To me just the name The Zenith Passage sounds like the epitome of a prog band. This for certain is one part of it, as the band are known for constant movement and stylistic developments in a technical death metal framework. Movement applies also to band membership as three of the four members are new arrivals since their 2016 album “Solipsist”.
The technical death metal is rapid and twisty. Patterns emerge. There’s a resilience about it, and with guttural vocals it drives forward rapidly. Ethereal passages emerge from the orderly technical metal. “Algorithmic Salvation” has a militaristic quality in its core structure. In spite of its twists and distortions, it never wavers from its path and for the listener is hypnotic. “Lexicontagion” similarly chugs along but breaks down and develops into an echoing and dreamy vocal section amid a jazzy guitar line, in doing so bringing atmosphere and vibrancy. We return to the juddering technical output to end. I felt that it could have gone on for longer. The end broke my captivated attention. But so be it, and now the technical machinations of “Synaptic Depravation” are upon us. I was finding myself hanging onto to every note and every twist. Like the others “Synaptic Depravation” has a personality, and here takes into the realms of another world with its complex but listenable progressions and passages. The sound structures are progressive, with Haken like twists entering the technically mechanical framework, developing wider tableaux and creating interest with lofty and suggestive sound structures.
Electronic action heralds in more flamboyant technical guitar work as “Deletion Cult” gets going. It’s sparkly rapid-fire death action all the way. The growly chorus has an ethereal air thanks to the faint electronic keyboard work. As a track “Deletion Cult” is mobile and atmospheric in a sinister and haunting way. I suppose the potential drawback of all this technicality is that it could be seen as technicality for its own sake, but The Zenith Passage avoid this trap. “Divinertia I” has a militaristic march like quality about the drum and guitar work but as we bang our heads in time, there’s a smoky and fearsome atmosphere. The Zenith Passage manage tempo changes superbly, and so the deathly story goes on, here into part II. It starts in slow time but with a cleverly lurking guitar rhythm, which speeds up all of a sudden and sets our heart rate racing. The riff is distorted. Layered and transformational as this is, there’s no time to linger as we are introduced to new intricate patterns and expanding signals of alert and danger. Meanwhile the vocalist utters his growly story. “Automated Twilight” is another musical kaleidoscope and is operatic in its form and development. But the development is of something dark. The mood changes from slow progression to operatic urgency and then an evocative guitar passage, topped off with a beseeching vocalist. “Automated Twilight” is darkly progressive. The title song closes the album. The album has entered its darkest phase. The technical rhythm suggests danger, while the whispering vocal suggests a cold and lonely place. Seamlessly, the tempo picks up and we’re back in the magical world of pure technical metal before moving to The Zenith Passage’s own dream land. An what a world this is, comprising exquisite guitar work, alternating and combining with harsh technical metal to fill the air and do what the band has done throughout, which is to fuel our imagination with high quality sound structures.
If there was a manual on how to make technical death metal interesting, The Zenith Passage should write a chapter. As they claim themselves, you don’t want to divert your attention away for a second from this album and its perpetually colourful and flamboyant passages. “Datalysium” is both intricate and inventive.
(9/10 Andrew Doherty)
Leave a Reply