Deconstructing Sequence are a new band formed from the dissolution of black metal crew Northwail. Hailing from blighty (Taunton to be precise, but via Poland originally I believe), this three man project have a very unique sound about them, marrying various different aspects of their influences into a forward thinking, spacey and mechanical blend of extreme metal. Describing their sound as ‘extreme progressive art’, I can’t fault their nomenclature. It’s extreme, it has the pomposity of Emperor and it’s masterfully sewn together with well-structured progressive metal roots.
I can hear many influences in their sound; Nocturnus, Cynic, Emperor, the industrial weirdness of Aborym, blasting death metal and eerie black metal… it’s damn hard to pinpoint which of these they are influenced by most though as it’s such an eclectic blend of all of the aforementioned bands’ merits. There’s a lot of interesting and well used noodling, schizophrenic riffage, twisted rhythms, growled vocals and blasting brutality. It’s intense, fast paced, constantly shifting yet filled with enough meat to continually keep your interest without you falling off to sleep into some overly progressive coma-inducing mess. Stop/start crushing guitars with noise gates set to stun, otherworldly synth work and batshit crazy time signatures are the feast of the day, which for a band that is new to the scene is actually pretty fucking impressive if you ask me. The cover art only gives a slight idea of what lays captured beneath the plastic of this CD, but upon pressing play, it soon becomes clear that this is progressive extremity with its philosophy firmly set in the world of science fiction, aliens and the vast as yet undiscovered outer reaches of the universe. If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, they’ve even manage to slip in a sample from Game of Thrones in album opener ‘Departure of the Stellar Fleet Marks the Year One’, with Sean Bean’s well used utterance of “Winter is Coming” welcoming in a barrage of howls, storming guitars and layered synth. First band I’ve heard to do so thus far, so kudos for that I guess!
For a three track EP, this really stands out as something different – a breath of fresh air that is packed with originality, bursting with ideas and impressively balanced. For those who’re perhaps becoming a tad jaded with extreme metal, or perhaps looking for something which is outside the regular cut and paste sound-a-likes of the usual suspects that already fill most metalheads’ album collections; this could well be your new favourite band. Do yourself a favour and check these guys out.
(8.5/10 Lars Christiansen)
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