One-man bands are such a bizarre prospect to me, regardless of how many of these projects exist at this point. Granted; doing everything yourself can help keep an artistic vision as pure as possible, but there's something to be said for a band that you know will tour the albums you love. This is beside the point; meet SLAVE ONE, the project of a French multi-instrumentalist known only as Sébastien. First things first; this is tricky to describe. As many Technical Death Metal elements as there are on this record, there are also plenty of atmospheric ideas and ethereal additional vocals added in places throughout this very eclectic record that make it something of a pigeonholing nightmare. It could be called Avant-Garde Death Metal, perhaps?

Whatever it is, the songs that create it are jam-packed with more riffs and leads than many bands achieve in three records worth of material. "Deus Otiosus" is filtered in the sounds and mysterious feeling of the Middle East, with gorgeous female vocalisations that somehow manage to suit this filthy Death Metal sound perfectly. The bass cuts through the mix enough to be pleasantly audible, helping to keep the sideways brand of riffs grounded, saving the song from turning into a mess of incomprehensible eclecticism. "The Antikythera Mechanism" shows Sébastien's undeniable talent for his instruments. Everything from the guitars right through to the stomach-churning vocals is delivered with direct intent, despite the sometimes darkly fanciful nature of the lead guitar tangents. This is where the record sounds most akin to Technical Death Metal.

By the time that you hit "For Shiva Whispered The Universe", it's hard to avoid the fact that the vocals let the album down to a substantial degree. As progressive and impressive as the instrumentation is on this record, the Death Metal growls that are prevalent across the album are ridiculously one-dimensional. There are more atmospherics and interesting guitar leads on this track, which strikes me as what ROTTING CHRIST may sound like if they had went down the Death Metal route instead of taking the blackened path. "Liquid Transcendental Chaos" is definitely the figurehead of this record. Just under eleven and a half minutes long, it's largely composed of ridiculously cool guitar work, under which the bass remains an unsung hero on the album. The vocals provide a bit more of an obstacle in places here, leaving one to wonder if SLAVE ONE would be improved by removing the vocal element altogether. It is fans of technicality that are going to really enjoy this album, so it may as well have been made an instrumental project!

The record as a whole has some really cool moment that any fan of mind-bending guitar playing will dig. How often I'm likely to come back to this album is a huge question mark, as there isn't much in the way of hooks. Not to mention those dull vocals. This strikes me as a record that people will dig deep into for a few listens before it proceeds to gather dust. A shame, really.