ALLEGAEON — Damnum (review)

Album · 2022 · Technical Death Metal

4/5 · 2022-03-06
siLLy puPPy

Over the past ten years Denver’s ALLEGAEON has become one of Colorado’s biggest names to emerge in the vast expansive world of extreme metal with its acute tech death metal chops enshrouded in shards of neoclassical spender along with extreme competency of instrumental interplay and a propensity for surprise. Fourteen years after the band’s formation, its sixth album DAMNUM finds the light of day after a rough three years since its previous effort “Apoptosis.” There has been a change of duties on the percussive side of the equation with newbie Jeff Saltzman replacing Brandon Park.

DAMNUM which means “loss” in Latin was chosen to mourn the loss of two friends to suicide. Both vocalist Riley McShane and founding member and guitarist Greg Burgess decided to express their grief through the lyrics on the record but of course this is extreme metal and the unintelligible lyrical deliveries will most likely need to be supplemented by the written accompaniments. ALLEGAEON continues to expand its classic tech death demeanor by adding more dynamics which includes in addition to the technical extreme rampages, moments of sensual Spanish guitar, post-metal excursions and the greater use of clean vocal styles including harmonic tidbits.

Over the course of its six album run ALLEGAEON has become a tech death powerhouse by continually adding layers of complexity to its approach. While starting off as somewhat of a generic representation of the tech death universe, from “Formshifter” to “Apoptosis” ALLEGAEON has pushed its own boundaries to become more eclectic. In many ways this band seems to have followed in the footsteps of the German band Obscura with its tightrope act between the distinct worlds of death metal, neoclassical metal and often flirting with progressive rock. Such is the case with DAMNUM which accentuates these traits even further.

In addition to the chunky guitar riffs that slink around at breakneck speed as well as the expected bass and drum rhythmic drive, ALLEGAEON has included many acoustic Spanish guitar sections and softer atmospheric moments that sound more like the airy fairy world of Riverside than anything in the ALLEGAEON playbook. Roughly speaking the band sticks to its now famous tech death fury but tracks like “Called Home” will make you wonder if they slipped another band’s song onto the album with a generic but competent Riverside style of clean vocal singing and a slower death doom chugging. The band is clearly breaking free from the limitations of a tech death metal band running on pure adrenaline mode but the softer passages point to a clear attempt to become a bit more commercial and it’s in these moments that leave me cold. The alt metal parts remind of Tool a bit.

“Blight” is another standout for its uncanny shapeshifting from the tech death crunch-o-thon to a surprise cameo of a piano roll which works effectively well. McShane’s vocal style often sounds like his guttural rapping of some sort which makes his vocal phrasing a bit different from the legions of tech deathers out there. Saltzman’s drum rolls likewise are more diverse than the continuous assault of blastbeats and jazz fueled machine gun blitzkriegs. A few tracks like “The Dopamine Void, Pt I” for example are a bit too cheesy for my tastes and the reason Riverside rubs me the wrong way with cheesy earnest clean vocal deliveries with an orchestration that deemphasizes the metal. The “Pt II” delivers the tech metal goods but the opening sequence leaves a nauseating taste in my mouth.

As for the tech death parts, ALLEGAEON does sound a bit like a one trick pony often with a heap of metalcore seeping into the death metal thus giving it a brackish sound which is neither good nor bad but distinct. Personally i’ve never found ALLEGAEON to be a top dog in my extreme metal reality but i can’t deny that they consistently deliver an excellent supply of adrenaline charged extreme metal that continues to find new ways of keeping its fanbase on its toes. While the slower clean vocal segments aren’t the bands forte, they don’t dissuade overly from the overall flow of the album either. All in all ALLEGAEON entered the next decade of the 21st century in fine form and with the slight crossover tendencies will surely continue to sally forth into the tech death battlefield like pros.