Cryogen - Continuum
Dark Millennium Records
Technical/Progressive Death Metal
12 songs (49)
Release year: 2013
Reviewed by Joel
Surprise of the month

Colorado's Cryogen play an intelligent and technical brand of Death Metal. The songs here are brutal, yet progressive and melodic all at the same time. From the information I gathered on their website, this disc has been a lot of hard work, and time(3 years to be specific) for it to be completed. The short instrumental/intro track Alpha starts with a string arrangement, which builds up steam with drums kicking in, leading into the first face-melter known as Machine. Behind the death growls, and drum's double bass blastbeats we have some very technical guitar riffs. This song sets the stage for what Cryogen will deliver the rest of the disc. The vocalist according to their website is known as “Darkness” stays with the more guttural vocals, versus the sometimes high pitch vocals found in modern death metal. Nucleosynethesis is next, and I challenge you as the listener, to listen for all the hidden guitar and technical parts hidden in the song. This song features several tempo changes, melodies, and the twin guitar solos are well played. Speaking of guitars Greg Burgess, also of Colorado's Allegaeon(who have been reviewed on MetalReviews) is featured here on guitar. Two American bands, that would fit very well in Gothenburg.

Strings, with more solid lead guitar playing introduce, Rama I and Rama II, which are based on the stories of Arthur C. Clarke. While this is definitely Death Metal, the lyrics are definitely decipherable and you can follow what is trying to be said(I.E. Growled!). Contagion and Capgras Delusion feature very heavy groove riffs, and very solid drumming. While the vocals and the aggressiveness of the music is very similar on both songs, you can definitely tell you are listening to two different songs. Moloch features several riffs thrown into a blender, and the vocals here after a few songs, start to remind of Christian Alvestam growls(ex Scar Symmetry, Miseration, Solution .45 on the first two Scar Symmetry discs. Continuum is something you normally would hear on a Progressive Metal or Power Metal disc, not a Death Metal one. Its definitely a song to listen to, I will only give you this hint, its an instrumental. Acoustic guitars enter with Synthetic Access, but only briefly as the extreme returns. The riffing is fierce, especially in the chorus, and the verse riffs are almost machine like in their sound.

My earlier mention of Gothenburg, can really be heard in the beginning of Exit Strategy. Reminds me of earlier At The Gates and In Flames(Whoracle and prior). Last but not least, is a VERY good cover of the Carcass classic Heartwork, from the music to the vocal delivery, this is Cryogen's take on a song that introduced me to Carcass. I was 15 and watching MTV's Headbangers Ball, and had no idea what I had just seen, when Heartwork's video was over. At the time I was mainly listening to things like Metallica, Megadeth and Testament, this introduced a whole new world of metal to me. Thanks to Cryogen, I found a reason to go back and listen to classic over and over again like I did 20 years ago. This a solid Death Metal cd, that is progressive, technical, and brutal all at the same time. IF your a death metal purist, who either hates guitar solos, or anything melodic, this may not be for you. If your open minded, and appreciate quality songwriting, musicianship, and a stepping outside-the-box mentality, you may enjoy what Cryogen has to offer. What surprises me is the band, has had 6 releases prior to this. I hope with this one, they find a bigger market, they do have a sound that is all their own. Check out their website for more information.

Killing Songs :
Honestly ALL!! Including the cover
Joel quoted 85 / 100
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