School me on technical death metal: Atheist, Origin, etc

Thanks! I bought every Death album up to and including Human, which I liked, but I guess I should hear those final few? I've heard of (not heard) Sarcofago and Necrophagist, the other names are new to me.

My favorite Death album was always the least popular one (Spiritual Healing) though I guess that one also isn't very tech-y. I might like Human a lot more now. I probably wasn't ready for it when it was released.

yeah I think Human is the best thing they did, Symbolic isn't really as 'tech'-y but the songwriting is beautiful, Individual Thought Patterns is tech-y (and heavy) as fuck. and Sound of Perseverance wasn't quite up to the albums before it but shows they went out at the top of their game (RIP Chuck)

Human was the first death metal album I bought and it fucking blew my mind

I love a tech band called Illogicist fwiw, just love em to pieces

one of my favorite tech death bands is anata and i basically recommend any of their albums, though i think my favorite is the first, the infernal depths of hatred

oh man yeah co-sign Anata. I'm fond of Under A Stone With No Inscription. Also a plug for the Unholy Ghost album, more brutal than tech but pretty intricate and a lot of fun to me

Anata is insane!! Thanks for that recommendation. I think the drum fill near the beginning of "Shackled To Guilt" is one of the longest I've ever heard. Definitely need to investigate further.

Disappointed that the other Cynic albums don't have the vocoder vocals from Focus. Focus is a mind-blower. I picked up a used copy of a later album, and it hasn't left an impression yet; still need to give it the whole 'weed and headphones' test, I guess.

Also on that note, weed really enhances death metal in a way I'd never have previously imagined.

aight being the lifer metalhead I am I feel utterly embarrassed for saying this but...

I just heard Atheist's Piece of Time for the first time today.

idk why I always decided not to listen to it prior to now. I owned Elements at one point but I knew that wasn't what they sounded like. kept saying "hmm tech-death jazz-influenced metal isn't what I'm jonesing for right now".

I get this today and I'm like.....god my ears have a boner.

Atheist is a really cool band -- I like Piece of Time best of all their records, because it's closest to the death/thrash that was going on when they came out, and has that great, crunchy late-80s production. They seemed to get progressively more, er, progressive, and maybe lost a little of that ferocity -- actually, I think they must be the primary influence for a band like Stargazer.

Yeah, each Atheist album is a little more noodly and low-impact than the one before. Piece of Time is fantastic, Unquestionable Presence is also great but the jazz fusion influence is starting to creep in, and Elements goes too far in the wrong direction. And the less said about their reunion album, Jupiter, the better.

If you like the sound of mid-period Death, older Gorguts, Atheist, Pestilence etc, the French band Mercyless had one called Coloured Funeral that fits right in. I assume Anata listened to them.
https://youtu.be/h6gYzPlXYew

When I think "tech death" though I think more of the skinny noodly stuff like Spawn of Possession, Decrepit Birth, Beyond Creation, Obscura, the aforementioned Necrophagist. Kinda dazzling when first heard then quickly spirals into diminishing returns.

I do like Gorod though; they're more in the old school vein of "technical" or "progressive":
https://youtu.be/BVtzh4v9A0Q

OP has heard Gorguts, I hope? Erosion of Sanity, Obscura, From Wisdom to Hate, and Colored Sands are all mandatory.

I also really like Neuraxis; they have a good sense of groove underneath the sci fi stuff:
https://youtu.be/g8sNOZLxjwU

Also Sickening Horror, whom I can't really categorize: https://sfcrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-dead-end-experiment They kinda remind me of Demilich -- so also listen to Demilich.

And then there's Timeghoul, off in their own universe:
https://timeghoul.bandcamp.com/album/1992-1994-discography-digital-download

I tend to be more into the mid-90s Death school. I will admit to liking Necrophagist's second album, but the first time I heard em on their first album, it sounded like Guy Mann-Dude's guitar student playing scales over drum machines.

Here's a lot of it:

https://open.spotify.com/user/thesoundsofspotify/playlist/2fFD2vCjvzLlNegSiITgXf

and if you go through all that and want to work outwards to other related things, start at the top of this list:

http://everynoise.com/everynoise1d.cgi?scope=all&root=technical%20death%20metal

I've tried and tried to enjoy or even give a fuck about Gorguts, but they've never done shit for me.

