Epidemic

With an instant drop into extremely technical melodies and heavy riffing, Epidemic doesn't hide its combination of two of the least likely metal subgenres, and I have to say that Uncured pull this off much, much better than I was expecting. There is a huge level of ambition here, with variations between crushing sections of brutal death metal and drastic shifts in dynamics to a point where the band is playing borderline neo-jazz, which also features some beautiful and blindingly precise guitar playing. Usually, when a band tries to blur the line between prog and death metal, it stagnates and doesn't pull off either style all that well. With this record, it's the complete opposite, bringing out the best in both genres and showcasing extreme heaviness with simultaneous grace and virtuosity. The modern sound of the production helps this massively, with a vast and dark, cold tone to the album.

There are a lot of additions of clean guitar to these tracks, with dissonant and unnerving melodies under the downtuned grooves, which creates a multi-layered atmosphere that is as stellar as it is original. This is pretty consistent across each song too, with diversification that shows developed composition as well as articulation that is mature and thought-out. Sometimes the involvement of technical and smoother playing layered over the more simple riffs can be quite overbearing, but Epidemic proves a certain amount of control over these wild twists in the music.

Despite this insanely complex and abstract approach to songwriting, there are some flaws that cause the record to suffer due to its own ambition. For one, there are a few very weak riffs on this album, such as the intro to Eradicate, which sounds like something of a hybrid between your run-of-the-mill melodic death metal and very dry-sounding nu-metal. Regardless, it feels out of place and far too generic considering the standards of the rest of Epidemic. Regardless, with extraordinary instrumental sections and memorable, albeit over-processed, uses of sonorities here brings an exceptionally creative and forceful album.