Tech-death! Yes! We remember Chuck Schuldiner and Mohammed Suicmez (that’s Necrophagist in case you aren’t aware) and all that from the 90s and noughties, don’t we? Really incisive playing, some intricate and flowy grooves, and a surprisingly expansive production style. This was before John Petrucci’s chocolate cake and the wall-of-sound approach of the last decade’s prog metal wave. It was an interesting time for metal in general. The thrash scene was entrenched in the mainstream but was being taken over by (the great) boybands; metal seemed like it had to go into a more layered, almost rawer place. That’s the place Kolkata band Thirst Of Faust goes to on their new single ‘Aftermath’. Whee!

This is really interesting (in the most literal sense of the word) material. The drums go from doom-y slowness to furious blasts faster than you can sprain your neck; guitars are definitely thick enough for modern standards but have something of an airy, almost light feeling to them. The mix is letting things breathe here, and the raspy guitar tones do very well when thrown again an almost comically precise and squeaky-clean drum track. The band also decides to go through sections without much preamble, so every few seconds is a left hook of sorts. What’s smart about it is that each little section has its own style of vocal delivery to go with it. This achieves the intended effect. Big blast? Yup, out of nowhere. Breakdown? Yeah, heavier than you think. Sudden changes? All over the place. Now, ‘Aftermath’ follows a bit of a risky path; bands that take such a rollercoaster approach to their music often end up making scatterbrained pabulum. Not this time though. Kudos!