Necrophagist – Epitaph
Author: Alex Schrock
Here’s my equation for this CD that’s just as over-the-top as the CD itself:
Over the top melodic black/death guitar playing on a level of technicality that you would think only Jon Petrucci can do
+
non-stop punishing, air-tight drumming
+
a more brutal version of Frank Mullen’s vocals
=
easily one of the best deat metal albums ever = Necrophagist – Epitaph.
When you hear someone say the guitars are good on this album, they are not exaggerating, or being quick to give praise. While a lot of times you’ll hear people talking about death metal bands and say something about how good the guitarist is, technicallity wise, he can’t hold a candle to progressive shredders like Jon Petrucci and Michael Romeo. The guitaring on this cd can still hold some ground even when compared to the most technically proficient guitar players in or out of their genre, and thankfully he shows no fear of sounding like a show off. This cd is choke-full of intricate guitar tapestries,sweeps, quirky rhythms, which in combination with a bass player that can somehow keep up and the painfully precise blasting and fills makes the most powerful and memorable death metal experience . There is not another cd like this. Even if other bands tried to emulate their sound, they simply couldn’t for lack of playing ability.
If you are sick from hearing too much subsonic guitar strumming, half-assed whammy bar solos and windup monkey blast beats; this is your antidote.
Rating: 9.5/10
Comes out August 3rd on Relapse Records.
(+10 rating, 2 votes)
