Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 09 Mar 2020
Tracklist:
1. Exalted Ignorance
2. Veil Of Dementia
3. Lashed To Control
I cannot wait for the forthcoming long weekend. I know I can't go anywhere but that means I'll have time to write. I have a schedule of releases I want to talk about, so expect three reviews a day across the four days starting Friday. I'm going to try and mix it up as much as possible too. In the meantime though, here's a brand new release from last month. It's the first release from North Carolina (US) tech-death band Ergodic. It was the artwork that attracted me to this EP and then I found out that the quintet features an ex-member of Circle Of Dead Children (Willowtip Records), to name but one. Once again, look at that artwork!
I could not be more ready for this! Opening song ‘Exalted Ignorance’ is pure tech-death except it contains a lot more melody in the leads than a lot of other bands from the genre. That’s a good thing to my ears, because it’s interesting and even if the tempos/technicality make your head spin, at least it’s gonna be engaged while it does so! The drumming, bass/guitar and gutturals are all top notch, which isn’t surprising given the collective experience of Ergodic’s members.
As with every of band of ilk, there’s no letting up at all. ‘Veil Of Dementia’ pretty much picks up where ‘Exalted Ignorance’ left off. There’s some truly virtuoso guitar work throughout the song, which sits perfectly alongside the rest of band, who put in equally impressive performances. It’s not often that death metal this brutal truly excites me, but this hits the spot.
Final song ‘Lashed To Control’ ends this power-trio of an EP is superfluous style. Blisteringly fast kick-drumming is joined by instrumentation that switches between a similar tempo and what seems like half-time, leading to off-kilter madness of epic proportions and those vocals, that once again just top it off.
I’m going to pull an obscure tech-death reference out of that bag here but this EP gives me that same feeling as when I first heard the 2011 debut EP Rebirth from fellow US tech/progressive band A Wanted Awakening. You can read that review (minus the digital EP stream) here. Basically to put it into perspective, that band and that EP was a revelation for me and nothing has come close since in terms of modern day technical death metal, until now. Ergodic are supreme and if this is anything to go by, their debut album is going to be nothing short of epic.
You can stream the full EP and purchase it as a name-your-price download below:-
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