Review Summary: Oh... I thought The Dillinger Escape Plan broke up last year. And didn't Opeth stop growling?
First impressions are always a very important part of discovering new artists. Sure, they can be deceptive and not always good, but a good first impression is necessary for unkown artists to really give their new listeners something to make them want to keep listening. Replacire were a band that for me, did just that. Up until this year, I had NEVER heard ANYTHING about these guys. The only way I found out about this album was taking a look through Season of Mist's youtube channel in order to keep up with this year's new releases, and Season of Mist has been a goldmine for great music so far this year. The new Solstafir record is brilliant, Merrimack's new album was a pleasant surprise, and the new Benighted record is one of the most stunningly brutal I've heard all year. That said, Replacire's Do Not Deviate is Season of Mist's best release so far this year, and one of the most unique and memorable technical death metal albums I have ever heard. Look out metal community... Replacire are here to *** *** up and make you love every minute of it.
I may have already hinted at it in the tagline, but I think it's worth mentioning clearly that if you're a fan of The Dillinger Escape Plan or Opeth, you will love this. It combines the technicality and unpredictable chaos of Dillinger with the powerful vocals, progressive overtones, and melodic traces of Opeth to create a sound that is surprisingly very unique. The songs are all fairly concise, and nothing seems to drag on forever or exist for no reason. Even the interlude, which is nothing more than a 1-minute piano rendition of the clean vocal melody from the opening track "Horsestance," adds some depth to the album and fits in perfectly. Technical death metal (in my opinion at least) doesn't have much of a reputation for keeping the sound consistent yet varied enough to keep albums from dragging, but this isn't a problem here at all. It's a sort of magic most bands can't boast, and the kind that elevates an album from good to great status.
Personal favorite tracks on this album will vary from listener to listener, but there are without a doubt many to be found. Opening track "Horsestance" is a ferocious, scathing track with a fantastic melody, and "Spider Song" features some of the best melodic moments on this album, along with some of the heaviest. The title track is a fast, groovy and incredibly memorable song, and the beautifully titled "Moonbred Chains" follows similarly. The album's longest song, the 5-minute track "Cold Repeater" is a huge standout that features one of the album's most chill-inducing moments, and "Built Upon the Grave of He Who Bends" is a track I also highly recommend. Every note of this album is designed to dazzle listeners and throw them off in every way imaginable. Bass solos, blasts, clean vocals, dissonant riffs, shifting rhythms, and pretty much anything that would give prog metal lovers an eargasm can be found somewhere on this album, and that's not something I can say for most of what I've heard this year... or ever. It's an instant classic in every sense of the word.
Do Not Deviate is everything you would ever want from a good tech-death album, and even more than that. Not only is it amazingly unique and mind bending, but it's one of the biggest middle fingers to the sophomore slump I've ever heard, and one of the best examples of an underground band making an identity for themselves despite a minimal fan base. Maybe it isn't exactly an album that's on the radar for a lot of people, but it just goes to show that sometimes it takes a little bit of digging to find gold. If you are a fan of metal, prog, or just great music in general, Do Not Deviate is a mandatory listen, and one that will easily stand the test of time beyond this year. Replacire are a band that have truly risen up above their contemporaries and become a very powerful entity after the release of only two albums, and hopefully many more to come. So to all of the death metal bands preparing to release albums this year, good luck... you're up against some pretty tough competition.
