A lot fo the technical takes on death metal that we see in the current climate of the style tend to allow the instruments to do the talking a good chunk of the time while the vocals still play a vital role, and it’s usually through some minor meandering that these albums are conducted. Flashy solos and fingers dancing across the strings in ways that could make you dizzy adorn those works left and right, but what if we got a band that was more straight forward that still brought plenty of technicalities but kicked up the brutality a lot to make for a listen akin to an audial meat grinder? Abnormality has been doing just that for years, but it’s with their upcoming album that they’ve perfected such an idea.

An upscale in brutality and mixing it with some classy technical death metal is far from anything new we’ve seen as acts like, to name my favorite, Azooma do it splendidly. What Abnormality has done here, though, is something that you can really appreciate if you’ve heard their earlier material. It was in the same vein as you might imagine, but it’s “Sociopathic Constructs” that brings it all together fantastically so that it all culminates into a cohesive lecture of murderous death metal with each track ranging in expertly taught lessons in vicious technicality to exquisite vocals that are always immaculate to a real sense of brutality that’s always crushing down on your spirit so that Abnormality never immensely potent. “Sociopathic Constructs” manages to perfectly balance the concept of the brutality of the world of brutal death metal along with the craziness of the realm of technical death metal, and there isn’t a single thing I could ask to be different about for this as Abnormality nails everything virtually with no misstep as they bound from one skull crushing song to the next.

It’s only through acts like Allegaeon and Azooma that I’ve seen anything close to this, not to say that they’re shit compared to this or Abnormality reigns supreme in my eyes, but it’s different enough so that “Sociopathic Constructs” feels fresh despite not doing anything massively new or innovative to the style that Abnormality has been calling their own, and you can tell just from a few songs that it’s here they’ve become true masters of their craft. Bringing together the realms of brutal and technical death metal sounds like a dream come true, and it is if it’s handled properly. I truly cannot think of any band more suited to that task than Abnormality, and should anyone have a single shred of doubt about this immensely destructive band then just sit your ass down and blast “Sociopathic Constructs” for by the end you’ll be no more than bone dust and red paste begging for more!

Seeing a band master their sound after listening to them on and off for a few years is a very rewarding experience and I’m very happy to see Abnormality do that here as their sound has always been brimming with promise and potency, but they never managed to find that really nice sweet spot for me before this record. Along with Allegaeon, Abnormality is an act that must be known for the quintessential tech-death records of the year, and it’s not hard to see why after just a single spin of the merciless effort that is “Sociopathic Constructs”.

“Sociopathic Constructs” releases on May 10th via Metal Blade Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Sociopathic Constructs” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Abnormality on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Abnormality on Twitter: @abnormalityband