Released by: Season of Mist
Production: Hannes Grossmann, Alan Douches
Release date: May 2018
Album length: 64:37
The “supergroup” Alkaloid is back with a new record after three years. With their second album, this band of seasoned, highly trained musicians had a pretty tough job on their hands. Topping an album that’s excellent in every way is almost impossible. The band, made up of musicians from Obscura, Necrophagist, Dark Fortress and others, pushed the boundaries with their debut The Malkuth Grimoire (2015) and gave extreme progressive metal a whole new dimension.
You could hear traits of both technical and progressive death metal, mixed in with the odd other subgenre. The band packaged it all up beautifully and delivered a record where the surprises just kept coming. The point of the second one was to offer something new while still staying afloat, and with a lot of bands that start out too ambitiously, the room for innovation simply runs out. With Alkaloid, the story is a little different.
Liquid Anatomy packs in eight new tracks. Right from the opener Kernel Panic, you can feel that the quintet has taken a different approach. The combination is definitely unusual, and bold too. With its guitars and vocals, it recalls the progressive rock of the eighties, the kind played by Yes, Genesis and Rush. Then it all shifts into a brutal racket with low-tuned guitars, rapid-fire double kicks and deep vocals. Quite the contrast and twist, definitely not something you’d expect. But the song works. The melodic vocals aren’t distracting, the whole thing is easy to listen to, and at the same time it’s clear that Alkaloid look at things progressively.
Then comes another twist with the next track, As Decreed By Laws Unwritten. The eight-minute song is technical and dark. The music itself recalls the mighty Morbid Angel, only with Alkaloid there’s more virtuosity and rhythmic chops. You could call it an upgrade after a calm section is introduced, or maybe even a tribute. Alkaloid show off their variety and unpredictability with Azagthoth, a rhythmically complex and dark track that’s clearly a nod to the horror writer Lovecraft. Bassist Linus Klausenitzer really shines here with his lines, while Morean also takes on melodic vocals, which combined with the growling tie the song together.
After all that chaos, it’s time for the title track, which starts off more like a ballad. Melodic vocals dominate and the guitars are more melodic in color. It all feels less demanding, but if nothing else, the title track is one more example of the variety on the album. The next song, In Turmoil’s Swirling Reaches, offers more cunning, turning its calm opening into brutality and plenty of soloing. Even bassist Klausenitzer and drummer Hannes Grossmann get solo spots. Above all, it’s the combination of Morean’s vocals with all that soloing that makes the song feel complete.
With Interstellar Boredom, Alkaloid return to the Dyson concept they started on the debut. The track builds slowly, peaking in a brutal section where drummer Hannes Grossmann serves up loads of fast double kicks and blast beats too. But that’s merely the warm-up. Chaos Theory And Practice has all the traits that make Alkaloid unique: brutality, chaos and unpredictability. It’s all packed into one track that, over more than eight minutes, shows what exceptional songwriters Alkaloid are. With occasional calm passages, Alkaloid explode into chaos that even touches on black metal tricks. With Grossmann’s blast beats and fast guitars, it’s the most intense stretch of the whole album, but there’s definitely no drawing the line under this record just yet.
Across seven tracks, Alkaloid live up to almost every expectation. But they saved the best for last. I’m talking about Rise of the Cephalopods, which at almost twenty minutes long doesn’t let the listener catch their breath. A complex track made up of six parts, it builds slowly but with real purpose. It’s more than obvious here that Morean is the kind of guy who will put a song together with care, since he’s also got the most composition know-how. The track starts off slowly, but after a few minutes of building up, the band plays all its aces. Morean, with hypnotic vocals and a catchy chorus, makes sure the song doesn’t bore for a second. The guitars gradually shift into technical death metal, and the soloing from the Tunker/Muenzner duo just doesn’t end. The Klausenitzer/Grossman rhythm section keeps pace as well. Grossman proves yet again that he’s one of the hottest death metal drummers around right now.
There’s nothing to complain about on the production side either. It’s played with a full measure of perfectionism. The instruments sound crystal clear, and despite the modern sheen, the sound stays dark enough to suit the band’s gloomy nature.
Alkaloid don’t disappoint the second time around, either. Liquid Anatomy was crafted by exceptionally skilled and seasoned musicians who could soon be leading the pack in the extreme metal scene if they keep heading in this direction. No matter the current state of things, with technical and progressive bands crawling out of the woodwork, Alkaloid are definitely one of the more standout acts.
9,5/10
Musicians:
Morean – vocals, guitar
Hannes Grossmann – drums
Christian Münzner – guitar
Linus Klausenitzer – bass
Danny Tunker – guitar
Tracks:
- Kernel Panic (5:41)
- As Decreed by Laws Unwritten (8:09)
- Azagthoth (5:39)
- Liquid Anatomy (5:13)
- In Turmoil’s Swirling Reaches (6:38)
- Interstellar Boredom (5:05)
- Chaos Theory and Practice (8:31)
- Rise of the Cephalopods (19:41)
