Spawn Of Possession
Noctambulant

Swedes, but signed to the Californian label Unique Leader, Spawn Of Possession represent one of the most acclaimed musical realities in the past three years in the Death Metal scene.

Why them and not others among the hundreds (to underestimate) of valid bands on the music market? Simple, because they had the fortune of quickly obtaining a contract with a capital C and because they understood what they needed to give to the most demanding fans of the genre; committing the cardinal sin of "pride," the five of them created an innovative sound but not so much as to call into question the certainties of the entire genre. If it wasn’t already clear, I harbor a strong antipathy towards this band, which was introduced to me as the new Messiah of Death metal when in 2003 they released "Cabinet"; after that debut, in my opinion disappointing and by no means superior to many other old and new releases, they have returned with the valid "Noctambulant." I’m sorry to be so blunt in writing this review, but I really can't stand these guys, and although I have to acknowledge their merits, I believe they need to be somewhat downsized; it’s not true that they saved the fate of the genre, it’s not true that they are on the levels of the sacred monsters, it’s not true that they are as terrifyingly innovative as they claim.

In "Cabinet," currently (Italianization of "actually," I am a supporter of the Art Of Speaking Badly), they did nothing but technicalize, speed up and, let me say, copy what the Floridian Death school has produced throughout its history, which is the exact same thing that fellow countrymen Visceral Bleeding (with whom they have or had common members) and a sea of other bands do. But since the majority of fans eagerly await new bands proposing old stuff, they quickly earned the fame of Master Death Metallers; with "Noctambulant" I’m not saying that they have proven themselves worthy of this title (and it would be missing after two albums, only one of which is sufficient), but they have certainly established themselves as potential contenders to it. Indeed, they managed to accomplish those few elements of originality present on the old LP and coined a fairly personal sound (even if, personally, it doesn’t drive me crazy); like many others, they pivot on performance technique because there’s always a need for increasingly complicated things to carry on with this genre or, more likely, to amaze listeners.

Typical of the new sound of Spawn Of Possession is a taste for decidedly Byzantine riffs and solos. I believe they have this Zen maxim hanging on the wall in their rehearsal room: "Take as many notes and scales as you can, attach them as best as possible, and increase the execution speed until your fingers catch fire: you will be happy." And happier than the heavily burned guitarists are the Death Metal fans and, in general, all those who rate a record by the amount of technical skills it contains (and here, folks, there's something for everyone). Do you play bass? Listen to how good the bassist of Spawn Of Possession is, pay attention to how he does what he wants and how he handles himself even when he has to execute almost Pop Fusion parts (the intro of "In My Own Greed"), admire how he follows the instruments and how he pops up here and there to showcase his expertise. Do you play guitar? Watch carefully the riffing and note how sophisticated and difficult it is: will you be able to play even just ten seconds of one of those solos that last almost a minute? Practice all you want, but you won’t succeed, and if you don’t, you might as well devote yourself to heavy mechanics. Do you dabble behind the skins? Ah, Ah, Ah, poor deluded ones, you will never be as good as the drummer of Spawn Of Possession, the man who can keep counter-tempos without dropping below one hundred and fifty beats per minute, the man who "give me two drumsticks and I’ll conquer the world."

This is about the message that comes out of "Noctambulant"; they are good and will do everything to tell the whole world about it. I have deliberately avoided talking about the singer because, if the others are technically flawless, he is definitely average among Death Metal vocalists and doesn’t move an inch from his fast but absolutely one-dimensional growling. I want to clarify, however, that these guys are not the spearhead of Death in terms of technique (a random song by Cryptopsy or Gorguts can humiliate them), simply they are the most "nerdy," those who want at all costs to be the teacher’s pets and raise their hand to let the teacher know that they have studied. And indeed, beyond pure and cold instrumental technique, there's very little: the compositions are well-crafted, but without that passion or those strokes of genius that characterize bands of the caliber mentioned above, and in the long run they all sound the same. The Spawn Of Possession make the mistake of putting music at the service of talent and not vice versa; a good compromise would be to start playing Prog Death, as have bands like Cynic, Atheist, and Martyr, but the five only possess great preparation, an attitude on par with the aforementioned bands. Therefore, they maintain ridiculous Death metal features from which extreme refinement overflows, not without strong complacency.

In short, there are "minds" in Death metal and Spawn Of Possession aren’t among them although they are dying to become it: do not let yourself be amazed by the feats, at times with a vaguely Power flavor, of "Noctambulant." By the end of the listening, you will understand how they made you feel the weight of all ten songs, as if it were a divine concession; in the end, four stars for an album that would aspire to at least seven (out of five) seems to me an honest and balanced judgment. But please, someone get them off the pedestal!