Pretty sure I said this before, but it’s not like you’ve read every story on here. Anyway, technical death metal often isn’t totally my thing, because so much of it sounds antiseptic, robotic. Very well-rehearsed and stunningly well-played, it often forgets to add the heart and the blood and the imagination. But not always.
Leeds, England, death metal power Cognizance very obviously have impressive chops, but they also make records that feel like an adventure, keeping your brain moving and your ideas smashing into synapses. Their great fifth record “In Light, No Shape” bombards you with strength and challenges your will to adventure in your brain, even as you take on heavy bruising. That’s especially since the band—vocalist/guitarist Alex Baillie, guitarist Apostolis Karydis, bassist Chris Binns, drummer David Diepold—sustained a loss in ranks with the departure of vocalist Henry “Big Mac” Pryce, yet they turned this around two years after “Phantazein,” and they sound no worse for wear. They destroy here.
“Transient Fixations” starts clean before the cleaver drops, guitars gutting as the growls bury, proggy turns cutting into your psyche, draining brain chemicals. The playing drives as fluid guitars ice wounds, gliding through a wall of blades. “Inflection Chants” is melodic, clobbering hard, the growls churning as the guitars torch, the notes bubbling over. Soloing goes off and electrifies, an airy, yet techy attack jolting, everything disappearing in spacious skies. “A Game of Proliferation” is reflective at first, kinetic jarring shaking bones, snarling growls crawling underneath a blanket of smoke. Howls tangle as the muddiness increases, everything coming to a gritty end. “Chasm” bludgeons, the leads barnstorming, the choppy waters evening, the vocals deepening and getting ugly. The guitars brighten, drubbing with calculating power, an atmospheric gush flattening. “Vertical Illusion” trickles over torn flesh, thrashing as the howls scrape, a beastly attack taking you to the ground. The pace flurries as the leads tangle, the solo swells, and the battle mangles to the end.
“A Reconfiguration” has guitars stretching, smoke rising, and strange playing making your flesh crawl. The playing swelters as the atmosphere increases, the fury multiplying and melting into cosmic dust. “Witness Marks” dawns morbidly, monstrous growls choking, churning in brutality as blood dots the ground. A spacey feel settles in as the riffs spiral, speed becomes a greater factor, and throaty wells battle into a synth cloud. “Subterranean Incantation” has a strange alien feel before it begins bruising, aching growls punishing, feeling infernal. Guitars blow up and gush light, raucous energy charging and melting into the night. “Induced Contortions” wages war, flattening as the guitars sprawl, the vocals battering and leaving brush burns. The leads spiral as the drums spatter, tricky guitars taking unconventional angles and bending steel. Closer “The Zone” lands punches, the abrasive nature multiplying, the playing gutting with ferocity. Leads light up and spread as the tempo spasms, guitars blurring and fading.
Cognizance prove, again, that it is possible to make technically proficient music with character and charisma, and “In Light, No Shape” has all the evidence you’ll ever need. Both sonically violent and creatively impressive, this album can leave you mangled but also strangely reinvented psychologically. Turning around something this good shortly after a major lineup shift couldn’t have been easy, but here we are with this monster on our hands.
For more on the band, go here: https://cognizance.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://www.willowtip.com/store/default.aspx
For more on the label, go here: https://www.willowtip.com/home.aspx
Meat Mead Metal 