SECTU — Inundate (review)

Album · 2011 · Technical Death Metal

4/5 · 2011-09-18
Diogenes

Technical death metal isn’t a genre I’m normally big on. To me, the majority of the bands focus more on the technical part than the death, electing to noodle around for 50 minutes instead of really dishing out the aggression that the genre was founded on. This is what makes Sectu’s debut album Inundate such an impressive listen; finally, a band that can play with the dizzying technicality that’s become expected of Swedish death metal, while showing some restraint and actually writing songs too! Hallelujah!

While Inundate is loosely based on your typical technical death metal styles, there’s plenty of room for everything to breathe, so much that you might not even consider this technical death metal at all. Make no mistake about it; these guys can obviously play (they’re Swedes, duh), but there’s a considerable amount of groove and, more importantly, melody in this music. In a way, you could say this is a best-of-both-worlds scenario; Sectu take the same approach as your Obscuras or Neuraxises (Neuraxes?), but wear the influences of fellow kinsmen such as Grave on their sleeves all the same.

What I’m trying to say is that there are plenty of awesome riffs here-yes, RIFFS! Not dual-guitar wanking. Tracks such as Incantation of the Lost Continent and Dream Vessel demonstrate the band’s riffing ability as well as any, while maintaining that small aspect of technicality with a few seconds of shredding here and there. The key to this whole thing is moderation; for a debut, Sectu strike a surprising balance in their influences, showing a level of maturity that I don’t see in a lot of modern death metal bands.

Obviously, guitarists Angel Dominguez and Stefan Lundgren are at the front of this death metal assault, but I’d like to address how good the drumming of Calle Backstrom is on this album. He can blast, sure, but at the same time shows the versatility needed to mesh with all of the tempo changes. His fills in particular are very good, shifting between each groove and blast pattern seamlessly. Remember that having a good drummer is key to success numero uno, and Sectu sure have a good one in Backstrom.

One of Inundate’s greatest strengths is also its biggest weakness. The song are, for the most part, short; if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s bands playing mindlessly for extended periods of time. This doesn’t happen here, both because Sectu keeps their music interesting and because there isn’t really enough time for wankfests anyway. Since the tracks are short, the band is able to throw in the instrumental Ceremonial March without disrupting the flow of the album, and that’s cool. But as much as I appreciate Sectu staying concise with their music, I’d like the album to be a little longer than 33 minutes, whether that be through longer songs or just more of them. If you have something working for you, keep exploiting it!

One more thing! The production of Inundate is absolutely outstanding. The guitars are thick and dirty, a welcome contrast to the shiny and polished sound that seems to be the hot setup nowadays. Really, this works perfectly with what the band is doing: you can hear everything, but not in a way that takes away from the heaviness of the album.

Yes, it’s true that most of this stuff has already been done before. But really, it’s hard to expect a newer band to come up with things that are 100% original, especially in the repetitive realm of modern death metal. What Sectu lack in originality, they make up for with sheer execution of their ideas, and that’s what makes Inundate one hell of a debut album. Not bad at all!

more than 2 years ago
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adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yeah it's great, just my kind of DM really.

Their next album is slated for a May release by the way. Hoping it's a bit longer than this one.

Diogenes wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It was a great surprise for me for sure. Hard to believe this is only a debut.

Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

There are old school elements on both Sectu and Neuraxis... no worries :-)

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I like technical death metal as long as it´s not too polished, clean and sterile. If there isn´t a hint of old school aestethics in the music it´s usually not something I´ll put on after I´m done writing the review. We all have our poison now don´t we! :-)

Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It's a really good release, mate. I'm sure you'll like it! I can also recommend Neuraxis' "Asylon" which is in the same vein.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Great review. Sounds like something I might be interested in.

Diogenes wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks a bunch Adam, fixed it.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Nice review, I somehow missed this one when you posted it. I totally agree. Your line-up information is slightly off though my friend, Anders Ericson did not play on this one, the second guitarist was Angel Dominguez.