I've read about how extreme, exceptional and forward thinking this album is for a couple of months now and let me tell you, the reviews are absolutely correct. Although I haven't had the pleasure of hearing any previous material, this, their fourth album, far surpasses being impressive. It goes far beyond that. The music is something like an unholy meeting of Cephalic Carnage's ambitious writing style, Cryptopsy's sheer technical density, At the Gates melodic riffing, and later era Death.Did you get all that? This album is exceptionally brutal, progressive, technical and melodic. These Canadians sure as f--k know how to write a brilliant album. The drums are blistering at their peak, given the album inhuman consistency and accuracy. The riffs are brilliant sometimes melodic, sometimes catchy, sometimes brutal as all hell. There are lots of different playing styles thrown in the blender here from post thrash, technical death metal, brutal death, grindcore and so forth. Throw in some odd time signatures and a flair for mixing melody and brutality and you're getting the idea.
Ian Campbell's vocals are also a strong point of the album. They are predominately a deep, abrasive yell that occasionally delve into Circle of Death Children guttural territory or lifted up in intensity to higher mid range screams more akin to grindcore. The lyrical content is very well written, serving as abstractions on life, death, philosophy, knowledge and so on.
The songs are structured so well you will never for an instant be bored even in pieces where the songs clock over five minutes. Yes, they are that damn good. Usually I find myself bored with some more drawn out death-metal type 'compositions', but the skill Neuraxis employ warrants it. The production is extremely clean and easily discernable, similar to the last two Cephalic Carnage albums. Why wouldn't it be with the all-star production team and mastering by Scott Hull?
This is a simply mind-blowing release. If you like forward-thinking metal or grind in general do not hesitate in buying this. In fact, f-----g buy it now. You will not regret it. Neuraxis are totally unique in their playing style and execution of melodic technical death/grind. This is now officially one of my favorite death/grind releases alongside the new Cephalic Carnage, Gadget, Rotten Sound, and Nasum. Willowtip wins again.
Ian Campbell: "Preserve the integrity of your personality and do not give in to voluntary servitude, because you must not forget that the powers of this world are great only because we are on our knees."
Genre: Melodic technical death/grind