“Drudge To The Thicket” is the debut album from the California-based death metal band, FABRICANT. The album was released on September 15, 2023, on Profound Lore Records. FABRICANT has a technical avant-garde approach to their brand of death metal. This album reminds me of a cross between the metal aspects of SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM and the songwriting of IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT.

 The album kicks off with the controlled chaos of “Prey To Whom.” The guitars are dissonant and the growled vocals are impressive. What sticks out the most is the low end. The drumming and bass guitar playing are incredibly complex. The production on this track is also well-implemented. With this album, FABRICANT will either bowl you over or leave you scratching your head. There is no in-between. The following track, “Eloper’s Revelations,” has all of the above elements along with subtle flirtations with melody breaking up the otherwise nonstop chaos.

 “Song Of Stillness” starts with some nicely placed tremolo picking followed by an awesome guitar riff. The vocals come in on a perfectly timed beat. Roberts’ vocals lean more toward the black metal end of the spectrum on this track. As a whole, the songwriting on “Drudge To The Thicket” is well thought out, if not overwhelming at times. By the time “Headless” comes along you could already be exhausted by the sheer density of this album. That track sounds like a more dissonant ALKALOID piece. One thing that I noticed while listening to this album is that the vocals tend to fade into the background during the busier passages. This makes the often spot-on production uneven.

“Adrift The Sleepless Swamp” is equal parts densely opaque and easy to follow, but never both at the same time. I’m torn when it comes to this track and largely this album. I don’t mind a healthy dose of dissonance in my death metal, but there are several points where the music is too chaotic and atonal for its own good. I can appreciate the mental and physical aptitude that it takes to make music of this nature. Conversely, this album’s complexity makes for difficult casual listening. The closing track is my favorite on the album. “Until The Heavens Grow Dark” has an excellent sense of speed and some nice chugging riffs. This is also one where the vocals tend to get lost amongst the cacophony of instrumentation. There are a couple of short-lived yet brilliant riffs that unfortunately change direction once your head starts to nod.

“Drudge To The Thicket” is a great accomplishment seeing as how it was eight years in the making. There are a plethora of great ideas and concepts. However, the rapidly changing nature of each song makes for a demanding listen. This is not an album to put on in the background. That also makes it a critical listener’s dream, with each repeated play a sort of treasure hunt that is always rewarding. This release is forty-three minutes of auditory overload that pays off more often than not. The potential is there and they are just shy of making a truly incredible album.