Being a fan of checking out genres I'm not very well familiarised with, I jumped at the opportunity to check out UK-based band SUBVERSION's new album "Animi". Completely unsure of expectations, I found myself almost intrigued with the concept of Melodic/Symphonic Technical Metal. Having heard a lot about Technical Metal, but never actually listening to it, I began to understand why it's so popular in the metal scene today. So exploring out of my comfort zone, I listened "Animi" multiple times in order to get a grasp of what SUBVERSION had to offer.

I found myself dissecting each part of the tracks and noticing the subtle technicalities embedded in each one: the Djent style guitars, the aggressive vocals later contrasted by the clean vocals, and the variation in rhythm. "Revelation" was the track I especially took note of as the subtle melodies behind the instruments and the talents of Jay Shields and Kai Giritli's contrast of vocals. The main thing I got out of this album was being able to understand the appeal of this genre much more. I can admit that I was interested in the beautiful discord that was this album, so carefully created and constructed. I now see why they call it Technical Metal!

The melodic choruses and crunchy riffing worked well and each track offered something completely different to the previous one. An example of this would be "Pariah", the eighth track on this album, acting as almost a slow relief of energy after the brutal liveliness of the previous tracks. This is why I would say "Animi" as a whole, was more of an experience that just an album as it provided a multitude of tones and moods that threw you all over the place. "Born of the Sun" was a thumbs up from me as it used clean and harsh vocals alongside slow and speedy riffs, changes in pace and tone to throw you off any expectations you may have had about what was coming up next.

Considering I approached this album/genre knowing very little about what Technical Metal can offer, I can only assume that "Animi" should be any Technical Metal fan's ideal choice. Although I may not be a converted Technical Metal fan, I now have more of an idea as to why it's as popular as it is and I can confirm that SUBVERSION's album doesn't fall short of what I have heard to be the key components of Melodic/Symphonic Technical Metal. They uphold unexpected melodies embedded in an awesome chaos of crazy riffing and powerful aggression. Spontaneity at it's finest!