Swedish band Soreption plays technical death metal with the syncopated, razor-sharp riffs of Decapitated with the machine-like djent-chugging of Aeon. Their first release on Unique Leader, Engineering the Void is their follow-up to their 2010 release Deterioration of Minds, which I only became aware of last year.
Although heavily technical, Soreption fuses their convoluted riffs onto robust grooves. The colossal “The Nature of Blight” alternates between divisions of the beat but doesn’t deviate from the basic groove. There are plenty of on-a-dime time-signature changes and unexpected surprises; “Breaking the Great Narcissist” goes through at least four mind-bending changes in the first two minutes, and dissolves very suddenly into a synth heavy break at the three-and-a-half mark. But Soreption are at their best when they let the groove drive through one riff right into the next, as in “Utopia” and “I Am You.”
There are a handful of cheesy, synthesized faux-orchestral breaks, as in “Breaking the Great Narcissist” and others, that detract from the momentum of the songs. On Deterioration of Minds’ “March of the Tyrants,” the synths morphed into a kind of updated “Suffer in Truth” chug, but here they don’t interact with the rest of the material in quite the same way. Even on Deterioration of Minds they seemed out of place. Soreption would be better off ditching it altogether and letting their technical blitzkrieg speak for itself.
That minor complaint aside, this is a tasty slab of the best kind of technical death metal. And at 35 minutes, it’s enough to give you the full effect but not leave you overwhelmed. This would probably be a killer act to see live too, if and when they come stateside.
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Haven’t fully absorbed this one yet, but it sounds killer, definitely a strong Decapitated vibe going on. Along with the new Artificial Brain 2014 has started well on the tech death front.
on Feb 18th, 2014 at 16:36This is a sick album. the little dimmu borgir-y parts are cool. would like to have heard more within the songs.
on Feb 18th, 2014 at 17:37I’m checking out some songs on youtube now – this is indeed killer. Definitely hear the Decapitated vibe. I wouldn’t be shocked if this ends up on my year end list.
on Feb 19th, 2014 at 23:10Hey JD, when you talk about “the machine-like djent-chugging of Aeon” are you talking about the swedish, “Bleeding The False” Aeon?
on Feb 27th, 2014 at 14:18Juan: Yes I am, and specifically that album too
on Feb 27th, 2014 at 18:00Thanks J.D.
on Mar 6th, 2014 at 21:25I never thought of Aeon as djent, always thought of them as stright Death Metal. I am going to listen to them again to find out if I hear any “djent”