Stream of Solidarity...

You can learn lots about a band by looking at the acknowledgements on their inlays; who they hung out with, who they toured with, who they idolised, etc. This was a tried-and-tested method for discovering obscure music before the internet (and is still effective today). Embrionic Death is a band whose evolution from brutal, percussive death metal to bizarro proggy-tech-death was etched in their inlays. These guys had already thanked bands like Human Remains and Cross Fade on their “Regurgitate the Dead” demo. Such citations are the only hint of the band’s change of direction on “Stream of Solidarity…” (their final demo). Here, their list had expanded to include Timeghoul, a crop of New Jersey pioneers (Mass Psychosis, Ripping Corpse, Damonacy), some bigger names (Death, Gorguts) and bands from the proggier end of alternative metal (Tool, Primus).

You can hear all of the above here, in one form or another. The closest resemblance is probably Mass Psychosis. This feels like an outlandish update of that band’s legendary “Face” demo (which was originally recorded in 1991). Embrionic Death showcases a similar nightmarish, scatty and unpredictable style of death metal. These three songs are lengthy, with discomforting riff changes, stopping and starting, and a large dose of “what the fuck just happened?!”. The bass is loud and exuberant. The vocals get close to the belched/screamed style of the New Jersey bands. The song-writing is wiry and confusing. These songs are packed with ideas and there are no dull moments.

Still, the band are attempting to alienate and confuse their listeners. I could debate whether this always makes for an enjoyable listen. There are plenty of moments here that distract from the overall flow and momentum of the music. Listen to the way everything breaks down in “Sperm to Egg” (before the solo). It is innovative, but it doesn’t have the same badass heavy chugging riffs as Mass Psychosis had. The songs don’t push forward as much as bounce around. The tendency to sacrifice everything for the sake of some added convolution sometimes lessens the impact (particularly with such a clear, crisp production that shows all the flaws).

There are two ways to view this demo, one is as a band pushing the genre to the limits of proggy weirdness, the other is of a band with an identity crisis. I am happy to hold both views in equilibrium. This is a difficult listen in every respect (even for someone who loves this kind of death metal), and I struggle with the lack of fluidity and ‘anchor riffs’. That said, it is fun and interesting to hear a band with such eccentric ideas. I would always choose the greater songcraft of stuff like Mass Psychosis, Afflicted and Cross Fade, but this one remains essential for fans of experimental death metal.

This short little demo here is actually pretty underrated, I'm going to go as far as to claim most people don't know about it, I'm also going to demean the people who don't know it as being beneath me because they clearly have less metal knowledge rhan moi.

Just kidding, I'm gonna demean people for not knowing it because it's actually pretty decent and distinct metal, there's really no frame of reference to categorize this shit, it's got that whole New Jersey Ripping Corpse and Human Remains thing going on, it's got weird almost noodly and snake like Atheist or cynic guitar lines, complete with flashes of bass virtuosity, and don't take those comparisons literal, I just made it up off hand to demonstrate that there's a lot of weird shit on display.

The songs have weird flow, they kinda jump around a lot, and I wouldn't say the transitions are tight either, but somehow it works completely, I certainly wouldn't imply they can't play their instruments, it's more so there's this feeling of looseness and tension on display here that is on the exact outer fringes of structure, and smoothness, and it has a positive effect on the music.

There's also a unique sense of melody on this, it's weird, it tends to be very angular but have this strong sense of melody to it, it's not sappy or really emotional, it just has this very alien sense about it, it defies my understanding If that fucking makes sense to the 2 people that read this.

Most importantly it's all so very catch despite being discordant, and jarring, I'm gonna make up a total bullshit term, this is lab metal, there's something about the imagery it conjurs up that seems scientific to me, I said before it sounds very alien, so I'll just shut up so you can hear for yourself.

Music geeks will, upon registering the release date of this demo, have some kind of instant, prejudged expectation. Of course the year of release was 1993, a renowned period in death metal but more so in the progressive and experimental aspects of the genre with bands like Cynic, Atheist, Gorguts and Death breaking the crusty, worn out mould. Though the mentioned bands are cited far too much as masters of prog-metal these days they are no more relevant than when describing the different sounds present on this CD. So, if all checks have been done you will be not surprised to find some of the most chaotic, brain-frizzling material to have ever graced the New York metal scene.

You would be quite correct if you were to describe this album as utterly unpredictable, astonishingly structured and exceeding all expectations of a band that had previously spawned demos with mutilated infants on the front sleeves. Of course, you would also be eligible to say that this is in fact totally unbearable, a nauseating example of music and a downright abuse of expensive instruments. The latter view I have anticipated though I do not encourage this attitude at all. This is such an original and interesting piece of music and it would be a terrible shame to pass it off as meaningless noise.

