It's official: 2017 can now be solidified as the Year Of The Barnburners, as far as heavy metal is concerned. The album "Invader From Beyond" by German technical progressive death metal troupe DAMNATION DEFACED is a perfect example of the aforementioned statement's truth and validity. This is one of those concept albums whose daring, adventurous, and unabashed originality is ever apparent as it blasts you through the outer reaches of infinite space and into areas unseen that stay hidden far behind the lights of the visible stars in the nighttime sky. The mixture of primordial ferocity and experimental whimsy blend perfectly together here, making this an album that nearly any music aficionado should not allow to pass them by.

There is much to be said about the current death metal scene in Germany today, and DAMNATION DEFACED alone has the potential to be an endless source of open discussion on the subject. Yes, they are brutal. Yes, they are technically brilliant, but they ave proven that they are not just any other band limited by the genre's standards and practices. This band is something special! Triggered electronics, sweeping synth waves, and various sci-fi sampling claim their place within the writhing melodic soundscape, lending a vastly different sound than many other artists out there. It's not too often that a death metal band can spend a whole minute of a song exhibiting the dancing intricacies of a DREAM THEATER tune, then switch it up in the blink of an eye into the brutality and decadence of the bands of old such as CANNIBAL CORPSE and PESTILENCE, yet all the while managing to maintain the sense of something exciting and new. DAMNATION DEFACED goes above and beyond in proving that it is more than possible.

By the time I hit track three (the album's title track), "Invader From Beyond" had me completely and utterly entranced. Track five, "The Observer", took my breath away with its haunting wall of sound riding along with guttural vocals and machine-like drumming. Delving further into the abyss, I came across the song "Creator's Fall", which hammered its way into my heart quite easily with its chopping bassline driving the higher ends along with tenacity and vigor. Then, the eleventh and final track began: "Embraced By Infinity" must have been chosen very carefully as the record's closer. This song is absolutely spastic in its genre-leaping, epic in its massive scope, and just all around phenomenal from start to finish. Without going into too much critical detail, I can say that this song might very well be the Ninth Wonder of the World. The melancholic guitars swirl around you like twisting, curling fog over the blackened surface of a lake in the midnight hour, and the singing becomes a crushing wave of emotion and solace that lingers in the mind long after it has physically ceased. At the end of my journey, I found myself wishing-... no, CRAVING- for more, and plenty of it! Alas, all good things must come to an end, and "Invader From Beyond" was sadly no exception to this cardinal rule.

I can tell you with full certainty and absolute pointedness that this is something no metal fan would forgive themselves for neglecting to listen to. "Invader From Beyond" is quite the masterpiece, and will definitely be enjoyed by this reviewer many times over as a result of its originality, inventiveness, and hard-hitting riffs that stay embedded within the brain long after the album has stopped and the listener has returned to the dreary and mundane world that is life without a soundtrack. DAMNATION DEFACED took a blind leap when finalizing this record, and they landed safely in the calm, lapping waters. This band should feel happy, being that they created such a genius work of art that is sure to be enjoyed for many decades to come.