adg211288 Symbiosis is the debut full-length album to be released by US death metal act Abiotic. The album was released in 2012 through Metal Blade Records following the 2011 independent EP A Universal Plague. All of the songs from the prior release, which was quite substantial for an EP, also appear here. The album features a guest appearance by Wretched guitarist John Vail, who plays a solo on Hegira.

Symbiosis is one of those difficult albums for me in that it contains some elements I want to do nothing but praise, but also some which I feel harm the overall listening experience, as well as some elements that I could take or leave with a band like Abiotic. I’m going to start with the positive side of things, which is the band’s musicianship, which is stunning across the whole album. Symbiosis features a primarily technical death metal based sound musically, with many moments which push closer to progressive death metal territory. They’re not afraid to throw in the odd clean tone section within the music as little breaks in their otherwise intense onslaught. Additionally there is a regular use of deathcore styled breakdowns, which is the element I could take or leave. I’m not exactly a fan of the style but I don’t mind its influence creeping into albums even in such a majorly way on Symbiosis so long as its tasteful and not out of place, which Symbiosis succeeds at on both counts. I especially like the way the bass can play a prominent role within the sound. It’s clear to me after just my first spin of the album that Abiotic are talented, well-playing musicians.

That’s the good side of the album. Unfortunately it has its bad side. Mostly it is the vocalist Ray Jimenez. His is a varied growl ranging from high to low screams as well as pig squeals but there’s just something about his performance here that spoils the whole album for me. His growl no matter how he delivers it is one of those that is incomprehensible from start to finish and while the aggressive in your face approach may work for some listeners, I find it to be distracting me from the praiseworthy features that Symbiosis has in aplenty. There’s hell of a lot going on in the music here so while I do still want vocals in a band like this I want them to complement what is going on behind them, and I can’t honestly say I think that’s happening here, not even in a single song on the album. I can’t help feeling at the end of the day that despite Abiotic’s obvious skill Symbiosis as an album lacks the substance that will make me go back to it once I’m done with this review.

The production work on the album is the second, lesser, issue at hand. While not totally raw sounding I wouldn’t call it exactly polished either and while that sort of sound may work for a much less technical/progressive act, I find it only adds to the hindrance of my enjoyment that the vocals started. I want to hear what’s going on in the album and I just have this feeling throughout that the band did everything in their power to make the listener focus on the vocals. It’s a bad move in my view, since with someone perhaps a little more restrained up front Symbiosis could have ended up one of the death metal highlights of 2012.

I’m still left feeling mostly positive about Abiotic’s debut, but do feel that the band has a lot of work to do to get up there with the best of the best. Because the band’s musicianship is so high I’m happy to award with a lower end positive rating, but ultimately I was disappointed with this one.

64/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/abiotic-symbiosis-t2799.html))

Time Signature Facade...

Genre: tech deathcore

Tech death metal has come a long way since the time of the original Atheist, Cynic, Death, and Pestilence classics, but the spirit of these legendary acts live on in most present-day tech death. One such example is Abiotic's Symbiosis which features the type of dynamic bass patterns that especially Atheist and Cynic were known for.

But the level of technicality is taken to the nth degree on Abiotic's album, which features some technically really impressive stuff. The songs are constantly moving, one riff taking over from the other with several bursts of guitar-wankery intertwined with the occasional jazz fusion passage. Drawing a lot on deathcore, Abiotic also make use of crushing grooves and breakdowns – some of which are more innovative than others.

There definitely are a lot of attractive points on this album, but it never manages to capture me completely. One reason is the hysterical vocals, which consist of guttural growls, high-pitched screams and pig squeals. All three types of vocal styles are, of course, common in extreme metal these days, but the way they are delivered on this album, unfortunately, annoys me endlessly and disturbs my listening experience.

In any case, fans of hyper technical death metal and deathcore are likely to enjoy this album more than I did, so they should check Symbiosis out for themselves.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

J-Man After only releasing one EP in 2011, Floridian technical death metal outfit Abiotic got picked up by the prestigious Metal Blade records to release this debut full-length album. A tremendous success story that any up-and-coming metal group dreams of, Abiotic had either a remarkable stroke of luck or something unique to offer for their first observation. Which of the two is it, you might ask? If truth be told, it's a bit of both. Symbiosis is an album with some genuinely fascinating things going on, but it falls flat in a few areas that are crucial to its success. Although Abiotic's debut is promising in many regards, it lacks the memorability to make for a truly stellar release.

At its core, Symbiosis is very modern technical death metal (think something like Spawn of Possession) with touches of deathcore and thrash-oriented grooves. Though there is certainly no shortage of bands playing ultra-technical death metal these days, the band's clever use of Atheist and Cynic inspired progressive ideas makes for an album that's more interesting than it may initially seem. The band blends many different styles of death metal together on Symbiosis , and while I think some of these experiments were more successful than others, it's nice to see a modern tech-death band interested in moving the genre forward, even if it is a rather small step. Abiotic shines most brightly during the short jazzy sections in a few tracks, as well as the more old-school death metal riffage that appears from time to time. Unfortunately, the band feels the need to include dull deathcore breakdowns into most of the songs, and while a few of these are actually pretty well done, many of them sound just plain generic and uninteresting. It's a shame that Abiotic includes so many cookie-cutter deathcore breakdowns and tech death shredfests into their songs, because there is some genuine promise in the music.

The polished sound production is also likely to turn off many listeners, though I think it suits this style of music well. The musicianship is also at a very high level, with drummer Andres Hurtado sounding especially impressive. Lots of impressive fills and whirlwind blastbeats come from his direction! I think that Symbiosis is promising in many regards, but its generic deathcore sections and lack of memorable compositions make it a pretty mixed bag. Fans of technical death metal and deathcore will want to investigate Abiotic's debut for themselves, but more casual fans of the genre can probably pass on this one.