Hey there fellow tech-death fans! It's time to get shit popping with some blastbeats and finger cramping riff fueled music! But, like today's title denotes, music that does so with a flirtatious dive into the prog side of things as well. If you like what you hear below and want to check out prior editions to this series, go here. Until next time, may the riffs devour your soul, and fuel your week.
Scalafrea-Opposites In Polarity
Denver, Colorado based act Scalafrea are a group I've been following for years now, and who only seem to improve by leaps and bounds with each release. Their latest, Opposites In Polarity, was one of my absolute favorite tech-death releases of 2015. I only even waited this long to post them in Tech-Death Tuesday because I was waiting for the band to make the release available for streaming/purchase on bandcamp. To make an abstract comparison here, Scalafrea are a jack-of-all-trades, yet unlike the rest of how that phrase usually goes, they are hardly the master of none. There are so many dimensions and different styles of tech-death on display throughout Opposites In Polarity, that it would be fruitless to name all the groups I could point to that parts of this sound like. In addition, the warm recording quality of this release is another plus in my book which really draws you in. As even I sometimes tire of the cold mechanical production nature of a lot of tech-death. Throw in a penchant for proggy builds and flourishes, and you've got yourself a impressive winner with Opposites In Polarity. Don't sleep on this one, and keep a watch out for their next one. Whenever that ends up happening. These guys are criminally underrated, so be that cool dude in your group and know about them!
Alustrium- A Tunnel To Eden
I'll fully admit to being late to the party on this one. There were too many releases that came out last year for me to check out everything I heard a positive buzz about. Regardless, I wanted to feature them here since they aren't a household name yet in the sense of everyone reading this already knowing them. Though I'm aware that some of you will have heard them, and if so, just focus on checking out Scalafrea! For anyone new to them like I am, Alustrium are a technical death metal band hailing from the state of Pennsylvania. A Tunnel To Eden came out last year, and stands as the groups second release overall. They have a pretty interesting blend of ideas going on in their musical stew. The composite of which sounds like a mix of certain aspects of Allegaeon, Psycroptic, and The Faceless. All wrapped together in a big proggy bow and a penchant for dense lengthy songs that take you on a vivid journey into aural bliss. Taken as a whole, A Tunnel To Eden is a fairly ambitious release by tech-death standards. Although I'm hoping they continue to evolve and take on a sound more their own in the future. Instead of one that is a slick melding of a few established ones as mentioned above like they sound now. Still, their phenomenal songwriting skills alone puts them far ahead of most of the tech-death pack.
