Altars debut effort is a demo of experimental death metal. Coming in at 24 minutes it’s a short one, although the last song is 9 minutes long. One of the big problems they run into here is the production because it’s a bit too muddy for you to hear what they really want to do at times. This also works for them as you get a rather primal kickdrum sound that actually sounds like a kickdrum. This balances out the pinch harmonics that are in use quite a bit on this album. I don’t mind them normally but they got a bit piercing on the song “Transcending the Spectral Planes.” Other than the pinches the guitar gets buried under the drums quite a bit which makes this a bit hard to take in.

Altars also like to switch things up a lot with the tempo and it can sound a bit clumsy. There is good and bad here, I would probably lean towards more good. I don’t think the songs themselves are fatally flawed in any way, but the mix is terrible. The pinching can get slightly grating but I’m pretty sure a better mix would fix that too. It doesn’t stop me from loving Gojira. The vocals also contribute to this as they are for the most part standard guttural death vocals which combine with this mix to form what can only be described as a sonic mire. It’s a solid enough debut effort; it just needs some polish in the mixing room next time.

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