ALBUM REVIEW: Nemethia – Arkaik
For over a decade California’s own ARKAIK have been blazing a trail in the tech metal scene providing consistently jaw dropping material which shows expert level musicianship and on September 29th they will release their latest instalment of death metal perfection entitled Nemethia via Unique Leader Records.
ARKAIK have become renowned for their unrelenting levels of instrumental mastery and they pick up exactly where they left off as opening track Occultivation hits full throttle form the onset bombarding you with blast beats, mind boggling adept guitar work and complex bass fills all compiled in terrifying unison. Of Violence And Pestilence Born continues the ferocious pace with a maze of riffs and huge beatdowns interwoven in a sea of visceral screams and growls unleashed by frontman Jared Christianson.
As Nemethia progresses you instantly get the impression you aren’t due to receive any room to breathe any time soon and as the nine minute track Order Of Hierogon begins to warm up with an ominous piano segment you are already preparing yourself for the onslaught inevitably about to commence. Shortly after you are entwined in a whirlwind of chaotic guitar work, crazy time signatures which harness such an unpredictability that they become particularly bewildering. Normally in a song this lengthy you would expect different passages/divisions within the song but ARKAIK are quite content in battering your senses in an all out fury for the majority before introducing a brief jazz interlude which is soon proceeded by an insanely intricate guitar solo accompanied by what can only be described as the technical death metal equivalent of the imperial march.
After the utterly perplexing level of musicianship displayed thus far ARKAIK thankfully provide the listener some mercy as Dweller On The Threshold provides a few minutes of contemplation with soothing woodwind instrumentation giving you a moment to gather your thoughts for a short period of time until transitioning into the scathing assault of Futile State which feels like the audible equivalent to being pummelled with a sledgehammer aptly accompanied by voice overs suggesting to “embrace the chaos”.
The Eupnean Relic maintains the wicked bouts of aggression but has a more methodical vibe as opposed to its frenzied predecessors but still harnesses a menacing, bludgeoning tone until Lifting Amnesia exhibits one last minimal respite setting the scene before swiftly proceeding into the albums conclusion Telegnosis which puts its climactic energetic stamp on Nemethia possessing thunderous waves of blast beats and rapid fire vocals.
ARKAIK have proved yet again that they are masters of their craft, conjuring up a peerless display of fearlessly ingenuitive death metal which will leave a lot of listeners lost for words. The only concerning factor is that the concept they have clearly invested a lot of consideration into revolving around main protagonist Cyrix may be somewhat lost as a lot of the listeners time is spent trying to wrap their heads round the sheer barbaric levels of technicality showcased throughout.
Rating: 8/10
Nemethia is set for release on 29th September via Unique Leader Records.
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