Toronto Canada’s tech deathsters Apogean make their debut with Cyberstrictive. Vocalist Mac Smith filled in for Bill Robinson of Decrepit Birth recently. Off the bat, Zach Ohren’s (The Faceless, All Shall Perish, Immolation, etc.) mixing and Mastering work is elite. Things get kicked off with “Blue Night Sonata.”  The technical prowess of these guys is on display right away. Some well-done arpeggio runs to get things kicked off. Guest solo on this track by Alex Baillie from Cognizance I can hear some Archspire Influence. “Thousand Yard Glare” reminds me a bit of Soreption with the mechanical-sounding type grooves.

“Distance” opens with some fun dissonance, pinch harmonics, and harmonies galore followed by breakdowns and some djent-esque grooves. A lot is going on with each song on Cyberstrictive. The guitar combo of Dexter Forbes and Gabriel Silva Castro is fantastic and the overall guitar mix is incredibly solid. Vocalist Mac Smith is on point throughout the whole record. You can hear why Decrepit Birth enlisted his services as a live vocalist a while back. “With Which Ear You Will Listen has a bit of Black Dahlia Murder vibe to it. “Imposter Reborn” has no shortage of groove and technical prowess. At a run time of over forty minutes, a lot is going on throughout Cyberstrictive.

I give Apogean a lot of credit for giving themselves three years between EP and the first full length. This has the maturity of a band that you would think would be on their second or third record. Impressive. “Within The Bounds of Simile” is one of my favorite tracks. It is a bit shorter and has a thrashy vibe to it throughout mixed with some Decapitated, The Zenith Passage-sounding mechanical grooves. Jacob Wagner’s drum work throughout is top-notch and clean. There is a lot of contrast in these arrangements between blistering speed and then spacey clean parts. “Polybius” is the shortest track on the album and is another one of my faves.

“Spinathariscope” is a fun track and some elements going on that are a little bit different than the rest of the album as far as arrangement and note selection. “An(t)imus” finishes the album and is the longest track on the record. This track has the meanest breakdown on the whole album. Apogean has a mammoth first full-length record here. It may be a bit too over the top if you are not into incredibly intricate technical death metal. 2024 just keeps getting sicker and we are not even to April yet. Put this one on your for sure-to-check-out list. Recommended.

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