These French psychos from Lyon don’t bring anything new to the table and they sure as hell aren’t rewriting death metal history, but on Cognitive Extinction they just let the full-on brutality and technical madness run wild and I actually enjoy putting this one on repeat.
It’s a damn good record that hits every single requirement I have for proper brain-grinding death metal rituals. Eight tracks of no-mercy, high-octane violence that opens with “Mind Fracture” with the pulverising drums and throat-splitting growls kick the door clean off. From there it’s pure destruction: frantic machine-gun bass that never lets up, infectious riffs that feel like concrete slabs to the skull. The bass gets its moments too - rumbling low passages and tight solos that lock everything together like it’s supposed to.
Only two guys remain from the original EP line-up (guitarist Vincent Morelle and bassist Jérôme Camus), but the new blood - drummer Thô Jarret and vocalist Mathieu Jarret - sounds locked in after all those tours. Mathieu’s vocals switch from deep bestial growls to shriller screams and morbid howls without ever sounding like he’s just ticking boxes - on “Thirst for Rot” he straight-up sounds possessed, especially when the Death-Thrash solos and sweeping melodic leads come in and make it probably the standout track. “Synaptic Decay” has that neck-snapping pace with a melodic guitar solo and tight bass solo that cuts through the chaos perfectly, “Neurocide” feels like artillery fire with rumbling bass and cut-and-thrust riffs built for the pit, “Invasive Thoughts” is all rapid-fire riffs and eerie atmosphere, “Synthetic Abyss” gives you that tiny twelve-second breather before diving back into the venom, and the title track powers through with menacing chord changes before the final third hits you with rich melody and a suitably fitting sample that closes the whole thing out like a proper mindfuck.
The production (drums recorded with ex-Benighted guy Kévin Paradis, everything mixed and mastered by Thibault Bernard at Convulsound) nails that sweet spot - old-school massive death metal grit with modern punch. Massive, raw, uncompromising, no filler, no safe nostalgia cosplay. It’s technical enough to make you appreciate the precision on repeat listens but brutal enough that it just grinds your brain into paste the first time through.
If you’re into good death metal shit - and you listen to it with your heart instead of your brain, then there’s really nothing left to argue about.
Thanks to Grand Sounds PR.
