An instance where the catchy artwork and title intrigues me to pick up a record for review. Hailing from Berlin and founded during the time of pandemic, When Theia Created The Moon tries to create a mixture of crazy, yet sparkly and bang-dance through its song. The band just dropped their debut EP “Would it Kill Us not to Kill Us?” and I am here to discuss it.
Beginning with sampled audio clip, The EP opening track “Maelstrom Juggernaut” starts off with sludgy riffs from initial minutes before quickly bleeding into ferociousness of old-school death metal. Showcasing rapid drums with technical riffs, with even instances of shreddy licks - it bridges the gap of modern and old death metal sound. Halfway through the song features riffs with emotional and melodic touch to it, creating an ambient progressive soundscape.
“Remnants of Existence” begins with marching drums with melodic riffs on top. The biggest take however is the presence of the Saxophone. With extreme forms of rhythm, the saxophone parts add to the melodic overtone in the first half of the song, reminding of instances like “Autotheist Movement Pt.3” by The Faceless or “Chapter III: Ashvattha Awaits” by The Last of Lucy. The second half of the song features baroque inspired guitar solo dueling with Saxophone solo.
The last track “Thanatochronos” showcases ferocity and brutality with technical songwriting. With many dynamic changes, the song shifts from moments of absolute mayhem to calmer parts - transporting the listener to the 90s era of progressive death metal with Atheist, Pestilence, Cynic and Death. This track wastes no moment to showcase the superior quality of songwriting during its run-time.
The production of the EP is in the style of bands like Obituary and Deicide. The guitars showcase a wide range of inspiration from genres of old-school death metal, black metal, modern death metal, tech-death and progressive death. The drums and bass add to the much needed tightness and precision to the sound. The vocal textures seem like a blend of death and black metal vocals (The texture almost reminds me of Nergal) The effort of superior songwriting quality is evident through its running moments. With three songs being almost six minutes length - it manages to hook the listener till the end!
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Website: https://www.facebook.com/WTCTM
Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Technical Death Metal
Worldwide Release: February 5th, 2022.
