Into the Moat

With the recent weakening of subgenre mainstays the Dillinger Escape Plan and the utter saturation of melodic metalcore doubtlessly approaching, a resurgence of intricately written, competently played tech metal is a welcome breath of comparatively fresh air. More death metal oriented and aggressive than Dillinger or Ion Dissonance (no doubt partially due to the absolutely crushing production courtesy of Hate Eternal’s Erik Rutan), Into the Moat also inject a healthy dose of fusion and free jazz into their already somewhat cluttered approach to songwriting, which needless to say makes The Design a tad too much too handle for most. Those who can stomach this sort of stomach-churning time changes and complete lack of structure will be hard-pressed to find a more compelling release in recent memory. Occasionally resembling a more polished, progressive Burnt by the Sun, this debut full-length is essentially an endless barrage of technical fury, although rest assured, Into the Moat are no slouches when it comes to the breakdowns. Rocking credibility across the board with the chops to back it up, Into the Moat doubtlessly have a wealth of opportunity ahead of them, and for once, the hype is well and truly justified.