Reciprocal - New Order Of The Ages
Reciprocal is a technical death metal band from Hollywood, California and "New Order Of The Ages" is their second album after the debut CD "Reciprocal" from 2013. Reciprocal's line-up includes the extraordinary bass player Jeff Hughell who has been part of groups like Brain Drill and Rings Of Saturn and is now holding the bass duty in none other but Chris Barnes' Six Feet Under. What this guy can do with his instrument is impressive but same can be said about the other musicians: Andy McLeod on guitar and Dustin Perle on drums. Jacob Enfinger is the guy behind the mike and his voice reminds me of Carcass' Jeff Walker with some deeper deathcore throaty growls here and there.
Speaking of deathcore, this particlar genre has a strong influence upon Reciprocal music. The guys mix technical death metal with some occasional breakdowns and elements taken from Meshuggah's unique way of playing. Influence from Cynic is felt in 'Oblivion' where the aggressive music is mixed with slight atmospheric passages. The opening track 'New American Agency' offers a whirlwind of technical playing with lots of tempo changes and complex guitars/bass patterns. The sound of the Gothenburg melodic Swedish death metal school is present on tracks like 'Esoteric Agenda' and the closing instrumental 'RIP (Memento Mori)'. Having in mind that Reciprocal are technical death band, a respect is paid to the masters like Gorguts and Cryptopsy which may be heard on 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent' although this band's music doesn't have such explosive power like the one of the Canadian colleagues. In terms of lyrical content the main subject are the conspiracy theories, the illuminati and the new world order. Unfortunately in the case of Reciprocal this means lots of long intros and outros which honestly said don't do good for the atmosphere of this album. Add to that the long duration of the songs (four out of eleven tracks are beyond the seven minute mark) and the problem of "New Order Of The Ages" becomes clear - not everything on this album is memorable and the attention of the listener may get lost in the complexity of the music. This ain't an easy listening album and it will take several spins in order to reveal all secrets of this record.
If you're into technical death metal stuff then Reciprocal might be a good choice for your collection. This CD has lots of instrumental mastery in it so every fan of this type of extreme music should be satisfied.
Speaking of deathcore, this particlar genre has a strong influence upon Reciprocal music. The guys mix technical death metal with some occasional breakdowns and elements taken from Meshuggah's unique way of playing. Influence from Cynic is felt in 'Oblivion' where the aggressive music is mixed with slight atmospheric passages. The opening track 'New American Agency' offers a whirlwind of technical playing with lots of tempo changes and complex guitars/bass patterns. The sound of the Gothenburg melodic Swedish death metal school is present on tracks like 'Esoteric Agenda' and the closing instrumental 'RIP (Memento Mori)'. Having in mind that Reciprocal are technical death band, a respect is paid to the masters like Gorguts and Cryptopsy which may be heard on 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent' although this band's music doesn't have such explosive power like the one of the Canadian colleagues. In terms of lyrical content the main subject are the conspiracy theories, the illuminati and the new world order. Unfortunately in the case of Reciprocal this means lots of long intros and outros which honestly said don't do good for the atmosphere of this album. Add to that the long duration of the songs (four out of eleven tracks are beyond the seven minute mark) and the problem of "New Order Of The Ages" becomes clear - not everything on this album is memorable and the attention of the listener may get lost in the complexity of the music. This ain't an easy listening album and it will take several spins in order to reveal all secrets of this record.
If you're into technical death metal stuff then Reciprocal might be a good choice for your collection. This CD has lots of instrumental mastery in it so every fan of this type of extreme music should be satisfied.
- New American Century
- Esoteric Agenda
- Profit Before Protocol
- Guilty Until Proven Innocent
- Illuminati
- New Order Of The Ages
- Saintan
- Mystery,Babilon The Great, Mother Of All Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth
- Tyrannicide
- Oblivion
- Rip (Memento Mori)