Neuraxis were really good for a while.

Decrepit Birth started out super-crisp, but headed into a heavy jazz-metal Atheist zone on their most recent album. So did Job For A Cowboy, believe it or not.

Gorguts arguably only became tech-death on Obscura

I did the latest JFAC, but it's the only one I've heard.

I feel like Colored Sands is probably gonna end up as the only tech death album I'll ever need, it floors me every time

I don't even know how to classify Gorguts, which is probably for the best. Obscura and Colored Sands sound nothing alike and nothing like anything else. I'm sure this has something to do with Luc Lemay's compositional approach -- usually when a band says they're classically influenced they mean "Night on Bald Mountain" or "Ride of the Valkyries." Gorguts sounds more like metal versions of Shostakovich string quartets.

Also, from what I recall Steeve Hurdle's fascination with producing unconventional guitar sounds through unconventional playing techniques had a lot to do with that crazy Obscura sound. I love watching those few live vids from that era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wIgyqmda7E&t=322s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wIgyqmda7E

one of the few tech death bands i can get into

it feels like a wildly damning indictment of ILM's priorities that Cryptopsy were never mentioned in the initial run of this thread

love Martyr, I have Feeding the Abscess on LP and it totally rules.

Atheist fucking rule!

Ha although I kind of agree with unperson’s take that by Elements things have kinda soured

ok duh reading the liner notes for the unquestionable presence reissue and it’s obvious now why the next album wasn’t so hot. what a terrible tragedy and loss for humanity :-( I’m impressed they were able to find a player to execute roger’s insane magic

Cynic really intrigues me... I really like the compilation of demos but uhhh I need to get used to the robot vocals on focus. I’m curious as to why it took them so long to release their debut album?

Seemed like they were the absolutely fucking tech-iest players, like their bassist was the only one who could handle Roger’s shit for UP + Chuck calling upon 20 year old Paul Masvidal for Human..

Thanks for this thread revive reminding me of Martyr!
Have had a couple of their albums wishlisted on Bandcamp for a few months now--so good, and the fretless bass is some slinky icing on that older-school tech-death cake

Yeah, Martyr are great. They don't get nearly the respect they deserve.

If you like the sound of mid-period Death, older Gorguts, Atheist, Pestilence etc, the French band Mercyless had one called Coloured Funeral that fits right in. I assume Anata listened to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6gYzPlXYew

I feel like nobody wants to go as nuts out as Atheist anymore. most tech or prog death these days seems to forget to rock while avant-garding it

"Mother Man" and "Piece of Time" are two of the greatest songs written

Hell yes. Also “On They Slay”. The intro to that one is insane.

I feel like nobody wants to go as nuts out as Atheist anymore. most tech or prog death these days seems to forget to rock while avant-garding it

I would mostly agree, but man, I love Obscura. (The German band, not the Gorguts album.)

I also like Desecravity

Linus Klausenitzer (ex-Obscura bassist) is putting out a solo album in October, and the first song kinda rules in an old-Opeth sort of way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_tKf7Mh8Hc

Atheist were great last night. to be clear, Atheist is basically just Kelly and hired guns at this point (similar to Suicidal Tendencies), and Kelly hasn't played guitar live in over a decade due to hand issues (I think arthritis/tendonitis), but the musicians he put together are top notch. "Unholy War" got a pit going but it was funny, people were basically moshing to outright jazz at points. I'll also stan for Elements - people hate it but it was my first Atheist and I like its nerdy noodliness.

really upset we didn't get the Atheist/Cynic package though. Atheist didn't play any additional songs at their solo headliner show, and I've never seen Cynic (granted I know it's just Masvidal and hired guns at this point).

I'll have to check out that solo album. I don't dislike Obscura, I have a few of their albums, and they're solid, but I realllly have to be in the mood for it (though tbf, same with Atheist).

It's definitely not something I listen to every day, but there's something about Klausenitzer's fretless bass sound in a death metal context that really makes my arm hairs stand up.