Echoes From A Distant Star Part 1 Review

“Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1” welcomes the fan with “Cosmic Disturbance,” whose bass guitar tapping – wow, never seen one like this – gives a certain groove feeling to the listener, which is exactly what is expected from a Technical Death Metal band as Exterminus. By quirk of circumstance, this is the second review in a role on bands that explore a more technical view of Death Metal. Not coincidentally, both bands are very different from each other. In a nutshell, Crypts of Despair explore dissonances tempos while Exterminus explore more complex chord construction.

The pompous album name “Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1” is a direct reflex of what Exterminus are musically. To some extent, the band delivers what fans expect which is the complex songwriting even though the lack of melody. The album sounds very monolithic – it’s been a while I don’t use the term – due to this option. I remember to have said some time ago that for the human ear some constructions cannot be sensed and, therefore, they all sound the same or alike. Maybe the most interesting, and out of the box, moment of the album is the cover of the pop song “Rock me Amadeus” because it added some fun and awkwardness to the album. It’s the moment Exterminus take a detour from their usual path. “Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1” is too Carthesian, if you know what I mean.

On the other hand, on Death Metal terms, all this makes “Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1” a very cruel sounding album. Musicwise, the feeling is of a total cruelty intent. The complex constructions contribute to give this feeling because to the fan ears they sound too complex to process. All the movement that tracks as “Cosmic Disturbance” take may even confuse the fan. However, we have to agree that this exactly the idea. This musical confusion. This sense of an intense hopelessness that comes from this confusion modern world gives to we all. The same happens with the lack of melody that appears only in the intro of tracks as “Starbound.” Even the guitar leads avoid taking a more melodic approach, therefore, the source of the cruel sonancy of the album.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not, by any means, saying “Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1” is a bad album. My job here is to describe what I listen and how I feel towards it. That’s what I did. I do like Technical Death Metal, but the grip Exterminus chose isn’t my favorite.

Exterminus “Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1” will be released on April 18th.

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