Spawn of Possession's "Noctambulant" is a very rare and special death metal release, to say the least. After their first release "Cabinet", I was skeptical about this. Cabinet was technical but somewhat dull death metal, which didn't impress me at all. But Spawn of Possession kicked my elitist beliefs into the dirt with this rare gem of death metal. [1]
The production here is a notch above Cabinet, but not quite as good as Incurso. The guitar tone has been made more acceptable (not so thin sounding) but it doesn't have the punch and fullness of Incurso. The sound of the band becomes more refined at this point; not indicative of what Incurso would be, but slowly making every riff count for something, and contribute to the over all picture. This is probably the most straightforward of their releases, Sour Flow is actually not very crazy by this band's standards, and uncharacteristically mid-paced throughout. Dead and Grotesque is fairly technical, but stylistically reminds me more of Cannibal Corpse than this band's signature style. [2]
There are very very few dull tracks on this album, the tracks "Sour Flow" and "Solemn They Wait". Other than that, every other is packed with skill, technicality, and originality.The tracks that really stand out to me are "In My Own Greed", "Lash By Lash", "Render My Prey", and "Scorched". The last mentioned song is a spectacle of death metal, it starts with a ambient intro with the sound of fire, then a baroque style harpsichord sounding neoclassical keyboarding, then the insane blasting. Most likely the most brutal track on the album, the vocals are done very fast to keep pace with the face pounding riffs and drumming. The album finishes itself off with a very satisfying ending. [1]
This band embodies technical death metal. Rapid-fire growls, absurdly complex, ridiculously fast and ever-changing guitar parts, bass that is treated like a separate instrument; not an extension of the guitar, and drum parts that will give a veteran drummer a headache. [2]
Tracks
01. Inception
02. Lash by Lash
03. Solemn They Await
04. Render My Prey
05. Eve of Contempt
06. Sour Flow
07. By A Thousand Deaths Fulfilled
08. Dead & Grotesque
09. In My Own Greed
10. Scorched
Reference [1] [2]
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