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Not the most original technical album, but still an intense ride.-
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| Illogicist: The Unconsciousness of Living |
Technical Death Metal
Willowtip Records
November 1st, 2011
- Ghosts of Unconsciousness - 5:38
- Hypnotized - 6:20
- Perceptions from the Deceiving Memory - 5:42
- The Mind Reaper - 4:57
- A Past Defeated Suffering - 5:46
- The Same Old Collision - 5:41
- Misery of a Profaned Soul - 4:53
- A Never Ending Fall - 6:00
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| Review Information |
Release length: 44:57
Review posted on October 17th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Subjected (2004) • The Insight Eye (2007) • The Unconsciousness of Living (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
Polymorphism of Death (2002) • Dissonant Perspectives (2003)
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| Review |
Illogicist has been around for a long time now, having actually formed back in 1997. This Italy-based Technical Death Metal group has a pretty strong cult following amongst fans of the style, and the reason it's more of an underground kind of sense is due to the group's small discography and not really venturing into major Metal label territory, having spent time with Crash Music, and recently Willowtip Records. At this point, the group has only issued two full-length albums, the last being The Insight Eye which proved to be a huge success and gained a lot of attention to those willing to give them a chance when it dropped around 2007. About four years later, Illogicist went back into the studio and recorded their third full-length album as they approach their fifteen year anniversary of being an active band. The Unconsciousness of Living finds the group on Willowtip again, but does this effort have what it takes to compare to their previous effort and meet the expectations of their fan base?
The music to The Unconsciousness of Living sounds great, having a bit of a sleeking digital sound to the audio without becoming too sterile as far as the edge of Death Metal intensity goes. The guitars here are not really that blunt to capture the heavier sound common to the style, having a bit of a higher pitch to them, and the same goes to the bass, but the technical aspect of the chords mixed with how well the two guitars sound together amid the highly varying layers they offer really is what makes these two work. The bass essentially doesn't follow the guitars in a simple pattern to back them up and add a more blunt edge to the sound, and the focus of allowing the bass to be it's own presence on the album a little more then with traditional bands, following concepts laid out by other technical acts such as Atheist, really just makes the music sound rich, especially given the tight performances between the two. The drums are really where the heavier impact derives from, and it's fantastic to hear. The bass kicks have a loud thud to them that makes the music somewhat deeper and essentially takes over that blunt supporting role the bass guitar traditionally has. On top of that you have tight, heavy asounding snares with cymbol crashes that come through loud without overtaking any other instrument and add more of an epic, commanding vibe to the music. Of course, the vocals are not your typical gutturals, which is always nice to a release like this, being more a higher pitched rhaspier take on gutturals, again allowing references to Atheist, which compliments the higher pitch to the guitars and bass, though some deeper gutturals can be found backing them up at random times.
Those above audio traits shine through nicely with the technical introduction of "Ghost of Unconsciousness." The more technical semi-groovey start really shows how much an impact the drums have to the mix, though the bass doesn't really get to shine through as much until later in the song. Even when the song actually starts, the guitars themselves sound pretty heavy and loud as they work together more to create an energetic, dominating sound. But, some of the bridges here, as well as the chorus gives the bass guitar a chance to add a little more of the chaotic-in-atmosphere additional layer to the mix though still sticking within the more uniform technical layout. There's also a brief moment where only the bass sticks out, coming off more as a solo before the music crashes back in, and it really shows the important of this instrument in the mix compared to the others. This is one of the few songs that does allow the bass to be a bit buried at any time as the rest of the album really seems to make it a point of having it as a more important element despite it still feeling like it's in the background more.
While the additional presence does stand out, it's often nothing too spectacular, actually coming across a little simpler compared to the main guitars. Some of the time it does just feel like it's certain notes going up and down the neck to go from a louder volume chord set to a deeper sound, and then back again. This ends up coming through more on some songs then others, such as "Perceptions from the Deceiving Memory." The song itself is great and really does work well with the bass presence, but that specific approach feels a bit abused throughout this song compared to others. Those moments are more towards the more mid-tempo approach to the music, but during songs where the guitars sound heavier or just generally have more of a groove base to them, such as "The Mind Reaper," you definitely feel that both guitar-based instruments contibute a little more complexity to the music, which is what really becomes astounding on this release, allowing for natural yet knee-jerking transitions in pace that do feel fluid with well executed transitions, as well as sometimes can feel a little mechanical in a physical sense and not in a robotic unenergetic form. This really gives "The Mind Reaper" more of a commanding feel to it with a generally darker and more intense atmosphere behind it that other songs here tend to lack in favor of an edgier bass-driven sound to show off the technical timing of the music. This isn't to say songs like "Perceptions from the Deceiving Memory" are bad, as they do still stand out well, they just don't highlight the band's abilities to the style as well as others on this effort do.
While not every track seems to have guitar solos here, the ones that do come off very impressive at times, while others just feel rather minimal in comparison to the music already being performed. This happens to be the case with "A Past Defeated Suffering." This track's heavier, intense, more march-like sound mixed with some varying levels of technicality has the prime opportunity to really build a stand-out solo against such a strong song. Sadly, it seems the opportunity is missed and instead gives off as minimal a solo as possible. This is also met with a bit of a breakdown at the end that suits the song but seems to lose a bit of the energy and intensity that made the track so enjoyable to begin with. Luckily this is one of the only times where it seems the band does this, showing up once again on the following track "Misery of a Profaned Soul" a little past the halfway mark, as well as one of the few tracks that the solo feels lacking. The following song "The Same Old Collision" does leave this open for debate though. The solo here is pretty good and lasts a little longer with a bit more substance to it, and there's a passage that follows it that is rather technical and faast paced that you could look at as a solo or just a random entry to the song itself without going off into that sort of explanation behidn it.
There's nothing to really say negatively about the album other then the aforementioned bass lines becoming a little repetitive, but this issue seems to clear up as the album progresses. "Misery of a Profaned Soul" is really the only song to do this again after "Perceptions from the Deceiving Memory," but even then it doesn't really feel as abused as it did earlier on in the release. That and perhaps the solos varying from impressive to minimalist throughout the release is something that does leave you feeling a little let down. The album's intensity also does make up for some of these and other repetitive elements such as the placement of the breakdowns that seem to hit later on. Of course the album really does have a strong influence from Atheist, possibly even other acts that came after that such as Obscura with the dominant bass presence. Sadly, it does sound like this group does rip off the first of the two a bit more then they should, though there's some additional groove aspects to some tracks that gives this album a more unique sound, and the talent to create such impressive material with such a tight performance is really something worth taking note of despite the similarities you can pull from song to song.
In the end, The Unconsciousness of Living does make for a strong album from start to finish, though not the most original offering you can find the style. The energy here is found on every track in abundance, though sometimes elements can be a bit repetitive, or in the cases of the guitar solos can feel a little lacking. If you enjoy tight and technical material, then Illogicist do not fail to impress the masses once more, especially for fans of their last album. The more modern sound of the recording brings enough intensity with it despite some of the lighter pitches in the guitars and bass that you'll feel the commanding atmospheres and a whole other degree of both intensity and Death Metal brutality, making The Unconsciousness of Living an album well worth checking out.
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