Whereas ordinary death metal likes to talk about, well, death, technical death metal likes to partake in more intellectual subject matter, mostly outer space, and by outer space I mean supernovas, black holes, and the eventual heat death of the universe. Nebulous is one such band that likes to talk about outer space. They formed back in 2010 but didn't release their debut full-length, The Quantum Transcendence of Death, until the start of this year.
After listening to this, I have a feeling The Sound of Perseverance is one of their favorite albums, because during the more technical parts, they copy late-era Death perfectly, from the riff structures to the guitar tone. This is most obvious on the title track. I'm not at all bothered by this. After all, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I also hear a bit of Nile in some of the riffs they play, and a lot of the songs they play sound like they were made by Canadian tech-death bands. If I had not known Nebulous was from Alabama, I would have assumed they were from Canada.
I need to stop talking about their influences and start talking about the actual music. The drums play lots of hard-hitting blast beats as well as rapid torrents of double bass. Gene Hoglan would be proud. They also tend to display a bit of groove as well as a few slam rhythms on occasion. The bass is quite high in the mix and adds an extra level of depth to the music. The growls have this deep yet hoarse quality, similar to Origin and Severed Savior.
The guitars are obviously the best element the album. As I said before, there are times when they sound like they were pulled straight from The Sound of Perseverance, and I love the feeling of nostalgia I get when I listen to them. The other riffs also manage to stand on their own, as they are quite complex and sometimes infectious. There are occasions where they implement some weedly-weedly fret work, but they don't add so much that it gets annoying. They also play a few riffs that border on sounding like brutal death metal, what with their pinch harmonics and all.
The only problem I have with the album is the uneven production. The first five songs sounded clear and forceful, but the last four sounded a bit muffled. If you ask me, technical death metal works best when it has clear production. If the production is muffled, then it loses the impact it should have had. Other than that, I really like this album. I love the Death worship and I love the complex song structures that manage to keep things varied and unpredictable.
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