The Faceless
Planetary Duality

The Name Doesn't Matter. It's a philosophy that works. At least in metal. Where the listeners are such and tend toward non-superficiality (they tend to...). That said, I, who follow this tendency, embraced the idea of trying out this group (recommended to me) formed by four guys from California. At this point, one can set aside the non-existent originality of the name (and the non-existent originality of the usual damned logo decipherable only if you already know the band's name!) and immerse themselves in the world of "Planetary Duality," the second album by The Faceless, who present us with a sort of new technical death metal.

In a unified analysis of the instrumental parts of the work, various characteristics emerge. The talent for speed, underestimated by more classical guitarists and by those who reject more extreme music genres than others. It's interesting that guitarist Michael Keene often plays with his index, middle, and ring fingers on his left hand, frequently discarding the use of his pinky. The uniqueness and taste of the various riffs, which are qualities that almost always belong to other music genres (and the first to be almost totally excluded is precisely death metal). But no. These excellent composers, as well as musicians, have managed to perfectly reconcile the speed of the blast beat (typical of brutal death) with brilliant ideas, even with clean guitars. The disproportionate amount of technique from all the band members, from the drummer with his double pedal thrashing to the bassist who is not very audible but, as a musician in a technical death group, can't be anything less than good, to the guitarists who show a wide range of techniques, from tapping to sweep picking, from an amazing tremolo picking to rapid slashing of unusual chords (and as a guitarist, I'll tell you: uncomfortable to change at certain execution speeds)

Regarding the vocals, we are faced with a growl of good power. Absent is the scream often used in the group's previous album. The lyrics are incomprehensible. Philosophical terminology, metaphors, and unsettling topics. All this finds a perfect correspondence with the instrumental part, or rather: the atmosphere created by the ensemble of guitars and rhythm expresses in notes what the song is about. A drama that takes shape in fears internal to the man himself, in monsters that cannot be understood.

That said, I don't think it's necessary to delve further into the topic. It's common to talk about every single song in a review, but it's pointless. The most important things have been said, there's no need to say which scales were used in the second track and what effect they generate in most people. To say that the first track is fast and aggressive, the second seems disjointed, the third is an interlude, it's better to keep silent. I'll just tell you one thing: every moment, from the beginning of the text until now, I've always been thinking about the same song, because this song is the masterpiece of The Faceless's artwork. It's the fourth...