Album Review: Cyborg Octopus – “Bottom Feeder” (Progressive Metal)

Written by Jangel

Be sure to catch Cyborg Octopus on their Bottom Feeder-supporting tour of the Eastern US starting on 9/27/2024!

Let’s get something out in the open: I still think Cyborg Octopus is the best band name I’ve ever heard. I have always thought this, putting it into print in 2022. I will continue to think this. God Herself will come down to Rapture some motherfuckers in my life time and say to me “if only you hadn’t embraced the tech death false profits that boasted of the unholy union of machine and mollusk I would allow you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” and I’ll look Her dead in Her infinite eyes and say “sucks to suck broh, it’s a sick band name.” Now that I’ve got my unhinged intro out of the way let’s talk about Cyborg Octopus and their new record Bottom Feeder.

For those unfamiliar, Cyborg Octopus is a prog metal outfit based in the San Francisco bay area. They play a brand of metal familiar to fans of BTBAM, Sikth, and early The Contortionist flavored with a serious goofy streak. Live shows showcase custom outfits with neon lights as well as their exceptional musicianship. (By the wya, can we bring back the skimpy superhero outfits please??) They pose and preen as they go from virtuosic guitar solos to nasty breakdowns to spaghetti Western scores. Learning to Breathe, their debut record, was released in 2016 to favorable critical response and fan acclaim. Between the Light and Air came six years later in 2022 after the band parted ways with their guitarist and main songwriter, David Wu, who stepped away to focus on his metal vocal teaching method, Scream Academy. Rising above the loss of their biggest artistic voice, Cyborg Octopus delivered a quality release with Between the Light and Air, and I’m here to tell you that Bottom Feeder is an improvement and expansion on their new sound.

Cyborg Octopus still bounces all over the place with their genre-hopping ways on this new record but they’ve managed to distill a unique sound for themselves along the way. Perhaps the biggest part of this new sound is keytarist/saxophonist/backing vocalist Patrick Corona. He’s been with the group since Learning to Breathe but has made his influence felt more on their last two records. Saxophone lines are featured prominently across the album, whether playing a supporting role or taking over entire tracks like “Dreamkiller”. Cyborg Octopus’ synth game has always been strong but there’s a new emphasis on creating lush textures of digital synthesis on Bottom Feeder, no doubt a part of Corona’s influence on the band’s post-pandemic direction. He feels like the band’s second guitarist with how his synth lines weave through and complement everything on this album.

When I reviewed Cyborg Octopus’s last album, Between the Light and Air, I noted that vocalist Ian Forsythe had dramatically expanded his use of clean vocals and he continues to stretch out in his use of melodic singing on Bottom Feeder. Between the Light and Air and the latest LP aren’t nearly as far apart in vocal performance as Learning to Breathe and Between the Light and Air, and perhaps many listeners won’t be able to tell the difference. But lemme tell ya, Forsythe has continued to refine his vocal technique and every passage is given the voice that it needs. He soars with power on the chorus of “Afterburner” then scales back his delivery for a gentle crooning on “Dreamkiller”. Forsyth’s screams retain the bright, crisp character they’ve always had, but he’s figured out how to let more of his voice into the tone, giving a unique flavor to the harsh vox on the record. 

And now we come to my favorite member of the band, Bobby Carroll. Why is he my fav member? Well, because he shreds and he’s shredded. Seriously, I’m convinced all this dude does is practice guitar and lift. Fretboard pyrotechnics are all over this record. I think there’s a guitar solo on every track. The rhythm parts are as hard as most solos. At the risk of tooting my own horn, I’m a fairly accomplished guitarist myself and I would struggle mightily with the material on this record. Did I mention it’s also fucking good? Carroll’s riffs are sick. His solos aren’t just flash, he develops ideas and really says something with them. Shit, I wish he was in my band!!

I’ve got two criticisms of Bottom Feeder . First, there’s not really a full on goofy track on this record as there was with Cyborg Octopus’ first two records. Now there is a good amount of goofiness present on the album, most notably on “Midas” and “Gabriel’s Last Stand”, but I was really looking forward to Bottom Feeder’s version of “Trash Island” and “Disco Brain!”. Not sure if this is an actual criticism or just aesthetic complaining, but I find the goofball tracks quite charming.

My second criticism of the record is that the last track loses momentum and doesn’t close the album in a way that I find satisfying. Don’t get me wrong, I like “The Trench”, especially as a “changeup” to the default tech/death/core sound of this record. However, the dirge-like tempo at the end of the runtime kinda kills the energy the rest of the tracks build. I want more after I listen to it. I’m waiting for Bobby or Patrick to blaze in with a manic solo break after the final synth chord of the track but the fun just stops. Maybe there’s a conceptual/narrative reason for ending with that track but from a standpoint of “John’s immaculate taste” it’s not a great album closer. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Bottom Feeder isn’t the radical step forward that Between the Light and Air was, but Cyborg Octopus has made a definitive improvement on the sound established on their last album. A new signature sound is coalescing around this version of the band and I’m fucking here for it. If you’re on the East Coast of the US make sure you check out their tour supporting this record kicking off on 9/27!