Contrary to popular belief, I’m not completely against technical and progressive influences within extreme metal. I’m just a stickler for most bands doing so within the past 25 years. I don’t care how fast you can play your instrument, how intricate of a song you can write, or how many time signature changes you can fit within the limitations of a 5 minute song. There’s nothing a new tech metal band can bring to the table that wasn’t already perfected by Nocturnus, Gorguts, Sadus, Hellwitch, and even latter era Death. There are, however, new bands who do a respectable job replicating this trailblazing era of metal. One such band is Miscreance.
Hailing from Italy (we don’t cover nearly enough bands from there), Miscreance is a band who owes far more to the sounds of 1992 than 2022. Some of the songs on their debut full length, Convergence, lie on the mosh-friendly thrash side of the spectrum. Other songs go for the throat; vicious and unrelenting death metal assaults on the senses. Whether they’re more death or thrash is up to you. What threads them all together is a virtuosic sense of technicality, without letting said musical chops overshadow the compositions themselves.
This approach is firmly established on the opening “Flames of Consciousness”. The atmosphere is dense, the hooks are relentless, the leads are ripping, but the intensity doesn’t let up. The over the top “Incubo” and bludgeoning “Alchemy” only further emphasize these musical ideas. This is old school tech death done right. Contrasting these is more thrash oriented fare, exemplified by cuts like “No Empathy” and “Fall Apart”. It might take a while for your average thrasher to mosh to, but with the right determination, they’ll be thrashing it up in no time.
While Miscreance aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves, there’s none I hear more showcased as Convergence progresses than Voivod. Sure Voivod aren’t nearly as musically intricate as the bands who followed in their wake, but their progressive meanderings, frequent ebbs and flows, and all-out penchant for chaos became a cornerstone for all technical metal to follow. It’s also, unsurprisingly, a cornerstone of this album, coming to a dramatic halt on “My Internment”. It was a thought that ran through my head during the entire listen, and was solidified with this frantic closer: If you are of a claustrophobic or anxious disposition, DO NOT listen to this album.
After reading that last sentence, you’re probably wondering, “Why would I ever want to listen to anything like that?” And that’s a great question. Prog, tech, whatever you wanna call it metal, is not for everyone. At times it’s less of a listening experience and more of a musical endurance test. However, the reason I listen to albums and bands of this nature is the same reason many appreciate horror films: It keeps me on the edge of my seat. Convergence did exactly that and then some. If it were any longer than 31 minutes, there’s possibility it could’ve fallen victim to its own charm. Let’s be grateful it doesn’t.
7 out of 10
Label: Unspeakable Axe Records
Genre: Technical Death/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Sadus, Pestilence, Voivod