As long as experiences can be done in music, the old will become renewed and will live on. This is the main key for Heavy Metal being enduring since BLACK SABBATH released "Black Sabbath" in 1970. Maybe one can't adapt to new ways, but they need to exist, because cults to the past won't make the genre alive (please, nothing like Brother Jorge de Burgos said on Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose", for recapitulations can't make things new at all). And "Shambhallic Vibrations" the first release (an EP) of the North American quartet LUNAR CHAMBER, is really a good opportunity to expand your minds. They play a form of Progressive/Technical Death Metal that's full of energy and as brutal as Hell (there are extreme moments when there are resemblances of their work with CANNIBAL CORPSE, PESTILENCE, ATHEIST and CYNIC), but the use of fretless bass surely brings things to a Jazz-like outfit (with many rhythmic contrasts into the very same song, as heard clearly on "The Bodhi Tree").

It's truly a rich form of music, and never sounds boring, filled with contrasting grunts, snarls and whispers, excellent guitar arrangements, and bass guitar and drums are extremely technical. And there's something more to enrich even more this EP, but it'll be clear some lines down on this review. The sonority of these songs is really excellent. Unlike many Progressive Death Metal acts that insist on using dirty sound qualities, the band had opted for something more defined and in a traditional Death Metal tendency: bitter and distorted on the instrumental tunes, but with every understandable to the ears. But's nothing strange, because the mixing was done by Greg Chandler (guitarist of ESOTERIC who works as a sound engineer and is a known producer on underground as well), and the mastering by Colin Marston (bassist of GORGUTS and another known producer and sound engineer on underground scene). And what a lovely cover (a creation of Moonrot, the Czech artist Vojtěch Doubek) that fits on the lyrics of the quartet.

An interesting point that deserves mention: instead that thing of blood, guts, death and others, or in other words, the usual for Death Metal subgenres, the band uses themes linked to Buddhist Spirituality and Enlightenment, a matter that one must truly read about. The EP has two instrumental songs ("Intro (Shambhallic Vibrations)", a song that has a very introspective appeal; and "Interlude (Ancient Sage)", a short song based on keyboards and clean chords), so the main focus stay on "Spirit Body and the Seeing Self" (the fractured rhythms and change of ambiences are amazing features, based on excellent bass playing and technical drumming), "The Bodhi Tree" (another song with perfect contrasts between brutal parts with technical Jazz-like moments, and what lovely guitars, indeed), and "III. Crystalline Blessed Light Flows... From Violet Mountains Into Lunar Chambers" (a 12 minutes song full of different ambiences, filled with lysergic contrasts, excellent keyboards parts and clean vocals, but there are brutal moments as well). For the mind of many, maybe these songs can't be understood in an easy way, but the more you experience the songs and try to detach from conceptions, the more the beauty of this EP will be revealed.

Maybe one can't deal with such words, but it seems that "Shambhallic Vibrations" can be causing a total revolution on the genre due the personal insight of LUNAR CHAMBER. And let's hope that a future full-length can come as soon as possible to change things.