ALCHEMIST — Spiritech (review)

ALCHEMIST — Spiritech album cover Album · 1997 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Spiritech" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Australian extreme metal act Alchemist. The album was released through Thrust/Shock Records in June 1997. The band released a promotional music video for the track "Road to Ubar". "Spiritech" is generally a critically acclaimed release...

...and it´s obvious why that is, when listening to the album. Both "Jar of Kingdom (1993)" and especially "Lunasphere (1995)" were promising album releases, but Alchemist takes their music to a whole new level on "Spiritech". Stylistically the music is quite the eclectic mix of musical styles like death/thrash metal, progressive/psychadelic rock and middle eastern influences. There are even a few nods toward Australian aboriginal music on the album. It´s a metalized version of Killing Joke I´m mostly thinking about when listening to "Spiritech" though, which should not be perceived as a criticism of the band´s writing style, but just a way to explain how the music sounds. There is generally a bleak atmosphere on the album but also a more aggressive edge and there are sections on the album where the band really unleash their anger in a convincing manner.

This is dynamic music and however raw some parts of the music are there is always a mellow section or some other adventurous/psychadelic surprise lurking around the corner. Best examplified in longer tracks like "Chinese Whispers" and "Figments", which bookend the album (and which are both around 10 minutes long), but also in the more regular length tracks. The tracks are generally intriguing but not overtly complex in structure.

The musicianship is on a high level. The two guitars seldom play the same notes. Instead they compliment each other which provides the music with great depth and richness in detail. The strong and adventurous rhythm section is also a great asset to the band´s sound. The vocals by Adam Agius (vocals, guitar, keyboards) are raw and delivered with passion and conviction. The musicianship was also great on the two predecessors, but the sound productions on those two albums let them down. Thankfully that´s not the case with "Spiritech", which features a professional and powerful sound production. All in all it´s actually quite a great release and it´s like Alchemist really came into their own on this album. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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