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Every once in a while it happens that there is a more brutal Death Metal-album that even finds its liking by my ears, as rare as it is. VADER's "Litany" had been one of those and now NEURAXIS' "Truth Beyond…" is, too, even though I cannot put my finger on it, why. And I neither think that this is an index that I might grow into that genre as well…
So yes, Death Metal it undoubtedly is, pretty heavy stuff, but on a technical level that is nothing short than impressive. NEURAXIS manage to make their songs varied, with some dramatic breakdowns and contrasting elements of heaviness, from blast beats (that I still don't like and never will) to very calm passages and back again, but never just using a break just for the break's sake, but well implemented into the songs.
What maybe is the key factor to me that I don't like brutal Death Metal (apart from those dreaded blast beats) mostly is the voice, like in the case of Ian Campbell, very deep and definitely not understandable, a Fridén or even more Stanne, that is the stuff I can stand, that is just not my cup of tea.
Still, the technical level of the musicians and compositions is great and the songs also are more than convincing, with a damn tight rhythm section, shredding, but still virtuoso guitars and with all heaviness still enough melody to please the ear.
I doubt that many people know NEURAXIS yet, but with a quality release like this one, this should change pretty quickly! And who likes the more brutal side of this should definitely add at least one point! (Online December 21, 2002)
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