UMUR "Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning" is a compilation album release by US technical/progressive metal act Behold... The Arctopus. The compilation was released through Black Market Activities in August 2006. It compiles the two tracks from the 2003 "Arctopocalypse Now... Warmageddon Later" EP, the three tracks from the 2005 "Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning" EP, and four live tracks which are exclusive to this compilation.

Behold... The Arctopus are the type of act who take the technical aspects of progressive metal and run with them. It´s chaotic sounding, avant-garde, extremely technical in execution, and featuring song structures which are almost impossible to follow. Something new is happening every second of the songs. Let´s just say that you can´t expect to be treated to easily accessible vers/chorus structures. This is incredibly challenging music both in terms of musical performances and the complexity of the compositions. As the music is fully instrumental, there aren´t even any vocal hooks to hold on to.

A mind bending and blistering flurry of fast notes (often dissonant) and technical drumming designed to melt your brain is a way to describe what´s happening on "Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning", but Behold... The Arctopus actually have a more darkly atmospheric and ambient side to them too, and when those sections occur they work like sci-fi futuristic breathers amidst the otherwise chaotic sounding complexity of the music.

Both the material from the "Arctopocalypse Now... Warmageddon Later" EP and the material from the "Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning" EP are well produced. Powerful, raw, and detailed sound production suiting the material well. The live tracks are pretty well produced too and it´s interesting to hear that Behold... The Arctopus can perform their insanely technical music in a live environment too. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

topofsm What do you get when you take a three piece free form jazz band, give them metal instruments including a 12-string bass, and tell them to write the most technical music they can? The answer is Behold.. The Arctopus, who have created quite possibly the most complex music ever created. Not only are the rhythms and time signatures beyond comprehension, but there are no singable harmonies to be found, as there is little to no repition and key signatures have been thrown out the window.

Of course, if it was the most technical music ever created then it probably wouldn't be listenable. Perhaps for some they will never get this type of music. But if nobody took the time to really listen to the music and learn the subtleties and nuances, they might have dismissed some classic albums like Relayer or Brain Salad Surgery and left them as weird or crazy and thus left the albums lost to obscurity. That is why I highly reccomend repeated listenings of "Nano-Nuclear Cyborg Summoning", as after just a few listens, songs become more familiar, and in turn, reveal incredible composition abilities along with high technicality.

After a while, the newly-initiated Behold... The Arctopus fan will be able to predict the melodic playing beginning midway through the EP opener "Exospacial Psionic Aura", which actually reveals some great emotion even amidst over-the top complexity. After that, there is the spacey post-rock/metal intro to "Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange" which serves as a great intro before an explosion of sound. Another highlight is the somewhat simpler "Alchoholocaust" which could almost induce headbanging, until the band decides that the 4/4 playing really is too much and leads back into their signature insanity. The Live second half of the EP really is just a good bonus, where the same great tracks are played before a too-small audience precisely, at the musicianship level of a professional symphony orchestra.

Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning certainly won't appeal to everyone. But for those who decide to give it a go and take the time to learn the subtleties of the music, a whole new world of music will be opened up to them, where over-the-top technicality and atonal noises can sound absolutely beautiful.