For the progressive metal fanatic (or anyone actively interested in seeking out good music) the style is addictive and captivating. “Sperm to Egg” opens with a deliciously discordant solo laid over an equally disjointed riff. The bass is heard intermittently (which seems to be a recurring feature of the music) and the drummer beats seven shades of you-know-what out of the ride cymbal and high hat respectively. After the crazy prelude the song properly commences, with a fairly simple yet effective drum solo paving the way to a monstrous riff.
The separate sections of each song seem to glide into one another, though at times the riffs are so ultimately different that one would wonder how such smooth transitions could be made without perturbing the natural flow. Each song is roughly 6 minutes in length (with at least ten different sections in each) and these sections can range from mercilessly brutal to impressively technical which is a very attractive aspect of the music. Overall the EP seems like one super-song which isn’t a bad thing I suppose. There is always the question of quality over quantity with technical bands but they seem to have achieved a very stable balance of both here.

If you are a fan of repetitive music then this is not for you. What I noticed instantly was that the Embrionic Death chaps are not very keen on repeating what they play, being a lot like Atrocity and Gorguts in that sense, yet their songs have a consistency which is idiosyncratic of early to mid-era Morbid Angel. Few sections are prolonged but when the situation requires the riffs to be extended they make up for it with mounds upon mounds of variety. Drumming patterns will be altered, harmonies will be inserted and occasionally the bass will be turned up in the mix.

Due to the extreme technicality of the music, it would be natural to expect a few outrageous solos. However the guitarists keep it fairly simple; the leads are not exaggerated and are not tediously dominant but can sometimes sound very affluent or awkward in terms of actual playing skills. The rhythm is spot on and as a welcome change does not leave the listener with that painful feeling that it has been overdone or that it could have been so much better!
The drums are played in roughly the same style as Steve Flynn or perhaps Pete Sandoval with less blast beats but with almost an equal understanding of the expansive boundaries of the cymbals and toms. The time signatures remain securely rooted in 4/4 for the best part of the EP but then again Meshuggah play most of their gear in 4/4! Weird world, eh?

The schizophrenic atmosphere of the music is indeed reflected in the vocals but there is no such experimental variance, as the singer abides by the general consensus and adopts a style that I can only describe as a mixture between Patrick Mameli, Dave Vincent and possibly Frank Mullen on later Suffocation releases. Unfortunately I cannot find a copy of the lyrics anywhere but the song titles seem abstract enough to guarantee a quasi-philosophical approach in their writing. One line is decipherable in the opening track:

“When given the power to obliterate…it is senseless to destroy before you create”

A powerful thought if put into an appropriate context and one of the reasons I would like to uncover the lyrics somewhere! It is a sign of a mature band that is serious, yet laid back in the approach to their music.

All in all, I think it is a fantastic piece of metal history and those lucky enough to have heard will no doubt continue listening until the day they are bagged and tagged. I have no real negative criticism of the EP; the quality of production is surprisingly pleasant, there is a high level of composition, songs are well structured, run smoothly and the band are not afraid to experiment (see the guitar effects at the end of “Savoir Faire” and the clean section in “Our Life as Myself”).
The guitar could be a tad more creative with the lead sections and perhaps a more fulfilled role from the bass would have been nicer but a very enjoyable CD nonetheless. Recommended to fans of all the bands mentioned in the review and to fans of more modern instrumental tech bands like “Sleep Terror”, “Behold… The Arctopus” and “Blotted Science”.

This is the only material I have ever been able to get my hands on from this band. And this is a crying shame seeing as how much this demo rules! They use all sorts of odd time signatures and weird brake downs and different pitches and the guitars are always playing off of each other and oh my god does this band fucking rule! It is jazz influenced, but not jazzy, kind of still having that thrash element like Atheist, and also doing some crazy death metal shit, and over all the musicianship is fucking awesome.
The riffs literally flow form the disc, and there are so many of them it is hard sometimes to follow what is going n. the riffs are timed and structured in a most unorthodox fashion as well, with stops being in strange places, and weird little harmonic leads being put over otherwise already pretty crazy riffage. The music is not too fast, it is fairly mid-tempo, but still poses a lot of difficulty to play. There is a lack of speed on the demo as well; they play fairly slow and still really crazy though. Over all the three songs are good, and the middle track is the weakest, which is a good way to structure a three-song demo. Now if only I could find more of these guys’ stuff….