The opening track of disc one “Qliphosis” kicks things off with a spacey arpeggio line and the vocal talents of Morean.  The track eventually kicks into the heavy groovy octave sections and more of a death metal feel.  The first guitar solo on the album is nuts. “The Cambrian Explosion” opens with an absolute shred fest into some riffing that reminds me a bit of Necrophagist.  There is so much going on each track. One thing is for sure.  The production on this is top notch.  I also dig the clean jazz break towards the end of the tune.  Former member Danny Tunker (Aborted, Spawn of Possession) does a guest solo on this one and it is crazy.

The track length on disc one is around four to eight minutes a track.   I cannot say enough good things about these arrangements. “Clusterfuck” starts off incredibly bleak before starting to riff your face off with heavy chugs.  For some, the clean vocals might be a bit overkill but for the most part, I don’t really mind them as they provide nice contrast to the heavy vocals.  “Shades of Shub Niggurath” is one of my favorite tracks on disc one.  No shortage of catchy riffs.  Alan Douches did a fantastic job mastering this. “A Fools Desire” opens with some gorgeous acoustic guitar work. Morean’s vocal work is outstanding here. “The Fungi from Yuggoth” closes disc one and continues along similar lines as most of disc one as far as bringing it with the fantastic performances from the entire band.   The double lead towards the end is absolute fire that segues into every more insane lead work.

Disc two kicks off with a shorter instrumental track called “The Black Siren”.  Again, the guitar work on this is on another level.  In a sense it could be a bit of an intermission track as it is not too long and segues into the title track “Numen”. “Numen” slowly fades in and the first riff sounds like it is accompanied by an organ.  This is probably the most prog-sounding song of the two discs.  It has a playful quality about it. “Recursion” opens with layers of discordance which makes picking a focal point a bit challenging. “The Folding is by far the heaviest song of the two discs and has a djent vibe to it with the lower tuning.  Very unsettling. “Alpha Fur” the closing track starts with clean tone guitar for the first few minutes before vocals come in. This is the longest track of disc two clocking in at over thirteen minutes.

Numen is up there with album of the year contender.  I would say it is the best double album I have heard this year.   An acquired taste but if you are a fan of these guys you are going to be very happy here.

After the clean intro section, a distorted guitar line kicks in that is quite an arena rock riff If I have ever heard.  The track continues to build to the chorus which is probably the most brutal part of the song. There is a lot going on and a lot to process.  There are a plethora of musical ingredients that Alkaloid stir and let simmer throughout the album. “As Decreed by Laws Unwritten” opens up like a traditional death metal song which is the complete reciprocal of the title track. Clocking in at over eight minutes. This is one of three tracks on the album that are. For the most part this track is heavy, groovy death metal.  I honestly feel like they could have arranged this tune to be able half the length that it is. For the average death metal fan, they may lose interest.  For a progressive metal fan that very much might be the opposite.  No clean vocals on this track which is a nice break from the first track.

“Azagthoth” might have you think that the song is going to be nothing but five and a half minutes of Morbid Angel Solos.  That is not the case and this track might be one of the most bizarre and experimental tracks on the record.  Musically “Azagthoth” opens with what sounds like dueling classical guitars with a third distorted line following along.  The third distorted line is for the most part, harmonic, chaotic dissonance.  Morean’s clean vocals return on this one.  This is one of those projects that probably will never play live although I wish they did.  It is one thing to sit here and listen to sounds arranged for three guitars and it is another to witness this live. Alkaloid are one of those groups that have such intricate arrangements that I would be interested to see if they could pull off these tunes live. So many Notes!

The title track “Liquid Anatomy” is the probably the closest thing to a ballad on the record.  The track opens up with melodious acoustic twelve string guitars before Morean’s dynamic vocals enter softly and with a fragile subtlety. This album may rub some hardcore death metal fans wrong with the experimentation and use of clean vocals by lead vocalist and 3^rd guitarist Morean.  Morean’s clean vocals are by no means the worst out there but in conjunction with the technical elements going on may strike some listeners as odd or out of place.  In my opinion the clean vocals work in that track to track they are present but do not necessarily dominate the album.  Morean also has gruffer death vocals throughout the album.  It takes quite an attention span to get through all of this material as the album clocks in at over an hour which for this type of music listeners either are going to eat up or get one track in and get bored.  To an extent, Alkaloid is a project the at times feels like it was made for other musicians to enjoy vs just music fans. This is way more ambitious than a lot of other technical death metal records that have been released this year and definitely feels like it is more of a student project than a touring project. That being said I would be very curious to see what these songs look like live. ‘In Turmoil’s Swirling reaches” again has the feel of The Police to me.  Linus Klausenister’s bass playing is really on point on this particular track and is one of the more progressive feeling tunes on Liquid Anatomy. “Interstellar Boredom” has one of the heaviest builds on the album and might be one of the more straightforward tracks.

The last two tracks on the album are the two longest “Chaos Theory and Practice” clocks in at over eight and a half minutes while the closing track, “Rise of The Cephalopods” is nearly twenty minutes long!  Again, it takes a good deal of patience to get through this album.  At times, some of tracks do tend to drag a bit.  This is a massively meticulous metal record. For those of you that like Tech Death this is either going to be right up your alley or “Not Brutal” enough.  For musicians that are a fan of tech death you might find this album more impressive than those that don’t.  Take this for what it is worth. This album is a doozy and if your head is not spinning from all of the complexity by the end of it then your equilibrium is a bit more balanced then this reviewer.  I need some pain reliever. This album pounds in many different ways and directions and might be the most complex death metal album that Season of Mist releases this year.