Label - Metal Blade Records
Release Date- 25 February 2022
Words- Tony Bliss
It was clear even from Allegaeon’s 2008 debut EP that something special was brewing in Colorado. Now, nearly fifteen years on, the band have been churning out progressive-tech-death genre splicers with the sort of dependability that, with all fairness, should have propelled the quintet to a level beyond their peers long before we got to ‘Damnum’, their sixth full length LP.
And indeed, it should come as no surprise as the album rockets into life that history is repeating itself; ‘Damnum’ is another twelve tracks of absurdly exciting hybrid extremity. Recent single ‘Of Beasts And Worms’ may not tell even half the story, but does offer a concise fragment of what's to come with it's mechanical bludgeon, and must surely be a certified set-list mainstay already thanks to a bombastic, rib rattling chorus of Maiden-sized proportions.
It is easy to forget that for all of Allegaeon’s dork friendly instrumental heroics, the band's melodic sensibilities have always been key to their modus operandi. Just take ‘To Carry My Grief Through Torpor And Silence’ for example, which blazes through a pristine, fire ‘n’ brimstone death metal assault, before an acoustic interlude, sublime lead break and explosive clean vocal refrain seals the deal, or closer ‘Only Loss’ which pairs the band at their most brutally succinct with yet another arena ready chorus hook. Hell, album centerpiece ‘Called Home’ even sounds scarily akin to ‘Ghost Reveries’-era Opeth at their tuneful best.
Fret not however, this is still thoroughly uncompromising stuff. ‘Into Embers’ is all melo-death hammer blows and star-gazing bravado, ‘Saturnine’ at points sounds more the work of muso-robots than mere humans - with a guitar solo that will send even the most veteran of shredders fleeing for the woodshed - and ‘The Dopamine Void Pt II’ is a superhuman, high-speed eruption as audacious and precise as Allegaeon have ever been. In truth, ‘Damnum’ is just another formidable display of superiority, and a timely illustration of this band's merciless, futuristic power, slamming home the creative and technical brilliance that they have long since made their bread and butter.
8/10
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