In emergence to the full-length foray now ten years ago, Artificial Brain launched into orbit a novel style of knotted and screeching death metal that brought with it a slingshotting mass of a tangible cosmic horror. And though it’s up for debate whether they’ve yet to best that offering, it’s easy to declare that the Artificial Brain attack is one that has largely remained singular, definitive, and pushing adjacent bands—like cousin Afterbirth—to corners of space not cast from shadow to light. But as a distant sun shines about the gravity of that modern act, time tells us that eventually, some satellite will drift into its orbit. As such, Conglaciation, in earshot of this pioneering sound has found a reveal along this dissonantly-carved path. However, the stars don’t seem to be the destination for this fresh face—its layers feel equally icy as the vast cavern of galactic emptiness but terrestrial all the same.
So what is it that separates this New York-based trio from both that which paved the way and that which is mostly related?1 That would be none other than a love for the beloved Pokémon game series. What? Was that not what you expected? As it turns out primary composer for these tunes Cotter Champlin (SARMAT, Galactic Empire)2 has a passion for both studied and shredding guitar antics as well as the “gotta catch ’em all” grind of battle monsters. And this matters as the tracks of Conglaciation, by osmosis or intention, each lurch forward with a harmony-edging melody against gurgle-burp vocal hypnotism—equal parts Demilich jagged riff-belching against restrained yet virtuosic fusion-colored solos—much in the same way a game’s incidental background tracks will intensify if you stand around and let them.
Conglaciation by Conglaciation
Where heavy dissonance use often aims to attract via repulsion, Champlin’s sense of long-form and recursive melody functions, instead, as an anchor that gains weight throughout each piece. Certain numbers open with these kinds of creeping and snaking plays (“Asunder,” “Atrementous,” “Congruency”), the pace of which slogs in intentional contrast to frenetic blast beats and percussive grumblings flitter under and through a slowly weaving web. Always upfront in the mix, the frequently shrill and ear-stumping refrains remain more static in primary attack than drifting, allowing additional layers of Champlin’s instrumentation to flourish—terraced bass groans, Holdsworthian scale-bending fretplay, doubled melodic climbs with new accents (“Sublimate” has the largest growth in this regard). Conglaciation sticks to memory much easier than other works of this level of technical acclaim.
Despite Conglaciation’s thoughtful construction, its charm has the appeal of a classical study piece, which conflicts with its true death metal moments in ways that scatter its attack. For an album so absolutely loaded with toothsome and jaw-dropping performances, it feels odd for Conglaciation to drop a seven-minute instrumental piece, “Sketch”,3 smack dab in the middle. Especially after the twisted Neuraxis-force groove that bolts down “Conglaciation” and gnarled, resplendent riffage of “Sublimate,” that choice for a tip-toeing, pizzicato imitating intermission, as creative as it may be, stands tall and in the way amongst its peers. In terms of execution and memorability though, “Sketch” still wins accolades in its over-atmospheric approach. Even Champlin’s solos can land this way in the context of how tight songs could be without them—warm in tone, they rarely soar above the eerie and frozen landscape that surround them.
More étude than banger, Conglaciation opens this project’s career to the ears of the curious and dissecting. Too heady on average for the hammer-throwing hooligan, yet riff-loaded enough to incite some scattered pit riots (“Conglaciation,” “Ameliorate”), it flashes brightly enough all the same to catch those who feel the itch for a unique kind of sonic adventure. Nestled away in the relaxing and technical world of tension-masters like Convulsing and Altars, Conglaciation deserves a moment with its head just above the underground. And as they continue to master the craft of chiseling defined peaks in their work, it will be hard for any progressive death metal lover to look away.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: PCM4
Label: Liminal Dread Productions | Bandcamp
Websites: conglaciation.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/conglaciation
Releases Worldwide: July 19th, 2024
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