Melodic technical grindish death metal; Neuraxis - Imagery

Imagery, 1997

   The death metal scene, alas, is full of generic bands that all sound the same. But then come the bands like Nile, Spawn of Possession, Necrophagist, Cynic among others, that lighten up the genre of technical progressiveness and bring up something innovative once in a while. Canadian band Neuraxis, the axis of the central nervous system, is no exception. The band consisted of:

   Maynard Moore - on vocals

   Steve Henry - on guitars, backing vocals, artwork

   Felipe Quinzanos - on guitars

   Yah Thiel - on bass

   Mathieu Royale - on drums

   

   The uniqueness of Neuraxis is in their ability to mix sheer brutality with pure melody. The riffs are heavy, technical, but they aren’t the “in your face” type of stuff. The blend with melody makes them aesthetical to the human ear. In fact, some people even classify them as melodic death metal. So basically, Neuraxis is technical melodic brutalish death metal, with itsy bitsy grind influences in this album. Another thing unique only to the CNS axis band is you hear the songs how you want them to be. Now what does that mean? If you listen to the album in a relaxed pace, you’ll mostly concentrate on the melodic parts, the sweet, beautiful musicianship of the band. But if you listen more closely, you will catch all the technical side of the songs. 

   The vocals are astonishing. The vocalist has a vast range from low pig squeals to high pitched screams and often transition between the two. The pack also includes some grunts in the middle range. The drums are, frankly, dreadful. They have an annoying clicky sound that once you notice, seriously gets on your nerves (neuraxis? Gets on nerves? hah, sorry for the lame pun). And the snare drum sounds like he’s hitting some steel can. But no doubt, the drummer himself is talented. The bass, as usually in metal, is barely audible and even so just follows the guitars. He definitely does his difficult job well but it’s the hardest for him to just “go out there” and get at least some fame. The guitars, as obviously from the previous paragraph, are melodic technical brutal machines. And they as usual in technical death metal are the drive of the band.

   Now the lyrics are some deep material. I am no philosopher, and my decrypted meanings of the lyrics will sound silly, but the theme to me appears about us humans, our emotions, spirituality, and the development of our brain. Some songs, as I understand, are about people degrading in emotional support, and even how technology is killing our brain cells responsible for our emotions, just to progress further in technology. But if you think otherwise, as I said I am no expert.

   The album is short, but it is easy to listen to, which is rare particularly in this type of music. It’s even surprising how weird one feels once the album ends, like “what the hell just happened?” But then you put it on repeat again. Yes, it's that good. It may be hard to get into it at the first listen, but once you get addicted to the band, it’s impossible to stop. It’s different from all the other albums in many aspects, and was a great beginning to Neuraxis’s journey.

+Amazing vocals + Deep lyrics + not repetitive+

-Annoying drums - no bass action-

Final verdict – 8/10

The Pilot, or getting ready for one.

This is more of a test post rather than a review. Basically, just testing how everything works around here. And without further ado, let me introduce myself.

I'm a high school student living in Lithuania who likes to share his angry opinions with the world. In a music review, I take into account both how well the individual members of the band work, and the music they create together as a whole. With that said, I'm not following any strict guidelines or rules to write a review. But I may and will adopt some kind of style of writing over the years.

In a review, I try and look at an album objectively. But of course, total unbias is impossible. I will sometimes fall in love with records that seemed like I would hate. And hate ones that I should've presumably loved. And with all the other albums, I'm just as critical as I possibly can, but that does not mean I try and condemn every album in sight. That just means I'm giving my honest opinion. Everyone can agree or disagree with an opinion after all. If you have any reasons why a band i rated 3/10 will be the next Carcass or Death, be my guest.

All that aside, I'm just having fun writing reviews and don't consider it as some sort of serious business, so I hope you look at it in the same way. Blow off steam and have fun.