Eon Fragmentation

Dismal Lapse is a young band with a very bright future in the world of death metal. Although they may not be of the old school Suffocation or Morbid Angel style that most death metal heads love, they are without a doubt a true death metal band. This is evident not only with the off the wall yet brutal as hell riffs or the machine gun drumming or the guttural yet very coherent vocals, but also with the way they play live.

I've had the opportunity to see them open local shows for national bands about a half dozen times, and every time I'm blown away by their energy levels and musicianship. Not only is their sole guitarist able to play unique scales and riffs, but he can also do it while going crazy on stage. Dismal's drummer, Chris Barnum, may be the most talented death metal musician around. Not only is he able to create original beats and double kick very well, but he also handles all the vocals.

Listening to the records one might think, "Well yeah he can play drums and do vocals on the recording because he can record them separately. There's no way he can do it live." However, his vocals sound exactly the same live as they do on this sick recording. It's always nice when you have a band that's this brutal and heavy, but you can still understand everything the vocalist is saying. Not to diss bands that have indecipherable (because there certainly a lot of sick bands out there that i have no idea what they are saying), but the fact that you can understand Chris without his vocals sounding too clean is a definite plus.

Overall, Dismal Lapse's Eon Fragmentation is a great album. The songs are very intense. They walk the dangerous line of blending technicality with brutality, but where many bands fail, Dismal has succeed. They may not be the most original band out there, but they have their own sound and are definitely a solid band all around. And there's no doubt that they aren't an overly-glamourized tech-death band or a core band. They prove with this release that they are true death metal.

I'd recommend Addicted to Tomorrow and the Light That Casts No Shadow to anyone who is into extreme metal. The drums are definitely the focus point of this band, so all drummers out there check it out! However, the guitarist has serious talent and writes riffs that are unique so someday you can hear one and say "yeah that definitely Dismal." T.H.C is also a great song.

Dismal Lapse is another bright young hope in the field of technical death metal, the next in a line that has produced recent standouts like The Faceless and Odious Mortem. For a trio, this is a highly talented group of guys, capable of technical bursts of precision, furious arpeggios, and incorporating a wealth of rhythmic change-ups into each track. Eon Fragmentation is the band's debut full-length, following the The Nameless Faceless EP from 2008.

I won't call this band's music innovative, but they manage to combine their complex technicality with a brutal, focal anchor that keeps the material dark and oppressive. Drummer/vocalist Chris Barnum has the usual array of growls and snarls, but his playing is tight beneath the warring virtuosity of bassist Jason Brehm and guitars Evan Gravatt. Though the entire album features a series of maze-like compositions, I favored the brutal ballet of "Tetra Hydra Cannibinol", the pulverizing "Divide and Devour", the grooving beatdowns of "U-235" and the fluffy bunny love of "Clipping the Wings of Hope". Okay, I'm lying about one of those descriptions. "Addicted to Tomorrow" and "Impurities" are also a pretty sick opening volley for the record.

Again, the level of talent here is rather impressive. If I have any criticism of this record, it's that the songs often feel more like exercises in acrobatism than coherent hymns of brutality. As a result, the band's complex structures and ever shifting tempos might dissuade the fan of more sinister, old school death metal. But the album sounds loud and crunchy, the musicians have enormous potential, and it's a good record that you can enjoy through multiple listens, if tech death is your thing. Easily recommended to fans of Suffocation, Severed Saviour, Deeds of Flesh, Odious Mortem, Abysmal Dawn, Revocation, The Faceless, etc.

Highlights: Tetra Hydra Cannibinol, Divide and Devour, Clipping the Wings of Hope, Impurities

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com