Mephistopheles

You may think that Psycroptic are the only Tasmanian extreme technical death metal band, but here come Mephistopheles (now featuring ex-Psycroptic vocalist Matthew "Chalky" Chalk) to prove you wrong on their second album (and Willowtip debut). They waste no time cutting to the chase on multi-hued opener "Pariahs of the Universe," which handles all the requisite twists and turns technical death requires, with the frustrating lack of identity or humanity that often comes hand in hand with the genre. By stuttering, stilted second track "Silver Doors," it's obvious whether this is your trip or not. The vocals are more screamed than Cookie Monstered, and some melody creeps into the tunes, which, at their lightest, approach melodic prog metal territory. "Soldiers of the Endtime" and "The Great Orbs Beyond the Skies" even feature some melodic singing, while "Battle of the Sea and Sky" demonstrates some grinding groove that would make Canadian tech-deathsters proud. The ambition on display is impressive, even if it all flies at you so fast and furious, with so many parts attempting to make up a cohesive whole, but not quite getting there, that the end result is often as frustrating as it is enjoyable.