Interdimensional Invocations

My own expectations for a second full-length from science fiction shred-thrashing black/death metal band Xoth (not to be confused with their neighbors in Hoth) was almost entirely informed by their live sound as I’d paid no certain attention to their debut full-length ‘Invasion of the Tentacube’ (2016) or the EP they’d released back in 2018. I had, however, seen the Seattle, Washington transplants live at Northwest Terror Fest this year where I began to understand the constant belabored comparisons to technical thrash, black metal, and progressive death metal bands all in the same breath. In fact their broadly ranged style provides a remarkably easy path of induction towards Xoth, they’re likely to be instantly appealing to a wide range of listeners because their sound is eclectic enough to shift between several sub-genre signifiers within the same song. Without hashing out the particulars in full just yet, ‘Interdimensional Invocations’ is a point of greater definition for Xoth that cements them as a notable independent and progressive extreme metal band.

But hey, if you don’t like shred metal… heads up! ‘Interdimensional Invocations’ is shred metal as fuck. Like, start-to-finish shred in the modern technical/melodic death metal sense where they’ll forgo darker rhythmic tones for the sake of bright and forward-set shred guitar tones. Leads aren’t all wank, though, instead consider a post-‘Symbolic’ death metal album like Martyr‘s ‘Hopeless Hopes’ with a dose of the earlier blackened thrashing days of Vektor. So, it sounds like Revocation? Not exactly, where Xoth differentiate from Martyr‘s dependence on the Schuldiner-esque ‘winging it’ prog-metal riff is by flitting between high speed black/thrash riffs that generally feel at home alongside the tech-melodeath hybridization of the rhythm guitar tracks. This all comes together with some semblance of melodic black metal at times (or, ‘Absu’, 2009?) if you’ll excuse the warbling prog-attuned leads. This all sounds incredibly intense on paper but Xoth are often ultra laid back in their on this album presentation. The first hits of “Back to the Jungle” begin to feel like a ramp up in dynamic but there is a break into a cinematic prog-shred kick around two minutes in that took me to an unwanted mental space that isn’t otherworldly, just Dream Theater-y.

Holy damn, though, when “Mountain Machines” glides its majestic feathered ass out of a particularly inspirational Japanese video game and wails through four power-metallic minutes of fiery blackened fuckin’ on-a-damn-quest fantasy metal. If you’re a pilot fighter and working on a Spotify playlist to fit the mood grab that song at the very least. The tracklist hits a few bumps along the way but the overall experience is at a similar quality level (as in technique, composition) of present day Exmortus, Inferi, or Allegaeon while outclassing some of those peers in terms of carrying a melodic thread through an entire song (“Unseen Abductor”), and surely writing heavier riffs. If ‘Interdimensional Invocations’ wasn’t full of non-traditional and unexpected moments I don’t think I could sit through an album that so mercilessly flings flashy guitar techniques around; Xoth‘s incorporation of intermittent second wave black metal influences along the way helps quite a bit by creating an anxious and cold atmosphere in contrast to the inquisitive and upswinging lead guitar phrasing (“Plague Revival 20XX”). Oh man, then “Melted Face of the Soul” hits. Shit gets a bit jaunty in middle but hey these prog-power metal feeling songs have a pretty uniquely triumphant vibe that is almost more interesting than their more black metal edged pieces.

My only complaint in revisiting this tracklist repeatedly was that it already feels like Xoth are getting ‘too good’, as in their sound and performances are so slick that forgetting (or not intending) to put some stink on their riffs and solos.– It reads way buttoned up compared to the previous album, for better or worse. Otherwise I’d say I’m more than impressed by this dynamic and texturally satisfying many-headed-beast of a record from Xoth. It is rare to find an independent band that can crank out two records of this quality without a label. ‘Interdimensional Invocations’ comes highly recommended. For preview purposes I’d suggest starting with “Unseen Abductor”, “Melted Face of the Soul” and don’t skip out on “Mountain Machines.”

Attribution: https://grizzlybutts.com/2019/10/30/xoth-interdimensional-invocations-2019-review/

Like its tongue-twisting title and the intricate cartoony artwork, this second album by Seattle-based black / death / thrashers Xoth, is a tight, dense and intricate affair of songs packed with lots of time signature and key changes, flippy blast-beat percussion, chunky rhythms and lyrics combining sci-fi fantasy, aspects of the occult, Lovecraftian themes, conspiracies and a nihilist attitude to humanity. The songs are delivered in a very clean production with plenty of space within each track in spite of the densely layered music and most instruments and the dual vocals, calling and responding to each other, can be heard very clearly. The technical execution is sharp and impeccable.

Yet somewhere along the way, somebody forgot to tell the Xoth guys, busy as they were with the technical aspects of composing the music and recording it, that they need to write ACTUAL songs with melodies and riffs that flow into one another and make each and every track a self-coherent monster being. The result is an album where the songs tend to bleed into one another and resemble variations of the one meandering, torturous meta-track. Because each song hews to much the same template of song composition - pack in as many speedy technical thrashy riffs and melodies into the one song, and don't change the sound or ambience (non-existent anyway) of the music and its production with each new song - the tracks don't have their own distinct identities and it's up to the rasped lyrics to identify one song from the next.

