Starting as a solo project but growing into so much more, Autocatalytica released their full length album Powerclashing Maximalism less than a week ago, mixing what seems to be every single musical genre into one album.
"Borndun" kicks the album off immediately, sweeping you off your feet if you are not ready. Even though it is influenced heavily by Meshuggah, you can still hear the diversion the band took away and their own creative take to make the song their own. The eerie clean vocals mixed with the in your face screams is complemented by the change in pacing of the song. The ambience underneath the cleans will have you swaying from side to side, quickly switching back to the distorted guitar and screams will have you snapping your neck back and forth.
Second off the album is "Zippler" and it keeps the pace with incredibly fast guitar and slamming drums, layering violin over top that makes expands the song to fill the room. Just like the previous song, the ebbs and flows of the song's timing and pace of the instruments grabs your attention and keeps you guessing for how it will progress. "Zippler" has an incredibly powerful vocal performance, you can hear the emotion in every word delivered, be it the singing or the screaming.
"Cheggo" sits as the fourth song, and is a complete change to the first two songs on this review. Acoustic guitar dances through the speakers, spewing jazz from every note. The strange time signatures will have you mixing a bit of swaying with headbanging, keeping you on your toes as the music takes you away. Don't misinterpret the instrumental for a lack of emotion, for emotion bleeds through the guitar and will touch your soul, making you want to close your eyes and fall into the soundscape that the song creates.
This album is a must for your collection if you are a fan of Meshuggah, Devin Townsend or Protest the Hero. This quick overview of the album does not do enough justice.
Band Members
Eric Thorfinnson: Guitar/Vox/Production Erik Sorensen: Guitar William Purcell : Bass Emmett "Daniels" Ceglia: Drums
Features on the album:
Drums on tracks 1,2,3,4,5 & 7 by Neilroy Miranda
Screams on tracks 1,2,3 & 5 by Gary Walsh
Clean Vocals, lyrics on tracks 1,3 & 5 by Scott Carruthers
Clean Vocals, lyrics on track 2 by Devlin Flynn
Clean Vocals on track 7 by Amy Beth Anders
Saxophone on track 4 by Derek Serbin
Violin on tracks 1 & 2 by Laura C. Bates
Guitar Solo on track 1 by Jeffrey Corcoran
Track 8 written by Erik Sorensen, arranged by Eric Thorfinnson