Allegaeon – The Ossuary Lens Review

By Maddog

Allegaeon’s six albums have received tumultuous marks in these halls. After their fantastic 2010 debut Fragments of Form and Function broke the score counter, Allegaeon sank as low as a 2.0 for 2016’s Proponent for Sentience in the eyes of then-tadpole GardensTale. While their latest outing recovered to a more respectable score, Allegaeon’s techy brand of melodeath has polarized socialites and critics alike. The band excelled with their riffier onslaughts and soaring melodies, but fell for the forbidden fruit of proggy excess. The Ossuary Lens showcases a leaner, meaner Allegaeon. I won’t be listening to it in a decade, but it’s a worthy soundtrack for today.

Allegaeon have trimmed their bloat but not their ambitions. For the uninitiated, Allegaeon’s brand of death metal resembles a noodlier Arsis, with its melodicism matched only by its technicality. That said, Allegaeonites will recall that these Coloradans would rather cover Yes or Rush than classic death metal. Allegaeon’s career has sometimes descended into a vulgar display of prog, combining protracted tracks with a penchant for flamenco breaks. These proggy elements live on, as Allegaeon gallops from punchy riffs to melodic leads to clean jams and back again. However, The Ossuary Lens displays newfound restraint. At 45 minutes, this is the band’s shortest album by a full eight minutes. Allegaeon’s escapades no longer leave a salty aftertaste, and the band’s forays into other genres no longer feel like pleas for a yardstick. The Ossuary Lens preserves its identity without getting lost in its own reflection.

Accordingly, The Ossuary Lens hits across both its bigly riffs and its creative tangents. The album’s fierier cuts are a refreshing return to form, with “The Swarm” reviving Elements of the Infinite’s infectious riffcraft. As hoped, these sections still ooze technicality, as guitarists Greg Burgess and Michael Stancel dominate their fretboards even in their most explosive moments. Meanwhile, Allegaeon’s genre-bending experiments feel creative but not overwrought. Most notably, “Dark Matter Dynamics” pulls a First Fragment stunt of seamlessly transitioning between jubilant strumming (courtesy of Adrian Bellue) and formidable death metal melodies. Indeed, The Ossuary Lens hits hardest when these forces unite. For instance, “Carried by Delusion” voyages from serene melodies to Revocation worship to blackened tremolos to upbeat bass and guitar solos to downcast crunchy riffs, eviscerating both my heartstrings and my neck. The Ossuary Lens’ moderation goes a long way. Rather than clobbering the listener with decades-long Spanish guitar jams, The Ossuary Lens presents its creative side through measured four-minute tracks. Tech, prog, melody, and home sweet death metal unite into a potent concoction.

While each piece of The Ossuary Lens is impressive in isolation, the album sometimes loses my interest. One reason is its lack of climactic moments. During tracks like “Scythe” and “Wake Circling Above,” I zoned out and had to abuse the rewind button, because there weren’t enough valleys, buildups, and peaks to keep me engaged. Another reason is sequencing; while the five middle tracks from “Driftwood” through “Dark Matter Dynamics” shine, the bookends fall short. The most predictable reason is production. Despite aiming for creativity and dynamism in their songwriting, Allegaeon continues to brickwall their albums into tepid gruel. As a result, The Ossuary Lens often loses my focus despite its seemingly manageable length. Conversely, the album’s highlights show how it’s done. Most strikingly, “Driftwood” has colonized my brain with a soulful mix of melodeath and metalcore that recalls Venom Prison. With highs this high, it’s a shame that The Ossuary Lens often slips into uniformity.

Allegaeon is a relatively new band, but they inspire nostalgia. I vividly recall pimply nights with the addictive Fragments of Form and Function. I still think that “Accelerated Evolution” and “Genocide for Praise” are two of the greatest album closers of this millennium. And the iconic 2014 music video for “1.618” sealed Allegaeon’s place in my heart forever. Measured against Allegaeon’s first three albums, The Ossuary Lens falls short, hampered by its dearth of standout moments. Still, it isn’t a stinker. It still bangs; it still shreds; it still progs. Warts and all, it earns its keep.

Rating: Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: allegaeon.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Allegaeon
Releases Worldwide: April 4th, 2025

Iceberg

Allegaeon are something of a known quantity around here, having been nodded at by Steel, eviscerated by GardensTale, and patched up by Cherd. The Colorado crew helmed by guitarist Greg Burgess have amassed a legion of rabid followers (who are sure to raise a ruckus in the comment section) for their signature style of Gothenburg-meets-tech-death. I’ll admit to being a fan of 2016’s Proponent for Sentience, one of the first reviews I read on this site, but got lost amidst the dense material of Apoptosis and frankly didn’t even give Damnum a shot. Allegaeon’s latest LP, The Ossuary Lens, sees the return of original vocalist Ezra Haynes and a much-welcomed stripped-down runtime, two intriguing changes in my book. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been excited about an Allegaeon release, can The Ossuary Lens be the record to change that?

