Album Review: Nucleus – Entity (Unspeakable Axe Records/Me Saco Un Ojo Records)
The Descending from the outer reaches in 2012, the sci-fi death metal band Nucleus arrived with an armament of influences revered in the weirder corners of the underground: Timeghoul, Demilich, Adramalech, and so on. Following a series of demos and EPs, they released their debut album Sentient with Unspeakable Axe Records in 2016. Now, after three years and an intervening split release with Macabra, Nucleus has returned with a the follow-up titled Entity.
Out on the 14th via Unspeakable Axe Records and Me Saco Un Ojo Records.
Making a death metal sound and feel sci-fi is no easy task without stuffing if full of effects. How do you make an album sound born of another world? In the case of Nucleus it’s as simple as turning death metal into something a bit more futuristic and ahead of its time.
Don’t get me wrong, all of the typical death metal elements are here but Nucleus choose to abandon the typical formula. In favour of constructing a set of tracks that drift through the empty cosmos. Harmonious in their own strange way, Nucleus show off their unique metal style with thumping death metal rhythm, techniques within the riffing that befuddle and a deep, meaty vocal style.
Fans of slamming and crashing death metal will love this as much as those who want complexities layered throughout. From the furious guitar led heaving of Arrival to the frantic drum punch of Mobilization to the darkness covered slow hellishness of Tomechasm. As well as everything in between, Nucleus continue to chip away until both us and they are exposed.
They’ve done a wonderful job of creating something that is at its core, a death metal album but not content to just do that and that alone. Yes, it is heavy. Yes, it is brutal and yes, it will leave you battered and bruised but it will also force you to think and listen to understand its technical wizardry.
Nucleus – Entity Full Track Listing:
1. Arrival
2. Entity
3. Uplift
4. Mobilization
5. Approach
6. Outpost
7. Dominion
8. Tomechasm
Links
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Nucleus - Entity (Unspeakable Axe Records/Me Saco Un Ojo Records)
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The Final Score - 8/10
8/10