Orphic Signs

I tend not to really have a reason to publish reviews for albums, unless I happen to stumble upon something very interesting or uniquely different. This is surely one band that can definitely hold its own among the ever growing list of talented and popular technical death metal bands out there. Hailing from Japan, they absolutely have no issues what so ever in bringing to the table their own unique interpretations of modern tech death. I certainly give these guys props just for representing their particular geographic origin when it comes to the metal scene as eastern Asia seems deprived of many good bands; but that being said, there is absolute true skill and talent that is surely to be recognized and not overlooked here.

The guitar work is incredible as the sweeping and odd time signatures are met to work precisely with the jackhammer execution of the percussion and drums. The unpredictable timing and patterns which have become a common place of tech death are definitely present here. It is always amazing for me to be able to listen to artists that work timelessly with one another to nail the near perfection and precision blending of the instruments and make it sound like clockwork (although this also easily accomplished nowadays thanks to computer software technology.) Of course, the solos seemed to be perfectly placed within the song structure as a means to complete the overall tune in surely progressive and brutal intervals that continue to ring throughout the album. The vocals are the typical death metal style, low pitched growls and high pitched shrieks, often layered on top of one another, although still somewhat decipherable to read along with the lyrics as is my preferred singing style (even for death metal). The vocals compliment the music perfectly, you'd never think that from upon first listen that it was actually a skinny Asian dude pulling it off! The bass is also very "weedy" as it works to incorporate nice slap tones and rhythm that makes it sound like it's following the guitar and drum patterns effortlessly. All the instrumentation works so damn well, you'd think that it's a group of machines doing everything. Lyrics consist of your typical death metal topics ranging from darkness, to anti-religious, death, morbid themes etc., but at least the vocalist is able to actually make annunciation of the words clear enough to follow along from time to time.

Overall, Orphic signs as an album is pretty damn decent, as I am a sucker for fast and complex technical death metal. My only beef is the length and amount of songs, as I could always go for at least 10 songs with a running time of a minimum of 40 minutes to make a proper full length release. But other than that, you have to give Depravity an A for effort when it comes to brutal and technical proficiency, 91 out of 100, they definitely deserve the credit!

Desecravity is a band that exemplifies extreme metal. Unreal speed, crushing brutality, dissonance and unyielding technicality. This band has elements of European technical death metal a la Spawn of Possession, the Quebec death metal scene a la Beneath the Massacre, and the raw punishing brutality of American death metal a la Suffocation. There are even some djent moments, as well as glimpses of such musical oddities as Lykathea Aflame and Amorg Symphony.

The most notable aspect of the Japanese trio's music is probably the insane speed, which makes me question their ability to perform this material live. The tempo is unrelenting throughout, the drummer is mind-numbing with pivot rolls (gravity blasts), and sick, tight fills.

If the speed is not the most noteworthy aspect of what's going on, than it's certainly the quirky, technical riffs; riffs which are predominantly memorable and manage to not fall into the chasm of noodling. This is the key thing I look for and rarely find in a technical death metal band - to be actually technical with colorful chords, nice unique rhythms and just a splash of weirdness, but also to make it memorable and not have riffs and ideas just get utterly lost in the mix or buried by lazy writing (I'm looking at you Origin). This band is doing all those things, firing on all cylinders with insane, sick riffs, and song writing that keeps you on your toes.

We have some sick solos that mostly run in the vein of old or mid-school death metal, and the occasional more contemporary sweep-fest. Wedged in between all that madness is some dark, slower Morbid Angel-style riffs, with the bands own flair, that is. For better or worse, there are a few moments of endless high pitched notes that sound like old video game music; I'm slightly put off by it, but I don't think it's negatively impacts the album as a whole. The production isn't over-polished, which is something a lot of their contemporaries fail in.

I am hard pressed to think of a band that achieves this level of technical finesse with such demolishing brutality and blistering speed. But that alone wouldn't justify a high score; it's the juxtaposition of old school and new, the high-low jumping riffs, the sonic storm that washes over you. This album is the soundtrack to getting sucked through a wormhole.

The only real weakness is the few sparse moments a riff jumps out of no where just to be even faster than the rest of the fast craziness and doesn't fit or contribute anything to the song. As extreme as extreme gets, with character and memorability. A legitimate accomplishment.