Allegaeon’s style of melo-tech-death needs little introduction here, but for those of you who haven’t been following the past decade’s worth of drama, I’ll provide the CliffsNotes. Sweeping, scalar guitar riffs courtesy of Burgess and Michael Stancel form the backbone of most tracks, and the dual guitars make for an indulgent offering of solos (“Driftwood,” “Wake Circling Above”). The drums here, while dripping with modern production sheen, are compelling and energetic without being overly technical, a sincere compliment for Jeff Saltzman. Allegaeon have never strayed from highlighting their bass players, and standout moments in “Chaos Theory” and “Carried by Delusion” show Brandon Michael has as much a command of melody as he does of relentless, galloping rhythms. Ezra Haynes, of Elements of the Infinite fame, comes roaring back to life on The Ossuary Lens, employing a gritty death roar alongside commendable clean vocals on “Driftwood” and “Wake Circling Above.” The performances on The Ossuary Lens are everything one would come to expect from a band nearly two decades into their career, and make for a wholly engaging listening experience.

Allegaeon albums tend to have similar issues holding them back, and the band have largely addressed them on The Ossuary Lens. First and foremost is the 45-minute runtime, a nearly 25% reduction in music from their last three records. The renewed focus on editing shines, with tracks that hit fast and get out of the way while still managing to be memorable (“The Swarm,” “Imperial”). This represents the first major improvement in The Ossuary Lens; Allegaeon have not only figured out that less is more, but they’ve also magnified the parts that work. Sing-along melodeath choruses lurk throughout the album (“Driftwood,” “Dies Irae”) but none so impactful as penultimate track “Wake Circling Above.” Clearly the best Insomnium track released this year, Allegaeon’s ode to all things Gothenburg is a monumental testament to what this band can do when they stop doing so much and let the music dictate the song’s course.

The hits don’t stop there. The Ossuary Lens takes a while to really get moving, with the first three tracks treading familiar territory. But then comes “Dies Irae,” a barnburner that incorporates the three-note musical motif for the Dies Irae text of the Requiem Mass, a nice music nerd Easter Egg that only enhances the ripping triplet-infused breakdown sitting in the song’s center. And Burgess’ requisite flamenco guitar, something sorely overused in Proponent for Sentience, is here condensed into the driving groove of “Dark Matter Dynamics,” a powerfully infectious rhythm ripped straight from a Rodrigo y Gabriela record, or the breath-before-the-plunge moments of the darkly harrowing “Carried by Delusion.” Whereas previous Allegaeon records were dense, academic affairs that required shoveling through noise and notes to discern, The Ossuary Lens presents a barebones masterclass on Allegaeon’s modus operandi.

This isn’t to say that The Ossuary Lens is infallible. Early tracks “Chaos Theory” and “Driftwood” are technically proficient, but fail to reach the emotional highs of the rest of their brethren. Final track “Scythe,” while holding some excellent verse grooves, feels underbaked after the astonishing “Wake Circling Above,” and its cropped ending leaves the album on more of a question mark than a statement. And there’s the lingering issue of the DR5 master and production, which, while not as obscene as earlier records, is still crushed and fatiguing. But overall, The Ossuary Lens represents a massively successful repositioning for the Coloradoans, making it one of my favorite spins of the year for its precision, refinement, and memorability. If Allegaeon continue on this trajectory, we may see their best work yet just over the horizon.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

#2025 #30 #35 #Allegaeon #AmericanMetal #Apr25 #Arsis #DeathMetal #FirstFragment #Insomnium #Melodeath #MelodicDeathMetal #MetalBlade #MetalBladeRecords #ProgressiveDeath #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveTechnicalDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #Revocation #RodrigoYGabriela #Rush #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheOssuaryLens #VenomPrison #Yes

Burning Palace – Elegy Review

By Thus Spoke

I’m sure most people reading have experienced that exchange where a friend, colleague, or family member, having caught wind of one’s enjoyment of heavy music asks incredulously, “how do you listen to that?!” It’s an interesting insight into the strange phenomenon of artistic taste,1 how a complex and disharmonic combination of notes and time signatures can be “just noise” to one pair of ears and a thrilling musical experience to another. It therefore amuses me that I can sit here and talk about Burning Palace, who craft progressive, technical, dissonant death metal that’s brutal, loud and restlessly dynamic. But, who pitch it perfectly in that golden zone of melodicism and lethality. Because—as is no surprise to us here, but likely baffles outside observers—there is a great deal of nuance between ineffectual disorganization and potent convolution.

