Behold... the Arctopus - Skullgrid Review
by Mark Hensch
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Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Utterly devoid of vocals, the debut full-length album from this mind-bending New York City power-trio makes due by simply erasing the need for them.
The reason for this lies in the band's alarming musicianship. All three members of Behold…the Arctopus are masters of their given instruments, showcasing arguably the most dynamic and fluid technicality yet perfected by mortal man. I say "arguably" with a hint of bemusement folks---though I am trying to be objective, there is a pretty strong case here that this is the most technical music in the universe.
Skullgrid is a warped blitzkrieg through the vast annals of music theory packed into a blistering 33 minutes. The press release yaps through talk of influences ranging from most classical composers (Berio, Bartok, and Varese to name a few) to black and death metal legends like Morbid Angel, Death, Ulver, and Darkthrone; really though, such idle chatter is unneeded. In my mind, the Arctopus is likely too busy playing their absurdly complicated wordless hymns to controlled chaos to have influences!
Opening cut and title track "Skullgrid" is a slice of cranial surgery turned into technical grind. Skinsman Charlie Zeleny pounds out a freakishly varied set of staccato-rhythms, the likes of which stutter and snap in awkward tempos behind kaleidoscopic, jarring, and jagged guitar harmonic duels courtesy of twin axemen Mike Lerner and Colin Marston. The whole thing is razor-sharp and works itself into a brilliant frenzy of angular sound. Every note is played perfectly and with an almost robotic precision. To boot, this is quite the way to kick off a debut album!
The aptly named "Canada" wastes no time in showing the true power of the Arctopus sound. While many other bands might be able to approach (key word there is "approach" folks) the realms of technical wizardry on offer here, Behold…the Arctopus make it that much more gripping by somehow crafting it into coherent and emotive soundscapes portraying wide arrays of emotion. "Canada" is no exception, and its spiraling war drums conjure images of an isolated tribal culture quickly subdued by the stutter-and-stab of both guitars piercing notes. Said guitar lines flay skin all over the anatomy, flying with seemingly random flight patterns but soon showcasing a wider, grander coherence. Sandwiched into it all is enough guitar heroics to make Cynic and/or Atheist blush, brief but furious blastbeating passages, and sickly technical clean portions that sound like melodic snow flakes dropping down into your ears.
The sinister yet manic guitar-alarms of "Of Cursed Womb" sound like lost Nintendo soundtracks on crack; the effect is soon lost in a sinister, ambient breakdown that gasps, seizes, and dies again. Mind-bending sections of intricate palm-muting follows played in time-signatures unusual, tricky, and alien. The entire affair ends in a menacing but mechanical squawk-and-stomp, the likes of which blossoms into the many-limbed hydra of the following song.
Said tune, "You Are Number Six," keeps itself in choked restraints at first. Swathed in a swirling vortex of gradually-unfolding musical chaos, the song breaks free of its Meshuggah-embarrassing time signature foreplay and explodes into a mixture of black metal's ancient tremolo-picking and later-period Death's soothing technicality. This passage expends furious amounts of energy getting to where it's going---a science-fiction soundscape from center in left field! With alarming patience, this ambient texture broadly expands into a crushing, atmospheric wall-of-sound---the likes of which explodes into a swirling multi-bladed razor of malicious harmonics! From there, things collapse into an exhaustive off-kilter death metal chug, ending things on a pulverizing note.
After such a work-out, the complex but calming mood of "Some Mist" is a nice change of pace. Soft, ambient melodies flicker through waves of half-tangible guitar histrionics; are these jaw-dropping displays of instrumentality real or not? Ending with a quiet but still-impressive display of gently flickering fireworks towards its end, the scary answer is a resounding yes.
"Scepters," meanwhile, is an almost-indescribable blast through vistas of dissonant riffs, angular rhythms, and otherworldly textures. At times displaying some of the band's most virtuosic moments, at others the song thrashes out with a surprisingly straightforward nuclear holocaust of sound. "Scepters" is at its heart one series of increasingly big surprises.
The album shuts down with "Transient Exuberance," a joyous display of shredding and schizophrenic sounds. "Exuberance" spans most of musical theory in a single song, thrashing its way through Slayer worship into tech-breakdowns reminiscent of the Dillinger Escape Plan and finally a journey into interstellar universes more commonly frequented by the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Skullgrid maps out new territories in metal; only when one is the best can the world see how high the bar of excellence can truly go. And with this stunning debut album, Behold…the Arctopus has placed the limit on musical ability very, very high.
Behold…the Arctopus' Skullgrid
Skullgrid
Canada
Of Cursed Womb
You Are Number Six
Some Mist
Scepters
Transient Exuberance
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Behold... the Arctopus - Skullgrid Rating:8.5
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