Reality Only Fantasized

Now this album was quite the surprise. Along with Fractured, I decided to check the album out, expecting some fairly generic tech death. Well I was dead wrong. What I didn’t expect was that it would be on a similar blueprint yet different in its own special way! Furthermore, I may be putting my head on the proverbial chopping block here, but I actually consider this album a notch superior to their sophomore album Fractured. (Then again I’d admit that I probably share that opinion with only a handful of people, if any people at all). the first two songs namely “Eternal Descent” and “Night Terror” are absolute rippers with guitar parts to die for plus a raging intensity that will really make you sit up and realize that these guys are the real underrated deal. No kidding.

The first thing that leaps out at you is that all the songs are really short and to the point. Some may see this as a shortcoming, but I don’t at all. I mean there are plenty of bands who just stretch songs agonizingly past the 6-7 minute mark, where in reality the songs barely even warrant the duration of 3-4 minutes. The shortest one is just two minutes whereas the longest song is about 3 and a half minutes. No fucking around with needless wankery or mindless dreary brutality with breakdowns lasting for almost a minute, just relentless technical riffs laced with plenty of melody along with subtle touches of groove here and there. The closer “Soul Dissolved” is one of the heaviest (and longer) songs on the album with plenty of technical sections and rhythmic shifts along with a blend of the fast and slow guaranteed to delight all the tech death fans out there.

The intro of “Sightless” definitely pays homage to the wacky sc-fi influenced brand of old school death metal aka Nocturnus, along with the mournful acoustic picking at 1:40 which was quite a surprise for me initially, before I realized how well the sections fit within the context of the song. The very fact that the band can pack in so much variety and tricks into a song just about 3 minutes long is itself a testament to their skills. Yep unlike a lot of the tech death bands out there, special attention seems to have been given to making the perfect alloy of relentless technicality woven into incisive songwriting sensibilities along with a lot of harmonized riffs and licks, surprisingly even planting their flag in the melodeath camp at times. And let’s face it; in the end, that is precisely what amazing technical death metal is all about and believe it or not, this album proves that fact in spades. Once again I really can’t pick standout tracks as all of them are killer in their own way and slay from beginning to end.

Do you long for the old days of tech death when it was all about songwriting and technical yet intelligent composition? If so, then this is precisely what the doctor ordered. Get it now!

I would never even expect such a brutal and technical album by a small band such as Capharnaum. The debut album is a perfect example of brevity with brutality. Reality Only Fantasized features 25 minutes of technical brutality and that’s perfect like this in order to avoid the listener’s boredom. “Eternal Descent” features an intro by gloomy vocals and when the instruments enter we can immediately notice the powerful production and the incredibly massive guitars. The tempo is not excessively fast at the beginning and they point more on the guitars duets. The few up tempo parts are always very catchy and in the background the guitars don’t stop in putting out riffs with a solid jazz/progressive background with the distortion of a death metal band.

The vocals are growlish but always human and never excessively screamed. The atmosphere often is given by some keyboards inserts among the heavier structures. We go on with “Night Terror” and once again the guitars are the most astonishing point here. Their style is impressive in fluidity and technical level. However, the riffs are also extremely catchy and with a sort of groove that adds goodness in this case. The bass is always pulsing behind the other instruments and we can find even good lead/solo sections by the six strings to add a sense of simplicity and harmony in a bunch of intricate parts. “Sinister Perceptions” has a drums intro and the following riffs that take everything from 1991 Death style (Human album). The influences from that band are huge and undeniable. As always the songs settle on a sort of mid-paced progression with lots of tempo changes and various switching of riffs.

“Sightless” features an atmospheric beginning to soon turn into a violent assault with few blast beats and an incredibly obscure atmosphere. Some Nocturnus influences can be found especially during the atmospheric intermezzos between the most violent sections. There are clean guitars parts too and they announce a more melodic and always progressive-based solo. “Drawn In Misery” is more vicious once more and the riffs are far more death metal inspired. The tempo is not excessively fast and sometimes we can find even some Morbid Angel dissonant riffs. The main purpose is to create a gloomy atmosphere and the guitars help a lot but we can find also some up tempo sections. Once more the solo part is the one that stands out for being more melodic and it’s really impressive in style.

