Slave One – Disclosed Dioptric Principles (Dolorem Records)
Thursday, 14th April 2016
French tech-death unit Slave One aren’t your stereotypical tech-death band. In fact, it almost seems like a disservice to the band to continue to peg them as such. Sure, the elements are all there but they have a completely different wheelhouse of ideas in their bag of tricks. Full of interesting surprises around each corner, there’s always something interesting happening to keep you attentive. Even more impressive as it is the band’s first full-length effort.
Opening up with some tribal sounds and chanting, it’s clear that Disclosed Dioptric Principles isn’t going to be your usual walk in the death metal park. When the guitars kick in on “Deus Otiosus,” you are treated to the fusion of these elements alongside the technical death metal backbone. Though it’s important to note that Slave One doesn’t just toss these elements into the mix willy-nilly. The atmospheric components in other songs like “Obsidian Protocol Achievement” really do a good job of wrapping around the guitars, without completely stealing the limelight. Elsewhere, there’s acoustics that open up “Aeon Dissonance” and some cool hybrid tribal/metal vibe on the closing “Degenesis.” The biggest treat is the 11-minute epic, “Liquid Transcendental Echoes,” which pushes the progressive elements even further out into the open, with plenty of melodic leads taking center stage without being over-indulgent.
Death metal that is ready to pummel you at any given moment, yet keeps an exotic vibe that isn’t played around just for kicks, Disclosed Dioptric Principles checks off all the right boxes as a debut done right. Slave One have come out of the door ready to explode, let’s hope that this potential continues to grow further with time.