Elegy falls into that specifically American brand of techy, dissonant death metal whose brutality is more corollary than intention. That which is thoughtful, and unexplainably “happy”-sounding despite its surface-level hostility. Jaunty, acerbic, riffs, imagined by an Artificial Brain, clamber to the fore out of formations where the same guitar lines melt into an indistinct yet driving ebb and flow. Sunless, paradoxically major scales spring up out of dissonance and the Afterbirth of inter-assault meandering, to which the occasional lapses into resonant, mournful melodies create gorgeous contrasts. But Burning Palace aren’t copycats, and Elegy actually demonstrates a transition from the grindier brutal death metal of Hollow into this more precise—but absolutely no less heavy—interpretation. As an example of technical sophistication meeting simple enjoyability, the record stands as perfect proof of the aesthetic value of supposedly impenetrable music.

What strikes particularly strongly about Elegy is the expertly deft way Burning Palace poised violence, intricacy, and beauty to craft it. Though occupying a category that in many senses eschews the adjective “catchy,” it has led to some frustration in my time with it, due to the fact that I’m unable to adequately sing, hum, or otherwise externalize its songs that have lodged themselves in my brain, thanks to their emphasis on riffs and time signatures that my unschooled vocal chords cannot copy. Ludicrous and ludicrously fun scale ascents, tempo switches, and rhythmic interplays abound (“Traversing the Black Arc,” “Awakening Extinction (Eternal Eclipse),” and clever dynamism and selective ambience make certain riffs stand out dramatically (“Birthing Uncertainty,” “Sunken Veil”). Burning Palace take the broadly progressive approach to songwriting via tangents and explorations of themes, but always reprise the key elements of those themes through escalation (“Traversing the Black Arc”), or evolution (“Birthing Uncertainty”), or just a snappy, definitive conclusion (“Awakening Extinction…”). Melody is, importantly, never actually absent, and the genuine beauty of the explicit refrains that slink in as a lone guitar takes centre-stage (“Malignant Dogma,” “Suspended in Emptiness,” “Sunken Veil”) are just the pinnacle of the shifting interplay that undergirds them, arising naturally and not as mere contrast to some ugly, dissonant mass.

There is nothing specifically within Elegy that one could single out as lesser in quality; the record is remarkably consistent, and if anything, Burning Palace save some of the best for its latter end (“Sunken Veil” is probably my personal favorite, and it comes second-to-last). There is a vague sensation that tracks share a little too much in common, but I’ve found that the more time spent in their company, the more personality each of them shows. But even if they do tend to melt a little into the realm of indistinguishability, the quality is invariably high, so I, for one, don’t really care—what does it matter, when you’ll be spinning it repeatedly in full anyway? That inkling of indistinctness runs the opposite direction and speaks somewhat to Elegy’s flow, as many songs pick up a similar riff or percussive pattern to that which closed their predecessor (“Malignant Dogma”).

Burning Palace might not be the average person’s idea of a great musical time, but it’s mine, and likely many of yours too. Elegy demonstrates the breadth of dissonance and complexity in extreme metal in its thoughtful yet exuberant form. Not cerebral, but clever, and never neglecting to dazzle with superb musicianship as worthy of the adjective “gnarly” as “technical.” Burning Palace have made subtly complex and repeatedly rewarding compositions, full of energy and ardor, and that you actually want to listen to, not just because you feel smart doing so. Those who can’t appreciate the style truly are missing out.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: wav
Label: Total Dissonance Worship
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 14th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Afterbirth #AmericanMetal #ArtificialBrain #BurningPalace #DeathMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Elegy #Mar25 #ProgressiveTechnicalDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #Sunless #TechnicalDeathMetal #TotalDissonanceWorship

Pathogenic – Crowned in Corpses Review

By Tyme

Lowell, Massachusetts, is the hometown of boxer Mickey Ward, the subject of the excellent 2010 film The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg, and it’s also the birthplace of progressive death metal quintet Pathogenic. Formed in 2004 and since relocated to The Hub,1 Pathogenic has been slugging it out in the progressive-tech, deathcore scene for nearly 20 years. With only two independently released full-lengths under their belt during this span (2011’s Cyclopean Imagery and 2019’s Pathogenic), these guys seem content to spend a lot of time training between bouts of expression. Now six years removed from their eponymous sophomore album and sporting a new, mutated logo and re-vamped lineup, Pathogenic has signed on with Skepsis Records to once again step in the ring with third album, Crowned in Corpses. Will all the roadwork and sparring pay off and see them move up a class or two, or will they remain middleweights forever?

