Greetings tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Before we dive into today's column, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking to find even more sick bands, you can do so here.
I've got a really cool premiere for you today from the Canadian technical melodic death metal duo, Acanthosis. The group's debut album, Scriptures of the Accursed, drops this Friday, June 24. You can check out the full album early through the embed at the bottom of this post.
Acanthosis is a fairly new project, having only formed just one year ago in 2021 by Quebec-based musicians both of whom are just 18 years old now. The project consists of Caleb Simard on vocals, guitar, bass, and songwriting alongside Dominick Rochette on vocals and guitar. While this is my first time hearing of Dominick as a musician, Caleb Simard is already well known in tech-death circles for his projects such as Chiliasm (which we premiered here last year), Vitrified Entity, and his eight or so other projects. Ambitious is an understatement, this kid is one of the most interesting and accomplished up-and-coming players in tech-death. He always finds killer musicians to collaborate with in most of his projects and Dominick was clearly picked to be a part of this project for this reason.
Although I have not had time to hear the group's 2021 EP, Self-Immolation Through Devotion of the Amalthea, my understanding is that the album we're premiering today resides within a different sound than the one found on that effort. On Scriptures of the Accursed, Acanthosis goes all-in on technical melodic death metal as the primary focus, yet it's done in a way I've rarely if ever heard. By that I mean this sounds like what would happen if your average technical melodic death metal band overloaded their music with a strong First Fragment and Necrophagist-inspired approach. Acanthosis makes great use of symphonic embellishments throughout the album as well. Instead of coming across as cheesy or unimportant, the role it plays here really enhances the music in a way that reminds me of Spawn of Possession.
Put simply, Scriptures of the Accursed is fucking fantastic. It's the kind of album that shines a light on how eloquent and epic this kind of music can be when done exceedingly well. Everything about this album is better than 99% of the bands who play this type of technical melodic death metal style. I'm quite confident this will be one of the best tech-death releases of 2022. If you like what you're hearing, Scriptures of the Accursed can be pre-ordered through their Bandcamp page. You can follow the group over on the Acanthosis Facebook Page and Instagram Page.
