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░ ██ ██ Artist: Cyaegha ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Steps of Descent █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2008 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2019-06-29 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Death Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Canonical Hours ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ And here we've got a technical and ambitious debut █
█ offering from a Virgina death metal outfit, laden █
█ with groove and discord. The thematic focus for █
█ most of the album is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, █
█ with the closing track "Fuck-Start My Dinner" █
█ being very reminiscent of early Cannibal Corpse █
█ subject matter. Trust me, just read the lyrics. █
█ Yep, gross is right. █
█ At first I found many of the songs to sound quite █
█ similar, but on further immersion I found myself █
█ growing more attached to some of their excellent █
█ freak out riffs. For example, the riff that comes █
█ in half way through "Mask in Flesh" is quite █
█ excellent and brutally steers the track in a new █
█ direction. Some of the tracks are simply █
█ bewildering with their technical flow of maddened █
█ riffing, i.e. "Postmortem Enlightenment" and "From █
█ the Depths". One of my favorite tracks, █
█ surprisingly, was the haunting instrumental █
█ "Abductio Sapientia" which is actually an █
█ orchestral, synth piece with no metal whatsoever. █
█ It's pretty spooky, especially this time of year. █
█ Lyrical focus is heavily placed on the H.P. █
█ Lovecraft mythos and we can never have enough of █
█ that. Production on the album is great. The █
█ guitars have a nice, organic touch to them, the █
█ bass is audible and the vocals and drums balance █
█ nicely. Fans of the new wave of US brutal/tech █
█ death metal centered on decent riff-writing and █
█ frantic musicianship (i.e. Odious Mortem and █
█ others) will have a grisly feast on this one. █
█ █
█ --- █
█ █
█ With 2008s watershed of superb, high profile █
█ releases, a number of lower profile but still █
█ excellent releases from the likes of █
█ Mitochondrion, Hour Of Penance, Celebrant, █
█ Battalion, Hackneyed and VirginiaÆs H.P Lovecraft █
█ obsessed act Cyaegha got somewhat overlooked. █
█ For a debut, Steps of Descent is a confident, █
█ under the radar entry into technical death metal, █
█ with a definite Morbid Angel lean and plenty of █
█ Lovecraftian menace undulating beneath the █
█ polished, if slightly clicky, but natural, noodly █
█ exterior. The riffs are sharp and precise and █
█ divide the fine line between tech over kill, █
█ brutality and self indulgence. The vocals are █
█ standard death metal screech and roar, and █
█ actually not too burly or growly, with a much █
█ greater range and variety, making the album █
█ slightly more listenable in the long run. █
█ As youÆd expect from a tech death metal outfit, █
█ the musicianship is top notch from twangy bass █
█ play to finite drumming and tight guitar work, █
█ with all players performing well. The material █
█ itself from blasting opener ôUltharÆs Decreeö █
█ through the surprising melodic almost Origin like █
█ sweeps of ôMask In Fleshö, atmospheric █
█ instrumental ôObduction Sapientiaö the oddly named █
█ closer (at least in the context of the rest of the █
█ album) ôFuck Start my Dinnerö, the album is █
█ everything youÆd want from a tech death album █
█ without forcing the issue or overdoing it. The █
█ Lovecraftian themes are there but not dominant or █
█ overbearing (öWhile Sarnath Lies Desolateö, █
█ ôEpiphany of RÆlyehö) to where it takes from the █
█ essence of the music. █
█ In all, a pretty solid debut from a young band █
█ thatÆs hould to get even better and possibly start █
█ elbowing their way into the likes of Decrepit █
█ Birth and Severed Savior within the next couple of █
█ albums if they stay on track. █
█ █
█ --- █
█ █
█ In a scene that seems more overcrowded than ever, █
█ it's nice to see a band that attempts to bring █
█ something fresh to the table. Virginia's Cyaegha █
█ (pronounced Sigh-Ay-Ee-Ger in case you were █
█ wondering) play a more old-school influenced brand █
█ of tech-death, miles above much of the souless, █
█ mechanical stuff that seems all-too prevalent at █
█ the moment. This is reflected most notceably in █
█ the drum sound. It seems like in the world of █
█ technical death metal it's now obligatory to █
█ trigger the shit out of the bass drum until all █
█ you can hear is a rapid 'click-click-click', but █
█ Cyaegha have gone for a slightly more natural █
█ sound, which I thought made a nice change. It's █
█ also worth mentioning the vocals. Fans of █
█ ultra-low 'br00tal' vox will probably be █
█ disappointed, although Cooley does possess a good █
█ range (I initially thought there were 2 vocalists █
█ on the record) going from an almost █
█ grindcore-esque snarl to a deeper growl (like in █
█ Postmortem Enlightenment). They're generally more █
█ decipherable than many death vocals out there, █
█ which works for this band as the lyrics are very █
█ decent and poetic (again, quite refreshing) █
█ generally based around the works of HP Lovecraft, █
█ and while this is not an entirely new idea for a █
█ metal band (Nile and Metallica spring to mind) it █
█ gives the band some conceptual and lyrical focus. █
█ One small gripe I have is that the Lovecraftian █
█ themes aren't really conveyed in the music. █
█ Instrumental track 'Abductio Sapientia' goes some █
█ way towards remedying this, with it's strings and █
█ haunting samples, but it feels almost like an █
█ afterthought. If Cyaegha manage to integrate these █
█ aspects into their death metal pieces more █
█ successfully, they could really be onto something. █
█ Opener 'Ulthar's Degree' lays down the mood for █
█ the ensuing album. Fast paced and full of intent; █
█ this is a band that's placing their stake among █
█ the behemoths of the genre with tight and █
█ unrestrained musicianship (keep an ear out for the █
█ cool little bass break at 3.19 as well). Following █
█ track 'Masked in Flesh' contains a really sweet █
█ solo and 'While Sarnath Lies Desolate' again █
█ contains some awesome guitar work, as does █
█ highlight 'From the Depths' which manages to be █
█ memorably melodic while still conveying the chaos █
█ and heaviness of the other tracks. █
█ 'Epiphany of R'lyeh' contains more excellent █
█ musicianship, with menacing guitar melodies, and █
█ closer 'Fuck-Start My Dinner' has some really █
█ tight sweeping and tapping sections. █
█ The bottom line is, this album may not be a █
█ classic (if one was feeling particularly critical, █
█ I guess it could be fair to say there isn't quite █
█ enough contrast or memorable moments in the █
█ album), but it does come close. It's a very █
█ exciting and ambitious debut that shows this band, █
█ if they can hone their songwriting, dynamics and █
█ also do a tiny bit more to find their own voice, █
█ has genuinely huge potential and could become one █
█ of the biggest players in technical death metal. █
█ Ones to keep an eye on for sure. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Ulthar's Decree 3:45 ░
░ 2. Mask in Flesh 4:20 ░
░ 3. While Sarnath Lies Desolate 3:38 ░
░ 4. From the Depths 4:33 ░
░ 5. Obduction Sapientia 2:11 ░
░ 6. Epiphany of R'lyeh 3:45 ░
░ 7. Postmortem Enlightenment 3:18 ░
░ 8. Logos Immolated 3:48 ░
░ 9. Fuck-Start My Dinner 2:56 ░
░ 32:14 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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