Conor Fynes 'The Insight Eye' - Illogicist (8/10)

Now this is something that really deserves the label 'progressive death metal.' Blistering rhythms, harsh vocals and technical showmanship all come out to play here, and what comes out of the deal is a heavy monster of a work, that while not having much variety in terms of dynamic; is filled with intellligence in all of it's atonal, schizophrenic beauty.

One of the things that really stood out to me (to the point of blowing me away) was the perfect integration and counterpoint of guitar/bass riffage. While most bassists have the dubious honour of being little more than a figure on stage being almost too quiet and droned out to hear, the bass gets plenty of time to pop up and amaze, in between the technical guitar parts. The rhythm guitars are everything you would expect; polyrhythmic and strange chords abound. With the lead generally throwing a layer of extra 'melody' on top, it ends up feeling like a pretty complete work from a technical metal perspective. The vocals -while certainly upholding the tradition of death metal- are not especially memorable and seem to fade behind the brilliant instrumental work being done. While Illogicist does not have many 'catchy' melodies at work here, that is not to say it is not memorable; there are plenty of moments here that really struck a 'chord' with me, and I couldn't help but press the 'rewind' button back a few seconds to have my mind blown again.

While other bands of the genre like Opeth and Cynic earned the progressive label by adopting different styles into the mix and adding a dash of melody, Illogicist sticks to a purely metal theme and elaborates on it. To this effect, some might not want to listen to forty minutes of an unrelenting metal onslaught, but if you have an independant appreciation for metal on it's own, then this is certainly to check out.