations always keeping a distinct motif to stitch the songs together regardless of how long they last (the 6/7-min confines for the majority).

The band released eight more tracks in the form of promos in 1995, but I have no idea what the style was on them as they appear to be extremely rare items. I want to think that they had remained within the warmth of these spiralsea waters all the way to the end, and hadn’t ventured unwisely into the angry, aggro “ocean” where many brave “souls” had drowned.