Is it me, or is the album cover with the logo and song titles on the side becoming more of a thing?
Anyhoo, hailing from Tasmania, The Absolution Sequence is a technical death metal band with some deathcore/djent leanings. Apparently, they started as a ‘groove/death metal’ band for a plethora of singles and demos since 2014, but on this debut album have developed a little more.
And the development into a more technical band is a positive one as all the players (some being around since the band’s inception in 2013, and some joining in 2020/2021) are skilled musicians, notably the two guitarists Luke Tucker and Steven Mason who are also in prog metal band Scoparia (along with bassist Alistair Boone, who isn’t quite fret less and twangy, but it shows here and there), and this injection of prog metal talent that has lead to the band being far more technical and intricate.
While not quite in that mathcore realm, some tracks like “The Sordid Miasma”, “Promethean Pilferage,” and “Diary of the Emaciated” certainly dip their toes in with choppy stuttering, chaotic rhythms.
But the large amount of solos, noodly twisty riffs, short atmospheric bridges, and light programming on tracks like “Diary of the Emaciated”, “The Nightmare Sigil,” and “Idols of Confraternity” keep things a bit more grounded in prog/tech realms.
That said, the vocals of Shawn Pybus and stammering, lurching songs like “Ghost Mantra” or “Grinding the Sphere” keep this partially in deathcore/death metal realms, as does the razor-sharp production. Think a sort of Psycroptic meets Periphery and a modern deathcore (i/.e. label mates and fellow Aussies Complexant or say bands like The Zenith Passage),
But when it’s all said and done, I’m not clamoring to re-listen to Dread Cycle. While the musicianship is top-notch, there’s no riff or song that I keep coming back to, but certainly many of you it there should and will enjoy and appreciate this much more.
