There are very few bands that manage to sweep over the metal world in a miasma that truly grips the global scene with an unrelenting attitude. Whenever it happens you won’t stop hearing about the band for months or even years. Alkaloid was definitely such a phenomenon with the release of their debut album a few years back, but I was one of the few people that didn’t check the album out (how dare I, right?), but today I plan to rectify that as Alkaloid releases their sophomore effort. The word tantalizing simply doesn’t capture the spirit of this record enough but it’s all I got right now.

I didn’t originally know that a former member of Obscura was in this group so first hearing “Liquid Anatomy” was mind-blowing with the thought of complete random dudes managing to put together such a detailed, complex, and diverse record seemingly without breaking a sweat. It all makes sense knowing someone who was behind Obscura definitely makes things make more sense, but don’t think that makes me believe “Liquid Anatomy” is any less awesome because of it. The over hour-long experience that Alkaloid has crafted here is the sort of thing that can’t just be whipped together, called an album, and boom you’ve a success, but “Liquid Anatomy” makes it look so fucking easy that it’s not even funny. Every second of this record you’re drenched in a marvelous menagerie of some of the most dynamic and progressive death metal we’ve ever heard over the course of all of metal. We’re treated to clean vocals mixed with tasty growls, ridiculous instrumentation that just melts your brain into goop, a diversity between tracks that always keeps you guessing because every track is distinct, and then an overwhelming sense of musicianship and quality that permeates every microsecond of “Liquid Anatomy”. It all comes together flawlessly to allow Alkaloid to once again become the talk of the metal world, and it’s not hard to see why.

It was very difficult for me to write that paragraph, honestly. There’s so fucking much happening within the confines of “Liquid Anatomy” that it’s an absolute glory to behold in its unadulterated grandeur but an immeasurable task to analyze before putting it into words that make sense. “Liquid Anatomy” is a record of many words, but there’s one word that can fit the record (I solved the earlier problem): transcendent.

LISTEN to “Liquid Anatomy” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Alkaloid on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Alkaloid on Twitter: @AlkaloidBand