Suborbital – Planetary Disruption (War Anthem Records)
Tuesday, 13th December 2022
The resurgence of death metal in a current generation of musicians keeps the genre alive and kicking. Latest act under the microscope in this regard is German quartet SubOrbital, developing an intense form of old school technical death metal for their debut album Planetary Disruption. The membership includes musicians with ties to other power, thrash, and death acts like Night in Gales, Warrant, and Gloryful – so the talent level will never be disputed. Prepare to travel back in time to an era of the early 90’s when bands like Morbid Angel, Nocturnus, and Pestilence pummeled all senses with a vicious brand of material that was savage, brutal, yet musically captivating.
The stop/ start riffing, ripping/crazy lead breaks, sinister transitions – beyond the keyboard action or rhythm section masterful parts – will keep the listeners on the edge of their seats track to track. The raspy voice emanating out of Mark Friedrichs contains the right scream to growl ratios that make “Astral Chasm” and frantic “Fatal Alert” instant bone chiller compositions – explosiveness in tandem with the technical musical underpinning that pivots in all the right places. As guitarists Jens Basten and Adrian Weiss pile on those riffs at breakneck paces, mixing in the best fluid meets crazed lead combinations and smaller melodic/crunchy phrases for “Gyroscope” as well as “Stellar Explosion” that keep underground hordes mesmerized – the latter also featuring sick double kick / off time snare passages from Adriano Ricci that showcase superior drum prowess. Adhering to relatively tight windows of mostly three to five-minute arrangements allows the consumers to process the array of ideas safely without feeling sensory overload – a flaw that can occur easily in this sub-genre.
Considering the fact that these older musicians were passionate about their influences in those teenage years, making Planetary Disruption decades later makes sense given the experience, seasoning, and proper knowledge to execute the songs in the best position possible. SubOrbital hopefully will be an active recording entity, as their ability to capture the best in OSDM of a slightly technical variety deserves wider global appeal.
