Acidic Demise

Meet Trecelence, one of the most prominent representatives of the contemporary progressive/technical thrash metal scene, four young budding musicians from Santa Rosa, California, who easily found a place on the front echelon of the movement in the company of other talented intricacy providers of the past few years like Hybris, Skeptor, Vektor, Dimesland, Abuser, Eldergaad, etc.

This first instalment sees them well able to handle this most challenging musical department as the orientation is towards the faster-paced parametres as earlier displayed by acts like Toxik (“World Circus”, above all), Realm, Midas Touch, etc. The speedy execution comes with a vortex of smattering technical riff-patterns as evident from the sweeping “Conjurments of Destruction”, a most evocative illustration of the guys’ highly elaborate style with infernal shreds assaulting the listener from all sides, the very good clean high-strung vocalist also helping quite a bit with his attached, pathos-like tirades. This part of the fanbase who spend their time listening to mere two to three chord progressions on an entire album will have jumped out the window way before this composition has ended; which would be a pity (and also supposedly quite painful) since they will miss out on some of the most tightly tied riff-knots of the new millennium on “Disvoltaic Age”, a compelling evocation of technical speedoramas reminiscent of the mentioned acts, Deathrow, and Terrahspere.

Insanely technical, also quite fast-paced, music that carries on unabated on “E.S.T.” which is built on ever spinning spiral-like rhythms ala Coroner, the more orthodox moments coming in the form of soaring, impetuous gallops. The latter get transferred on “Embryonic Uprisal”, but expect this particular ingredient to be superseded at some stage by supreme labyrinthine accumulations in the best tradition of Deathrow and Realm again, a supreme display of musical mastery which could pass for the highlight here. “Releasing the Alliance” wraps it on with the final super-intricate showdown which this time is more on the mid-paced side for a large portion of the time until the emergence of another passage of deadly steel gallops which lead more technical exuberance after it alongside a dash of screamy piercing leads.

The band throw a lot at the fans within the span of mere 24-min, and some won’t help but feel totally overwhelmed by this never-ending, highly-stylized downpour which shows plenty of ambition from the get-go. Again, those who prefer the more linear approach to the genre will dismiss this recording as a pretentious show-off, and will cross the band out of their list for good. And they won’t make a mistake doing that since the full-length is a grand elaboration on these very eventful 20-something min, a very strong showing consolidating the band’s status as one of the finest practitioners of technical/progressive metal at the moment. With so much happening within a short timeframe the listener will be challenged to the max, and the musicians in their turn will have to take their time in order to come up with a distinct, equallly as mazey sequel. Acid rainfalls are always detrimental, but it wouldn’t hurt too much if one gets exposed to short showers of complexity if only as a needed deviation from his/her orthodox musical complacency.

A well appreciated member of the Metal Archives community asked me for a review for this EP. With regard to the preferred style of the band, he did not need to ask me twice. Trecelence try to enthuse the audience with a pretty original form of speed / thrash metal. They deliver exactly the opposite of no-frills thrash. Relatively bulky riffing is supported by a hyperactive bass guitar and the somewhat crooked vocals add another crude touch. The sprawling song patterns also make it difficult to get access to the art of the US-American formation. Some typical thrash characteristics, for example ferocity and the merciless dominance of razor-sharp riffs, are missing. Honestly speaking, it is a little bit challenging to find an album that can easily be compared with the here presented EP in view of its autonomous appearance. But "Deception Ignored", the third full-length of Deathrow, a German thrash battalion of the eighties, can be beneficial in providing a benchmark.

"Over-ambitious" was my review headline for Deathrow's aforementioned album and the same applies for "Acidic Demise". Having a lot of ideas is anything else but a bad thing per se; nevertheless, you have to know how to offer them. An overloaded system of breaks, tempo changes, different leads and constantly varying riffs is not the best fundament for a gripping thrash metal song. It's a pity. Trecelence are able to compose good and comparatively original riffs and guitar lines, but they fail to give them the room they need. Apart from this situation, the guys underestimate the importance of a certain catchiness. But - and this is the good message in this context - there can be no question that the newcomers have an above-average potential. Just listen to the coherent beginning of "Disvoltaic Age". Anyway, the here presented material cannot fully compete with the offerings of the well established bands and the acceptable production is not able to change this situation.

To sum up, I don't know the current status of the formation. However, I recommend them to recruit a competent lead vocalist and concentrate on the essentials. Following this advice, I am sure that they will be able to release a good successor of the here reviewed EP, because I have no doubt that the guys are good musicians.