Arsis is a technical death metal band from Virginia, United States. The band has been a compelling force lying in the depths of the underground when it comes to high quality face melting music. With an existence of almost two decades, they are one of the most underrated bands in metal out there.
Their latest offering ‘Visitant’, is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the otherwise not so impressive realm of current Tech Death metal. The album is an epitome of actually well thought and written music, instead of riffs and blast beats simply running at lightning speeds.
An ominous atmosphere introduces the album in “Tricking the Gods”. This track also happens to be released in the form of a horror themed music video as the first single from the album. “Hell Sworn” also has a lyric video for itself. These two opening songs set the tone for the album and defines pretty much what to expect.
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Arsis have been able to achieve a very organic sound in this album. There is no compromise on brutality and the face melting aspect, however thanks to the production, it never feels overbearing or overdone – a perfect amalgamation of aggression and melody.
Be it the progressive brilliance of “A Pulse Keeping Time With The Dark” or the in your face “Dead is Better”, there is a great variety the album has to offer. Also, notably appreciations worthy are the seamless transitions and interplay between the melodic and the more technically brutal parts. There is a perfect balance of the old and new school sound in the songs, which should help the album cater well to diverse groups of listeners.
For example a track like “His Eyes” would make you feel that they are going for a 90s heavy metal number, but would seamlessly traverse into a pit of blast beats and almost power-metalish riffage. The influences are immense and the talent is great. It would be extremely sad to see this gem of an album get lost in the ocean of metal music of our times.
Visitant comes out on November 2, 2018 via Nuclear Blast Records. Also make sure to catch them on the “Bloodletting North America XII” tour along with other sick acts such as Decrepit Birth, Pyrexia, Angelmaker, Within Destruction and more.
The album ‘Visitant‘ by Arsis is a testament to the fact that there is still hope for the Technical Death Metal genre. It is a mighty display of technical brilliance face to face with hair-raising melodies.