Singularity

Singularity

I'm going to start this off on a note of audacity and potentially ostentatious positivity: […]
By Daniel Fox
December 10, 2014
Singularity - Singularity album cover

I'm going to start this off on a note of audacity and potentially ostentatious positivity: this is one of the best albums to happen to extreme metal all year.

SINGULARITY are a (insert inexhaustible list of genres) Metal band from Arizona in the US, who recently dropped their self-titled debut. It is often by a band's proclivity for the avant-garde and extroverted expression that result in a debut towards the risky end of the 'adventurous' scale, and SINGULARITY belong on no spectrum I know of. Technical Death Metal instrumentation, symphonic arrangements and Blackened mannerisms are literally sucked into a singularity and spewed out the other end, seemingly in perfect order.

"A Withdrawal of Salvation" was a strange note on which to begin the album. Melodic mastery and a strong piano presence are at the forefront of this track, much like "Spacetime Devourment". It's ebon tentacles lash out all over the place, before slithering into darkened recesses during dips in the ebb and flow of this chaotic track. In layman's terms, think an amalgamation of early 2000's DIMMU BORGIR, VESANIA, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE and ARCHSPIRE. The latter track nearly doubles the opener in length, and as such, allows for more room in the arrangement. There is a dramatic energy rippling through this track; fans of the utterly avant-garde will love this piece. It features greater variation in tempo and drive; even the lightspeed pummelling carries some groove underfoot.

"Monolith" poses a fantastic diversion; the opening portion of the track, lengthy as it is, is instrumental perfection, crescendos gradually and gracefully rising and falling. Progressed listening gives the feeling of highly pressurised energy, which, rather than exploding forth in massive bombasticity, leaks out in frantic bursts.  "The Ascension" is truly at the top shelf (not that the rest of the tracks aren't), but stood out for me with its incredibly obvious progressive leanings; brutal and heavy to begin with, it translates beautifully through layers of technical lead guitar and bass work, but all of a sudden started to resonate a completely different tune. Roughly halfway through, it transforms into a dramatic, heavy, grooving, symphonic cascade of headbangery, fleshed out with infectiously catchy riffs and keyboard work.

It is about this time of year when we, the writers, compile a 'Top 10 albums of the year' list, and SINGULARITY's album most definitely made it onto mine.

10 / 10

Masterpiece

"Singularity" Track-listing:

1. A Withdrawl of Salvation
2. Remnant of Stellar Evolution
3. Spacetime Devourment
4. Monolith
5. Throne of Thorns
6. Desert Planet
7. Utopian Flesh
8. The Descent
9. The Ascension
10. The Resolution

Singularity Lineup:

Jack Fliegler - Guitar, Vocals
Nathan Bigelow - Drums
Adam King - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Nick Pompliano - Keyboards, Vocals

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