The Zenith Passage has been a technical death metal band on everyone’s radar for a long time. The California techyboys have always scratched the itch that The Faceless left in all our collective skins when they ran themselves off a cliff after their latest release several years ago. Fret not, you Faceless fans, The Zenith Passage is here to fill the spiraling void with their sophomore record Datalysium.

Datalysium is the band’s second record, a long seven years after their debut Solipsist which garnered acclaim from critics and fans alike. Datalysium feels like the logical next step in the same direction, fine-tuning all the best parts of their debut as well as adding new songwriting chops that come from the members’ stints in other bands as well as keeping their fingers on the pulse on the current tropes in the technical/progressive death metal scene, imbuing elements from other classic and modern technical death metal bands like Necrophagist, Spawn of Possession, Soreption, as well as bringing in some proggy elements from bands like Rivers of Nihil and Between the Buried and Me.

One of my personal pet peeves with this genre which I hold nearest and dearest to my heart is when bands focus on being the most technically impressive band in terms of both sheer tempo intensity as well as riff density within a quickly claustrophobic space. In the attempt to be the most technical band, many bands often forget about the second half of their adopted genre, viz. the death metal part. The brutal aggression and visceral emotion is often lost in the race to the speediest. Fortunately, from the opening riff of “The Axiom Error”, we know The Zenith Passage will bring plenty of heavies. The opening riff of this track is the perfect herald of things to come, with ferocious simplicity yet with delicious memorability.

The three released singles that follow, “Algorithmic Salvation”, “Lexicontagion”, and “Synaptic Depravation” are more to our expected Zenith tastes. We get plenty of staccato riffs, with time signatures with carefully placed gaps and flows to keep us on our toes, almost in an intricate dance of notes. The Zenith Passage continues The Faceless’ signature riff-writing style with equal parts death metal viciousness and smooth jazz vibes, clearly seen in the latter half of “Lexicontagion” with the smooth almost saxophone-layered guitar lead tone. The inclusion of weaving lo-fi in and out of their riffs is also becoming a standard Zenith trope, and “Synaptic Depravation” plays around with that while simultaneously being one of the gnarliest tracks on the record.

Datalysium features a heavier emphasis on including grandiose string sections as seen on the opening of “Deletion Cult” and then later on “Automated Twilight”, the latter showcasing the more prog-metal BTBAM leaning side of The Zenith Passage. However, “Deletion Cult” is one of the most high-octane tracks, making even the demigods in Necrophagist and Spawn of Possession get out of their graves and take notice.

I have mentioned The Zenith Passage’s love for playing around with off-kilter rhythms, and that side of their songwriting talent is on full display on the Divinertia Duology. In fact, “Divinertia I and II” (it would be a crime to treat this as anything as a single megalith) may be one of the most well-crafted technical death metal tracks written in the last few years. Not because it is the fastest or the most intense, but because of how masterfully the track weaves through so many tempos and moods, without feeling disconnected or disjointed at any particular moment. The guitar riffs and drum lines expertly speed up and slow down to create almost a story within a song which is an extremely rare thing to see in extreme metal. The track never lingers too long in one particular tempo set, effortlessly weaving mournfully slow sections into quicker near-breakneck-paced arrangements. When the second part of the duology starts off with an almost doom cult-like elephantine trudge riff, we know we’re in for a good time. The absolute grind-to-a-halt back to the doom cult riff now with added strings and a quick riff barely audible in the background, makes this track one to teach in all tech death songwriting masterclasses.

It comes as zero surprise to anyone that The Zenith Passage is chock full of expert musicians. What will come as more of a surprise to those not paying close attention, is that the band is composed of many former members of The Faceless, making the sonic choices much more understandable. The star of the show has always been founding member and multi-instrumentalist Justin McKinney who continues to impress everyone with just how good he is, not only as a musician but also as a songwriter. New to The Zenith Passage is fellow guitarist Christopher Beattie who seems to have fit in perfectly with the Zenith machine. It’s incredibly difficult to discern individual contributions of new members on records in this genre, but here’s hoping that he sticks around to get the chance to dig in his heels and bring his own flair to the songwriting table. Bassist Brandon Giffin also from god-tier The Faceless records (Akeldama and Planetary Duality) brings all of his tasty bass lines to Datalysium. I personally wish the bass was a tad more audible, especially on the busier sections, but I understand that headroom is an absolute nightmare to navigate in a genre with so many competing layers. A huge part of why The Zenith Passage cuts through the mire of thousand-notes-a-minute tech-death bands is the presence of vocalist Derek Rydquist (also of The Faceless fame). His vocal timbre is more focused on the death metal side of mid to low-range growls while keeping the tempo of his lyric delivery quick to match the pace of the hyperspeed riffs, though not to an exaggerated extent where coherence and memorability lose their hold like the vocals in a band like Archspire (unique and suited to the band, but dangerously popular enough to spawn diluted imitators). As a veteran in the extreme metal scene, Derek knows how to place his vocals and lyrics well while leaving enough room to let the instrumentation shine.

My primary gripe with older material from The Zenith Passage was the production, more specifically the guitar tones chosen on Solipsist. The mix in my personal opinion came across as extremely thin, largely owing to the low-gain tones chosen for the guitars. While there is a definite need for clarity in a genre that relies on density and intensity, a lot of that intensity was being lost for the sake of clarity. It is then extremely relieving to see that Datalysium stepped up the mix in every possible way. The tug of war between density and clarity is much more deftly handled on this record with riffs being thick as well as sharp.

Datalysium is a near-perfect technical death metal record that The Zenith Passage should absolutely be proud of. Their skill of playing with tempos and timing continue to astound and amaze, without losing the ferocity of being primarily a death metal band. Here’s hoping we do not have to wait so long for a follow-up to this masterclass of a record.