Crowned in Corpses is by far the heaviest album that Pathogenic has recorded. Since reuniting with original vocalist Jake Burns and adding new drummer Tyler Montaquila in 2022, Pathogenic has shed much of its former progressive frivolity in exchange for brute force. With its Demanufactured riffery, the opening track, “Mass Grave Memory,” is a primary example, opting to strike Fear Factory into the hearts of men rather than broaden their Bring Me the Horizons. And while the roots of this new direction remain planted in deathcore—I don’t find anything Archspirely technical here— there’s way more death at the heart of Crowned in Corpses than there is core. Pathogenic‘s crisp, machine-gun staccato riffs, pinched squeal harmonics, melodic lead and solo work (courtesy of Justin Licht, Chris Gardino and Jake Burns) do draw Thy Art is Murder and The Red Chord comparisons but have replaced the softer jazzuflections predominant on the debut. This new sound may prove somewhat off-putting for fans of Pathogenic‘s earlier material but don’t start that ten count just yet.

Crowned in Corpses makes for a compelling listen by avoiding the more egregious deathcore tropes—primarily piggy vox and incessant beaten-like-a-dead-horse breakdowns—while maintaining flashes of past progressive atmospherics. Mid-album song “Fragments” casts the widest prog net here with its slow, bass-laden melodies, harmonic cleans and swanky solos building to a crescendo of heavy chugs and powerful raspy screams, then fading out in a haze of Stranger Things-worthy synths. With nary a hint of pretension, the song works well here, providing an oasis of respite between the body blows of the beef-heavy “Exiled from the Abyss” and the off-kilter brutality of “Crowned in Corpses.” Add in some effective acoustic work (“Dead But Not at Rest,” “The New Rot”), and Pathogenic has managed to elevate the level of brutality missing from previous releases without abandoning altogether some of the sounds that fans of the band have come to expect. Unfortunately, Pathogenic‘s new sonic direction has swallowed some of those sounds.

Dan Leahy brings a lot of talent to his bass performances, as evidenced on previous outings, but much of his work on Crowned in Corpses gets lost in the mix. Loud as one might expect, the booth work here doesn’t differ, providing little space for the instruments to breathe and, other than the aforementioned “Fragments,” muffling Leahy’s bass. Burns’ vocals, full of satisfying growls and piercing rasps, take center stage alongside the chugging guitars and Montaquila’s skin-beating drum work. Still, this is not entirely bad, as Burns’ return and Montaquila’s addition have upgraded Pathogenic‘s total package. Crowned in Corpses gets points for clocking in at just over forty-two minutes, but cutting two or more minutes from closer “Silicone Regime” would have upped the album’s overall lethality.

Like the dark king on the cover, sitting upon his throne of bones and driving steel through the skull of his final enemy, Pathogenic has made a statement with Crowned in Corpses. They have re-emerged a much leaner and meaner fighter, sporting a bag of tricks not previously displayed. I enjoyed getting to know Pathogenic, and listening to their back catalog has me rooting for Crowned in Corpses all the more for what it does and doesn’t do. Is it still deathcore? Yes. Would it be “wicked smaht” of you to give it a listen? Yes. If Pathogenic can clean up some minor issues holding them back, I could see a title shot in their future.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Skepsis Records
Websites: pathogenic.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/pathogenicmetal
Releases Worldwide: February 7, 2025

#2025 #30 #AmericanMetal #CrownedInCorpses #DeathMetal #Deathcore #FearFactory #Feb25 #Pathogenic #ProgressiveTechnicalDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #SkepsisRecords #TheRedChord #ThyArtIsMurder

Some light #ProgressiveTechnicalDeathMetal listening for @DXMacGuffin's post-siesta #ProgTuesday:

The Ritual Aura: In the Warmth of Its Glow We Thrived

https://song.link/YFE-The_Ritual_Area-In_the_Wa

FULL FORCE FRIDAY:🆕January 27th Release #48🎧

UNALIGNED - Inner Dimensions🇺🇸🔥*CD Release

6 Track EP from Florida, U.S Progressive/Technical Death Metal outfit🔥

BC➡️https://unalignedofficial.bandcamp.com/album/inner-dimensions 🔥

@csquaredmm2@twitter.com #UnalignedOfficial #ProgressiveTechnicalDeathMetal #FFFJan27 #KMäN