“Journey beyond” is more canonical death metal with a great drumming and some more melodic lead lines by the guitars. The violent restarts are far heavier and they point on the pure brutality of the rhythmic session and the bass drums beats. “Delusional Imprisonment” has more galloping riffs and the tempo is faster. Once again some parts are heavily inspired to mid-era Death and that’s normal, considering the importance of that band for this style. We continue with darker passages and the different riffs by the guitars. Each song, in its complexity, is always distinguishable and personal. “Soul Dissolved” is the exclamation point to this already great album. The bass drums beats accompany the notes of the bass guitar and the stop and go riffs. Then, more progressive parts come and we can always find the same astonishing mix of brutality to technique.

All in all, this is a great album. The songs are already mature, competitive and astonishing in style. The technical level by the members is surprising and the compositions stand out in brutality and melody. The climax in my opinion is for the solos on this album but all the structures are massive and pummelling. This is an obligatory stopover for those who love the true technical death metal.

When a band labels their album something such with nihilistic, destructive intentions, yet all within the objective of being constructive on a different level, one has to purchase it out of curiosity alone, and I did that exact same thing, without ever hearing from this band before, although afterwards I would hear about their disappointment of an album titled "Fractured".

Capharnuam deliberately make their music lucid and try to be as spontaneous as possible yet without losing any artistic implications, they succeed at doing this for a decent part of the album, and don't incorporate anything trendy, although they're still far from making their music completely inaccessible. Harmonies, complex structures and dissident type guitar solos with beautiful melody are the foundation of music like this.

Some of this music however is chaotic, and nothing propels this more than the multi-layered guttered singing and talented drumming. Although this music is unlike other bands such as Behemoth, which overproduce their drumming, this band works together perfectly without waste. Even the guitar solos are barely long enough to become truly significant to the music, which is how this band differs from other bands such as Necrophagist or Nile, who literally use their soloing abilities to make the music more appealing.

Songs are arranged differently, leaving no room for repetition at all, yet at the same time making this album very brief in comparison to other albums released of the same genre. (Psycroptic for example, are known for making their albums longer than needed) The positive aspect from this is that you don't get that stale feeling when you listen to this music much, added to that the immense creativity of the individual members, this album never gets old.

The brevity of this album should be quite obvious, since the songs average just a little above 3 minutes. This, however, is the only thing resembling a downside of the album. Melodic leads, frequent riff changes, and an interesting drum pattern all characterize Capharnaum's first effort.

The first track begins with a spoken intro: "Amigo... amigo... there is something going on - you will go back in the trunks of ten different cars!" Whether this is a mockery of illegal Mexican immigrants, I do not know, but I found it amusing enough as it was. The drumming is very interesting in that it is not emphasized much, and mostly supplements the guitars during vocal passages. However, the drums take off to form their own strange, rhythmic meta-melodies during solos and instrumental portions. Blasting is used occasionally, but it is certainly in the background of the mix. The guitarwork is fairly impressive, with a tone similar to Atheist's "Piece of Time," but the riffs are much less thrashy. Not "heavy" in a traditional sense, this album doesn't utilize heavily distorted guitars. Solos are, of course, amazing, with a strange undulating solo at the end of "Night Terror", creating a mood of drifting in and out of controlled consciousness. "Sightless" has a beautiful plucked piece shortly before launching into a solo that resembles a melancholic ode to struggle, but ultimately fatalism, before terminating with a short, violent vocal performaces.

Since the album is so damn short, there is almost no repetition, whether within songs or between them. Vocally, there is nothing all too new, but the growls are slightly more urgent and even involved, if that's the right word, than most of Capharnaum's contemporaries. Synopsis: obtain the album, even at the cost of your mother's anal virginity.