DIGRESSION ASSASSINS

I start out this review with a question. "Why are you not listening to this band?" This is some of the best Post Metal I have ever heard!

"Digression Assassins" is the name of the band and the album is "Oblivion". The music is listed under Post Metal/Experimental. This album was released in February of 2019 and is the band's 4th album. The band was formed in 2005 and released their first album in 2008. The music is heavy and experimental. David Catala is the lead vocalist and guitarist, Andres Bruer Torres is the drummer, Zoran Bronco is a guitarist and Alex Teklemariam is on bass.

There is a short "prelude" to the album called "Prepatory Transistion", which is pretty much just a scraping noise which flows into the next track "Slave". In this track, the first thing you will notice is the heavy guitars and how Catala's voice is somewhat similar to Cedric Bixler-Zavala from "Mars Volta". The music is definitely very heavy and unique, and it is definitely full of progressive sound with tricky rhythms and ever changing moods, but mostly heavy and hard. There definitely is some experimentalism going on throughout the album too, which keeps things interesting and different. While "Slave" is a bit more straightforward compared to other tracks on the album, "The Velveteen Heroine" shows the penchant the band has to experiment and stretch the metal boundaries.

The title track "Oblivion" follows with a much more experimental and atmospheric sound, still dark and heavy, but Catala gets to show that he can still sound good with a quieter tune. This doesn't last though, because as it continues, things pick up a lot more with tempo and intensity. After a fast section, we go into a more blues sounding section with a saxophone stuck in there to just show that they can get away with it and still sound amazingly in place with the loudness. At the end, one guitar blasts out a power chord while the sax squeals and the other guitar screeches with gusto. On "The Devil's Pit", everything busts loose with an extremely fast beginning and the Mars Volta style vocals. This one just pounds at your head until it gets to 1:30, then a sudden switch to a more plodding riff and slower tempo as the music nears an early "Black Sabbath" style with an echo to the vocals to give it a slight psychedelic edge. Amazing! Progressive riffs continue as intensity builds again and you swear you can even hear some early Rush in there too. I make these comparisons just to give you an idea, because the sound is very unique and excitingly progressive.

I love listening to heavy music like this that is unique and exciting, and the band is willing to stretch out their sound, which is what makes them post metal. On "Psychosis", we get into some real experimental territory with the sax moaning along with a slow beat and a churning guitar playing a low arpeggio that later turns to a pluck pluck sound. Further on, things get quite a bit faster, especially when the instrumental break comes along and you get all sorts of amazing effects until the guitar settles on a riff for a short time before things turn chaotic. "Cult of Grief" starts as a more accessible track, but still loud with some very emotional vocals. Things do end up turning progressive again before too long, however. Wow! So much for being accessible.

"Southern Metaphysical" has the heavy slow beat interspersed with fast rapid fire drums and crazy noise. The guitar literally wails in the background and everything here speaks of amazing complexity as the melody keeps shifting along with meters and tempos. "True Mockery" is the last track and starts out a bit less intense, but don't expect that to last long. The track quickly becomes epic as it continues and has a very melodic, yet still very heavy and fast guitar solo, until another churning guitar comes along and changes everything. Later, there are some surprisingly emotional harmonic vocals as the album comes to a crashing close. Yes it is 40 minutes long, but I still came out of it wanting to hear more.

It is so difficult to explain this music, it has to be heard. But you better like it heavy, loud and very progressive. This is one of the most unique metal bands I have heard in a long time. After hearing this album, you can bet I'll be checking out their other albums. This will definitely be in the running for me as the best album of the year. 2019 just keeps continuing to deliver and this is one of the best so far. Fans of both early Rush and Mars Volta need to hear this as do everyone who likes their music hard and inventive. It is that good.