Five years removed from their last effort, Nuklearth, the ‘Chernobyl death metal’ squad of Cytotoxin have returned. Their particular brand of technical and brutal death metal has been nothing if not chaotic and explosive in tone. Something that they have little trouble maintaining with Biographyte. With 48-minutes of ear-splitting madness being conjured by the band this time, it could be a recipe more madness if it wasn’t handled well. Thankfully Cytotoxin do a great job of keeping it interesting and the ‘brutality-blur’ to a minimum.
Part of the reason that they are able to keep the momentum so strong is because they don’t rely on one thing to keep the music going. There’s a lot of crazy tech wizardry going on, but it’s balanced by moments of intense brutal death metal riffing or the band diving fully into some melodic elements to counter the brutality. “Behind Armored Doors” is a nice example of this particular system. It opens in a tech-flurry, with the speed kicked up to max. Rumbling bass work, dizzying blastbeats, tornadoes of notes. You know the drill by now. The melodies start to pick up and take some of the space as the song moves on, particularly when the tempo slows. Epic and almost cinematic melodies begin to take center stage for a bit, before they kick the pedals back into high gear. But then pounding grooves give the listener a solid gutpunch to settle back in.
While those same pieces of the puzzle are used repeatedly throughout Biographyte, it doesn’t lessen their impact or appeal. Whether it’s the ‘open at full intensity’ blitzkrieg of “Hope Terminator,” which utilizes the tech/melody/brutality quotient to 100% capacity, or the urgency of the atmosphere of “The Everslave,” which escalates the sound to a gripping soundtrack level feeling. The finale “From Bitter Rivers” swings towards flowing melodies and grooves in a way that makes it stand out from the other tracks. While it still acts as a battering ram at times, it feels more tempered and nuanced due to the thrusting of melody to the forefront. It makes for an interesting finale that shows a slight expansion of what the band can do.
Biographyte is a welcome piece of bulldozing yet intelligent death metal that never pulls itself too far away from the extreme. Cytotoxin continue to emphasis their strong points in a way that gives them a very tight and intricate feel that still manages to keep a fair portion of accessibility. High marks considering how impressive the musicianship sounds that they can pull off such a dynamic and not let it get stale by the end too. One to look for it you need a new effort full of brutality and tech-flashiness.