Protosequence - A Blunt Description Of Something Obscene
Pieces like 'Savagery In Fundamental Behaviors' is a great heavy opening with plenty of technical death metal drumming and vocals that switch between the deep roars and an almost xenocore alien screech which adds more depth to the music. Pretty much the meat and potatoes of the album’s sound. Then one gets into tracks like the title track where the more progressive elements come in with the clean vocals mixed with the roars and overall a more repetitive, but slower, melodic pace that borders more on the prog metal side versus technical death and really showcases the Black Crown Initiate influences. There are some faster moments as the song progresses but overall the pace is definitely slower than some of the other tracks and featuring more of a rock vibe that one can’t help but nod their head to.
'Bleeding The Alienist' is also a special piece because the guitars have some awesome stop and go moments that go so quick it feels like a synthesizer keyboard which adds to the overall atmosphere of the music, and the vocals even add in some slam death pig squeal moments that go along with the chugging guitars that would appeal to fans of a more melodic version of Organectomy. Again, another diverse direction for Protosequence to help their EP stand out among others.
The last half of the album is strictly instrumentals of the first four tracks, but it really lets listeners sink into the musicianship of the group and fleshes out the bass and softer guitar moments that may have been overshadowed by the vocals. Fans of groups like Shokran will appreciate this. Just check out 'Bleeding The Alienist' and there is almost something Necrophagisty about the bass lines and the guitar grooves just sound awesome. Really a good xenocore piece to appeal to tech death fans out there. Other tracks like 'Savagery In Fundamental…' don’t really seem that different compared to the other version. The song with vocals is fast and jazzy, the instrumental is fast and jazzy. Perhaps to the band’s credit they did such a good job mixing the instruments with the vocals everything seems balanced either way.
As an overall result, Protosequence really have something exciting here that they could blow up on future full lengths. Mixing tech death with prog and aliencore is a risky move but it suits them well, and will definitely help make their mark as one of the more unique metal bands on the map.
4.5 / 5 STARS
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2. A Blunt Description Of Something Obscene
3. Bleeding The Alienist
4. The Pale
5. Savagery In Fundamental Behaviours (instrumental version)
6. A Blunt Description Of Something Obscene (instrumental version)
7. Bleeding The Alienist (instrumental version)
8. The Pale (instrumental version)
