The modern era of technical death metal is a far cry from
the bands that ruled the early 90’s. While today’s scene is dominated by
mechanical rhythms and furious fretwork, the genre’s forefathers were a bit
more creative. Whether it was the insane basswork of players like Steve Digiorgio
(Death) and Roger Patterson (Atheist, RIP), or just the catchy songwriting that
infected their albums, technical death metal used to something great. With the
debut release by Sunken Colony, this once lost era is now returning to form. Appropriately,
this project was written by former bass player for Atheist, Travis Morgan, who
also played nearly everything on the album.
The most noticeable feature of this demo is the loud,
melodic bass playing. While the other instruments are playing quality riffs,
the bass is creating unique lines that sound like lost parts from “Individual
Thought Patterns”. This is the first release I’ve ever heard where the bass is
the highlight, and that’s not saying anything bad about the other instruments. The
vocals are lower-pitched, but fairly easy to understand. While there is nobody
that sounds quite like Chuck Schuldiner, Travis Morgan could definitely do
justice to those songs. The drums are a little bit stiff sounding, which is
understandable because they’re programmed. It’s not too troublesome, because he
avoids extensive use of blastbeats, but the drums are probably the weak point. Out
of the four songs, two of them are mind-blowing. Both “Imminent” and “Animus”
display the kind of songwriting that takes you back a couple of decades. The
Gorguts cover, “Dormant Misery”, fits in perfectly, which shows just how
skillfully the other three songs are composed. “Rite of Passage” is a solid
song, but doesn’t really have anything to draw you back. Ultimately, “Animus”
is one demo that should create some buzz in the metal underground. The
instruments are well played, and the style hasn’t been done very successfully
by anyone in the last 10 years.
Get your free download over at Bandcamp!
http://sunkencolony.bandcamp.com/
Highlights
"Imminent"
"Animus"
Final Rating
4.25/5 or 85%.
Written by Scott