Kev Rowland Originally formed in Latvia, these guys are now located in the UK, and this is their second full-length album. Comprised of Piton (Guitars, synthetic sounds, samples programming), Vadozz (drums), Stalker (bass) and Serberus (vocals), they have created something that is really unusual. They describe it as “Synthetic Death Metal for Your Brain!” and that is probably better than anything I could come up with as this is very different indeed. It’s roots are in Death Metal, but add to that a pop sensibility, symphonic and classical touches with electronic overtones and you may start to get close to what this is about. The guitars are often strangely muted in some way, as if Piton is riffing hard but playing behind a gossamer curtain, which just removes the brutal edge. This is experimental in many ways, while also being mainstream in others. It would be interesting to see these guys in concert as I would imagine that brutality is much more to the fore in that environment, but here in the studio they have created something that has definitely caught my attention.

This is available physically through Inverse, or digitally through many sites such as Bandcamp, and this is something that definitely deserves to be heard at the very least. In some ways compelling, and always interesting, this is pushing hard against certain boundaries.