Taking a journey within one’s mind to get a greater understanding of who we are can be an incredibly rewarding experience but also a stressful one. As many things we can learn about ourselves and our journeys that gives us what we need to have a fuller existence, the exploration and the path can be strenuous both mentally and physically, leasing to exhaustion. Even if the effort is a fruitful one.
Taking on “Evolvement,” the debut full-length from progressive death metal force Tegmentum, lets you take that trip and also levels you with their creative powers. Progressive death metal is a section of extreme music that has exploded well beyond its bounds, and honestly, it’s a style of music that wears on me and rarely gives me something for which to be excited. But then there are bands like this one where its members—vocalist Chelsea Murphy, guitarist Michael Ball, bassist Kenji Tsunami, drummer Andrew Baird—obviously are incredibly capable players but never just lean into that alone. There’s a lot of heart and soul woven into this intergalactic sojourn, so you actually feel the music rather than absorb the virtuosity. These four bring experience from other forces such as Worm of Ouroboros, Ontogeny, Fallujah, Cailleach Calling, and plenty of others, and they use those skills they sharpened there to make Tegmentum an even more intense beast.
“Innocuous” features Yvette Young of Covet and cellist Jerry Liu, so we’re already neck-deep in a lot of great players combining for what’s essentially an intro track, and an immersive one. The track is breezy and spacey, gently spilling as the clouds part, strings ache, and we’re headed into “Moments Ago” that surges and explodes with shrieks from Murphy. The playing is monstrous and crushing, guitars swelling as giant melodies swallow you up, and scorching heat comes on the back-end, crushing and then bleeding away. “Accolades” features Young again, and the track lands punches, the leads taking off for the stars. Roars destroy as the base rumbles and scathes, mauling as molten chaos feels like it bleeds from your pores. The track turns muddy and jarring, the strings pull at your guts, and clean singing jars muscles, everything ending in a burly blast. “Amygdala” (side note: mine is commonly not my friend) twists with anxious tension, the raw howls bruising, down-tuned power spitting mud and drubbing brains. Clean guitars drip as the playing smooshes, the menace creeping down your spine, howls piling up, the guitars then going off. The track goes on a prog-infested zap into the cosmos, tangling and speeding, the calm then coming in doses, crushing out into a haze of sound.
“Emergent Properties” is a jolting, manic display, stretching and retching, a violent interlude that turns into “Genetic Assimilation” that includes Nik Sampson (of Devilment and also the current bassist for the legendary Benediction), and it dawns with beastly howls, crushing with power, the sounds twisting and contorting as your own mental edge is frayed. The leads take off and coil around your brain, the pace steamrolling and electrifying, exploding with brutality that’s doubled by Murphy’s ferocious vocals, everything ending in universal panic. “I Remain” contains contributions from Noah Frank and opens in blistering fire, the growls snarling in your belly, tricky and furious playing having its way with your mind. The heat doubles and becomes impossible to handle, and then Frank’s horns wash in and add a sense of calm, adding a sultry element to twisted devastation. The pace completely darkens, the playing turns grisly, and hellish howls round out into terror. Closer “Gospel of Sand” is an interesting one, beginning tricky and proggy, spiraling and slaying as vile intentions become apparent. The playing mauls as the soloing chars, leading into colder waters that bring down the temperature, but that’s a trick as madness is waiting behind the door. The playing comes unglued and manages to scramble your senses even further, and the final stretch sounds like an unsettling and freezing horror soundscape, the one that makes you feel like danger is nipping at your security.
Tegmentum’s impressive debut “Evolvement” rises many levels above many of the other gray, faceless bands that have tried this same style and don’t resonate much beyond the impressive playing. This band has a creative, fiery heart that keeps you tuned into everything going on, and Murphy has proved time and again to be a compelling, dexterous vocalist capable of many twists and turns. This is a firebreather of an album that hints that as good as this is, the future might be even more exciting.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/tegmentummetal
To buy the album, go here: https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/store
For more on the label, go here: https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/
Meat Mead Metal 