Changeling – Changeling Review

It’s been a difficult start to the year for Obscura fans, and for fans of the technical death metal giants who once performed in that band. Despite the drama now lying behind us, many still haven’t truly recovered from the realization that Obscura will be no more… Or have we?

This self-titled Debut record from “Changeling” is brought to us by current/ex-members of Alkaloid, Belphegor, Fear Factory, Obscura, and the outstanding guitarist Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger. His works have been studied since the release of Obscura‘s 2016 release “Akroasis” where he appeared as a guest solo guitarist, most notably on the self titled track “Akroasis” and the 15 minute long chaotic & progressive adventure “Weltseele” where he also worked on String arrangements. On my first listen-through I for sure felt excited but extremely satisfied that this type of music from these musicians came to light once more, and that Steffen Kummerer’s “kingpin” ideas, lies, and blatantly obvious thefts of musical compositions, riffs, and melodies from truly talented musicians had finally come to an end.

Now, leaving Obscura behind, let me shine the light on this mesmerizingly beautiful album with a 60 minute runtime of progressive death metal full of luscious bass tones, guitar exploits, multi-layered compositions and to my knowledge, musical ideas that sound alike to song structures that Septicflesh brought to the table, almost a decade ago. Multi-talented musicians are featured on this record, Arran McSporran‘s fretless bass feels almost nostalgic now, the undertones reminding me of Linus Klausenitzer‘s performances in Alkaloid and Obsidious, and on this album his performance is most notable on the penultimate track “Abdication” which almost tries to pass the barriers of progressive music, which is always a pleasure to hear as a metal head. Florian “Morean” Maier‘s clean and harsh vocal performance are essentially carried from Alkaloid and remain a touch bit better then they were on their last Full-Length record “Numen“, and in my opinion he has carved his name into the unique metal vocalist wall of giants, since his vocals have become recognizable.

..But it would be a reviewer’s mistake not to highlight the brilliant work of Mike Heller on drums. The performance he brings to Changeling‘s theme and vision is outstanding, the drums represent an anchor to the album’s continuation and flow. I’ve been impressed already by his works on “Genexus” and Sigh‘s 2020 release “Shiki” where he partook in percussion, bongo, conga and somehow even working with a bell. It is worth mentioning that Changeling, while immensely progressive, never falls into the trap of feeling overwhelming or purely academic. Individual section of this album, maybe most notably side B of the record have these brief passages where the listener has time to rest, recover and endure another wall of pure musical talent, of course, in the style of Progressive Death Metal.

There’s a voice in the back of my mind whispering that this project, despite being incredible on its own terms, serves in part as a form of vengeance or retribution for Steffen Kummerer’s earlier “plagiarism.” I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing this progressive metal outfit release more records of this caliber—because if this is what the beginning of Changeling sounds like, we may be witnessing the rise of a band that will cast a long shadow over the one that came before.

Changeling is out on April 25 Via Season of Mist.

Track Listing:

01. Introject
02. Instant Results
03. Falling in Circles
04. World? What World?
05. Metanoia Interlude
06. Changeling
07. Abyss
08. Cathexis Interlude
09. Abdication
10. Anathema

Watch “Falling in Circles” official music video here: