Fans of technical death metal are being treated to an early Christmas this year as Metal Blade Records decided to play Santa’s Little Helper and released two haunting singles of this sort already in October. RIVERS OF NIHIL released their punchy riffathon “Hellbirds” on Thursday the 19th and, the day before, on Wednesday the 18th, ALLEGAEON released their equally chilling single “Inhumation.” Here, I’ll be digesting the latter in depth. A disclaimer might be in order, here, though; now, ALLEGAEON is one of those bands that have kind of rang a bell for me for quite some time, probably because of some chance encounter years ago that must have been pleasant rather than not. Yet, I could not have named three songs by the band if someone had asked me that yesterday. You know how it goes – there’s just too much good music around to keep up with every promising act you accidentally come across. These ruffians have been around since 2008, so I guess I should feel a sting in my conscience for managing to avoid them for so long. After a few spins with the new single, I reckon that’s about to change.
This release is single in the very literal meaning of the word; it comprises just one song – “Inhumation” – but what a banger it is! The first few bars roll out slightly dissonant guitar riffs that trigger nice IHSAHN flashbacks and the impression is further reinforced by the blast-beating assault that ensues. Even the layered harsh vocals draw from this vibe rather nicely, up until the moment the vocal register drops down to ogre octaves. Halfway into the song, the punchy riffs give way to a tad smoother groove, and for the next 15 seconds or so, the vibe is strongly reminiscent of SLIPKNOT of all bands. If you can transition from harsh, experimental black-metal to nu-metal groove and make it sound so diabolically good, I guess it’s time to take my hat off for these guys and ensure they remain steadily on my music radar from now on.
(That said, I had to do some digging and figure out where I knew this band from, at least on a band-name basis. It must have been their cover rendition of the RUSH song, “Subdivisions,” or that equally mind-blowing version of the gargantuan YES classic “Roundabout,” both on their 2016 outing “Proponent for Sentience.” Now, it’s painfully obvious that I should have checked their original songs as well, but what can I do – I’m a sad old prog nerd at heart and there’s only so much I can do.)
Written by Jani Lehtinen
