Mesphistopheles - Sounds of the End

#FOR FANS OF: Technical Death Metal, Psycropotic, Obscura

With a seemingly profound influx of Technical Death Metal into the scene, the wide-reaching spread of it has hit Australia of all places with this second effort from the Tasmanian act Mephistopheles. One of several bands to use the moniker, this version is pretty much what you would consider the standard norm for the genre tag “Technical Death Metal:” a veritable whirlwind of unimaginatively complex and off-kilter guitar riffing styles into densely-packed songs with a fluidity that’s jaw-dropping in the skill-set required to hit those notes, commanding drumming that keeps the rhythms as obscure and complex as the riffing and a smorgasbord of bass riffs that spindle, buzz and generally act as another instrument to display technical prowess and skill rather than giving a heavy tone to the music. As such, this is pretty much directed mainly at those who prefer such music rather than any sort of writing skill for the songs tend to fall into a trap of being unrecognizable after a while and blend into a blur of chaotic, complex guitars rather than a flowing piece of music which a lot of other bands in this style accomplish to a varying degree of success. Rather, this is the prototypical ‘let’s-see-how-many-riffs-we-can-pack-into-a-single-song’ type of band that many look at as the cliché of the genre, even though there’s a smattering of talent that’s needed to be able to play as unrelentingly fast and accurate as they are. Hitting riffs that complicated, at the speed they do so, with the fluidity accomplished, does take real skill and is ably demonstrated such as "Pariahs of the Universe," "Soldiers of the Endtime," "Battle of the Sea and Sky" and "The Siren of Eternity" all attest to mightily. Even shorter stuff like "Silver Doors" and "Generation O" have a fantastic display of talent required to pull off what’s accomplished in those tracks which does leave this as more than just an average tech/death band, but there’s also not a whole lot else to diversify themselves in such a crowded market. However, for those that forsake all this and merely enjoy and appreciate technical bombast for the sake of it all, bump this score up a few extra notches. (Don Anelli)

(Willowtip - 2013)
Score: 70

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