That the album sounds much the same throughout is a pity because the Xoth guys obviously enjoy what they do, and play with so much enthusiasm and a sense of humour that you feel such a curmudgeon for daring to kvetch about the album. There's quite a lot in and about the lyrics to like: they're not densely packed with long words impossible to pronounce in a rasping guttural death metal voice that would have you racing for the online dictionaries to find out what they mean, and the images they evoke are comic-strip immediate. It's a real pity that the style of music doesn't change for each change in the subject matter of the songs: the music tends to be rather one-dimensional straight-up death thrash cartoon metal with very little black metal influence. There's very little that's scary here and much that I'd call campy and kitschy.

The album is likely to be Xoth's breakthrough into the alternative mainstream of tech death / thrash metal. For all its imperfections and its cartoony nature, it's likely to be a cult classic for its humour, energy and the high standard of musicianship on display.

Let me preface my review by saying this album is by no means terrible. It has been receiving a lot of praise and buzz, and I can see where some of this is coming from. That being said, Interdimensional Invocations is such a massive step down from Invasion of the Tentacube, Xoth's magical debut, that I find it hard to fully recommend.

After one full listen of Interdimensional Invocations I was not sure that I was even listening to the same band. Xoth originally played a blend of blackened thrash and melodic death metal that took pages out of the books of Skeletonwitch and Vektor. Now, apparently, they play generic, watered down death metal.The black metal elements, such as the tremolo riffs and snarled vocals, are barely in play anymore. The vocals in Invasion of the Tentacube were full of vigor and expression, but in Interdimensional Invocations they are one-dimensional, dull, monotone, and completely lacking any kind of edge. I had to double check to confirm that the vocalist of the band had not changed.

The biggest issue with Interdimensional Invocations is the songwriting. The songs no longer feel dynamic and organic. They do not build up to interesting moments. We are just bombarded with riffs that do nothing to advance the songs and instead repeat in a formulaic and predictable fashion. Invasion of the Tentacube was also stuffed with riffs but the difference was that the riffs naturally connected to one another and kept you guessing where the songs were going to head.

Even better structuring could not save the songs on Interdimensional Invocations because the honest truth is that the riffs are not very memorable. The catchy and playful melodicism of the previous album (you know, the best part?) is entirely absent. Sure, the new songs are heavier, but do not expect any of them to stick in your end. Even the solos in Interdimensional Invocations feel like obligatory additions instead of meaningful inclusions. In a strange way, Interdimensional Invocations does not hit nearly as hard as it should. I blame the production. The guitars lack oomph. The drums almost sound fake. The bass fades into obscurity, which is a shame considering how much presence the bass had in Invasion of the Tentacube.

Xoth is a band that I am still interested in observing while they progress their sound and career. I hope that Interdimensional Invocations is more of a transitional album than a sign of more mediocrity to come. Again, Interdimensional Invocations is not terrible, just disappointing considering what Xoth is capable of accomplishing.

There are very few albums that cause as much conflict in my thoughts as the second Xoth album titled Interdimensional Invocations did. It’s a very well crafted record that does everything right, yet still leaves me unsure how to feel. But I guess that’s a sign of a very worthwhile release. Mostly, it’s a blackened death metal effort that dips its feet into the pool of progressive and advanced dynamics, but man can it be tough to swallow!

It should come as no surprise that complex time signatures and key changes make up a lot of the lining. Clean production is usually guaranteed to come along as a side order; but the two work well together here, despite my usual distaste for overly-polished finishing. Hell, now and then Xoth will even allow some hardcore chugging to slip in, and even that didn’t sway my opinion one way or the other. To top it all off, we’re given that famous science fiction theme, holding a decent amount of memorability in the writing.

The most fuming and aggressive songs make themselves stand out with the black metal drumming and picking styles. But the vocals and riff sequences keep it nice and steady between that and the death metal digs. “Plague Revival 20XX” takes all of that and establishes a feeling of incoming terror. “Unseen Abductor” amazingly kicks out a lot of fun despite relying heavily on these styles, mostly due to the strong hook before the vocals come in.

As a matter of fact, Interdimensional Invocations lets on melodic passages as well despite never allowing clean singing to make an appearance. “Mountain Machines” is one of the tastiest numbers here since it resides heavily on the melodic end of the spectrum. I’d even go as far as to say that the soloing and riff-work resemble power metal just a bit. The record closer “Melted Face Of The Soul” is oddly soothing in some areas, which threw me off even more. That contradicts just about everything else.

Really, I appreciate the hell out of this album because it isn’t overly long nor overdone, unlike a lot of Xoth’s tech-death siblings. The riffs are reinforced with slapping bass and beefy writing, and even though I can’t tell how well it’s going to sit with me in the long run, I’m glad I found it. Very much a worthwhile spin if you dig the technical sci-fi type death metal groups.

Originally written for Indy Metal Vault