There are some albums that change your entire life. The beautiful essence of musical endowment cannot be paralleled by anything else, and the profound discovery of self identity and expression has no comparison. Golden albums of expression range all over the stupendous musical spectrum. I still remember the day I heard the glorious, ringing tones of
Someday Came Suddenly; it taught me many lessons about self-worth, expression of feelings and awkward yoga. I still remember, as one does an unforgettable summer moment of violet and lilac kisses, the chaotic drones and visceral passion of
Plutonian Herd; that experience changed the way I saw music for the better forever; no more would untalented, base screams be tolerated. The day in my mind could never be purged when I heard the atmospheric tinge of
Skeleton Veiled In Flesh; the incredibly dense and powerful tones left a mark in my mind so deep I threw out every Corrupted CD that had ever poisoned my ears with its filth. So, surely, as understanding, intelligent internet associates, you can understand the joy I was overcome with, completely drowned in, when my ears heard the effervescent, resplendent sovereign tones of Brain Drill for the first time. I ran to the hills, overjoyed, kissed a tree and cried the manliest tears that ever been wept. Though flawless, aggressive and abstruse, it lacked a certain integrity that I prayed night and day they would remedy in their upcoming effort.
Thankfully, they heard the loud voice of their audiences, for what worked on
Apocalyptic Feasting works, functions and performs even better on
Quantum Catastrophe. The leads are more coherent, singular and expressive, the riffs are deadlier and heavier, and the vocals are huger than ever; huger than anything I could ever conceive of, huger than anything lesser bands like Neurosis could ever possibly come up with even crescendos and booming explosive finales. Gigantic size, in fact, is what the band seem to be going for, as if they could not contain the inherent manliness endowed in themselves; their sound is more cacophonous than anything I have ever heard. Their sophomore effort was incredible, but it just wasn’t all there. The size reached on this album is deafening, and not because of the song structures, structures that cohesive bands like Thrice could take a lesson or two from. The artistic, inherent value found in the clamor generated by this album is one unparalleled by anything I have ever experienced. Upon hearing this album for the first time, its stature struck me so hard I fell to my knees and burned every deathcore CD in sight, knowing the genre to be inferior in every way imaginable to the glorious supremacy of tech-death and this, the obvious leader of the genre. The leads are so gigantic, one could burn dragons and eat children to it, and feel no shame afterwards, as though listening to other moving bands, like Dragonforce (whose lyrical perfection I shall also mention again later).
But of course, the riffs and lines were always perfect for Brain Drill, more impeccable than anything disgusting bands like Gorguts, Monstrosity and Gorod could ever achieve stylistically or instrumentally. In fact, tech-death as a genre needs to follow the flagship example set by
Quantum Catastrophe. It is musically transcendental in every physical implementation possible. Do you want beautiful, heart wrenching leads? You got them. Do you want riffs so catchy, so huge and so completely audible and not ruined by horrible production that you were sure you were hearing the master recording of
Felony? You better believe you got those as well. Do you want a perfectly unassuming bass, one that hints invisibly? Of course you can have that too. Brain Drill seems to cater to the listener’s every whim concerning depth and integrity. This, in fact, is, despite being abundantly, excessively clear in the instrumental scope, which is dominated by complicated, diverse drumming and unique, diverse leads that are as technical as a 20-piece puzzle, pales in comparison to the musical flourish provided by the lyrical contributions. I could describe their qualities with an endless array of words in essence, but that would only begin to begin to describe them. Here, in its glory, is a quote:
The end is coming soon.
Humanity has reached its doom.
Fire falls from the sky.
The earth erupts into flames.
This displays the joy and wonder of the vocalist, who clearly takes an interest in the going ons of his planet. It, however, goes much deeper. See, doom is a pun that also represents the apex of human achievement; the fire represents the ascension of mankind’s planes, who’s burning fuel frees fiery fluids into the air. Truly, if you were to scour the depths of Nietzsche, Kant and Seuss, you would never find something as touching and earthen as the topics discussed on these albums.
I could go on and on about how this album changed me, about how it has ascended the throne of musical sovereignty alongside
Knives and
Hate Culture, whose deep vibes of passion and power touched me in ways I dare not mention here. Listen to it. Bask in its glory. Live its life and find the person inside you. You will never hear anything better than this for at least 2 years, when Brain Drill will release their magnum opus, I suspect. Enjoy, and thank me later.
