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Spawn of Possession - Incurso Review

by Matt Hensch

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I always find the demise of a trend-sending faction at the hands of one of their pupils to be an interesting phenomena. Germany's Necrophagist instituted a very appealing approach to technical death metal back when the band was shuffling out one whole release per decade, and lots of folks were running into the streets naked, screaming about the glories of Necrophagist. Personally, I hated the fuss and hype, but soon, groups started popping up that did exactly what Necrophagist was doing, yet infinitely better than Necrophagist; spacey shredders Obscura in particular served them an epitaph of their own recipe with a slew of cool records, hence I dub the proper term being "Obscuraed." Aren't I the cleverest ass you ever did see?

Fellow algorithmic hackers Spawn of Possession fall into this native jigsaw because they too are among a plethora of projects going above and beyond the standards of pedestrian-level technical death metal which has unfortunately become an acceptable status for production. Like Obscura and other mechanics of their kin, "Incurso" follows the scientific, space-like montage of a thousand guitar parts stitched together with quick precision and pinpoint execution; also joining frantic bass work which probably grinded Erlend Caspersen's fingers down to stubs, and percussion chugging at an equally rhythmic rate of blasphemy as the remaining instruments. One could look at the band and yelp, "Jesus tap-dancing Christ, they're just like the other brain-melting groups I listen to!" Good observation Watson, but that's no cause for concern because "Incurso" is equally thrilling and algebraic no matter how you dice it.

You pretty much get nine tracks of totally insane, mathematical death metal sliding between musical dimensions as if Spawn of Possession found the remains of the Event Horizon and applied its gift to their slaughtering sound. The way these dudes showcase technical death metal is technical (obviously) and maddening, but not without sense or a tint of clarity. Nope, "Incurso" boasts an infinite array of nifty riffs and patterns around every corner, almost to the point of insanity. In fact, there's so much displayed that a few of the tracks run fairly close to the ten-minute mark, and the album could've reached an hour in length quite easily—they have a lot to say and, more importantly, know how to say it. My favorite song is "The Evangelist," which roils on for nearly ten minutes and leaves nothing left to mutilate after its intergalactic cyclone allows its nihilistic offspring to devour the holy.

"No Light Spared" produces a fair amount of fantastic guitar work, and the ending "Apparition" fornicates with strange keyboard notes and orchestral elements, creating something totally idiosyncratic and it makes for a prime conclusion to an exquisitely volatile release. Spawn of Possession avoids falling into a pit of typecasting based on their specific abilities to forge substantial anthems and makes their listeners absolutely stunned at the overall product, yet without losing sight of coherent, flexible songwriting. Coming from a critic of most technical death metal, that should mean at least an ounce of credibility. Fans of the technical death metal sub-genre will undoubtedly love this album to the grave, as will the average metal fan looking to be perplexed by this boat-rocking group debatably at the top of their habitual hill.

Spawn of Possession - Incurso

Rating:8.0

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