The influencing bands that created the perfect environment for technical death metal to become the absolute beast of a style that it is today can be narrowed down pretty easily albeit splitting hairs at some point. While the infancy of the style goes back some years, it wasn’t all that long ago where it was quite scant by all standards with only a couple of acts that could be named by the layman. But, it’s my firm belief that a handful of key releases helped ignite the style to become as we see it now with First Fragment’s “Dasein” undeniably near the top influencers. It’s been a long five years to see what else First Fragment could craft, and it’s with the release of this new opus that I can’t help but feel the release was beyond worth it.

Right out of the gate, the bar is set almost impossibly high. “Dasein” was and still is a truly monolithic boon to the entire world of technical death metal without question, and there surely aren’t very many bands that could claim they weren’t influenced by what First Fragment pulled off five years ago. That makes the brain wonder, though – how could First Fragment top such an effort? Could they even do it? It could be literally any track taken from the utter technical masterpiece of “Gloire Éternelle” that one could see just how much First Fragment has grown in their silence with the album as a whole being a true experience of tear-inducing glory that extends for over seventy minutes that I truly believe won’t be topped or even equaled for several years. With a flamenco flair that permeates everything about the record down to its very soul that gels almost too well with the otherworldly kind of musicianship that First Fragment puts on display at all times here, “Gloire Éternelle” never once leaves the listener feeling as though there are any missed opportunities or bungled executions with every possible inch of the effort truly showing us what technical death metal can become when it’s taken to extreme lengths by true masters of the craft that are able to deliver the goods in peak condition without an ounce of compromise or failure to be had for the whole of “Gloire Éternelle”.

The very legacy and history of First Fragment is but the prelude to the ingenious creation that we’ve been gifted with here as we’re treated to a singularly epic creation that is virtually all but genre-defining with it not only being one of the very best albums of the year but one of the very best that technical death metal has dealt out for some years. Any excursion into “Gloire Éternelle” will be well-rewarded with a gorgeous display of wondrous extremity more than enough to sway the hearts of many who hear it, and I would dare any fan of the style to come out of this magnificent journey and not be swayed by what they had just experienced.

LISTEN to “Gloire Éternelle” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE First Fragment on Facebook here.