Horrendous — Idol
The classically inflected fretless bass intro of "Prescience" immediately clues me in that this will not be 'old school' in the sense of being a brutish, meatheaded bloodbath akin to Cannibal Corpse or Deicide. This band has a progressive, melodic sensibility only found in the rare exceptions of the 90's death metal scene like Death or Atheist.
These bands in particular are relevant because, like this album, they incorporated a strong melodic presence in every song without ever getting into Dragonforce-esque sweeps or the melodramatic excess of power metal. As such, the 80's influenced dual guitar style is utilized in a more emotionally reserved context. This emotional reservedness is paired with a certain compositional thoughtfulness and patience, resulting in short, dense, replayable albums. Though albums like Atheist's "Unquestionable Presence" are less than 40 minutes, they are so concise and well detailed that they contain entire worlds of music. Similarly, everything about this album is tasteful and measured, and begs to be repeated so that it can be deciphered.
The tortured, shrieking howl of vocalist Jamie Knox is less Chuck Schuldiner and more Gorguts' Luc Lemay, a harrowing, almost black metal tone which doesn't so much denote anger as fear. To my surprise, clean vocals appear at times as well, never overbearing or distracting, instead adding a slight ethereal tinge at the perfect dramatic moments, then disappearing again for many moments.
As much as this album finds its inspiration in old school metal, this band is equally connected to other melodically intelligent modern death metal, such as Obscura (the band). Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find any band which explored so thoroughly this classically inflected niche of death metal in the 90's.
We do occasionally get sections of chunky palm muting and dissonant tremolo as per Immolation or Suffocation, and they are satisfying indeed. Many of the rhythm riffs are thrash derived as well. The band's tightness and groove are absolutely impeccable, and I feel an uncommon sense that the rhythm section is truly listening to each other, truly in sync, with the bass notes falling in perfect pockets in unison with the drum fills. The drumming, while technical as required by the music, is not show-offy or focused upon excessive double bass playing. I would compare it to Sean Reinert's playing on "Human", with its steady midtempo kick rolls and punctuated snares.
This band has created a modern technical death metal classic on the level of Cynic, Atheist or Death. I do not say this lightly. The patience and cleverness poured into this gem are quite a rare phenomenon. This band has eschewed all excess to make something that will last.