Written by Zax
- Dessiderium – “Aria”
- Progressive Death Metal from the United States
- Released on December 10th, 2021 via The Artisan Era
Last year, Dessiderium released not only one of 2020’s best tech death records, but also one of its most underrated. I wasn’t the only one who recognized this either, as the album started gaining some buzz in the underground death metal scene. That buzz paid off too, because just over a year after the release of Shadow Burn, they’re back with a new record, which is being released by one of my favorite labels of all time, The Artisan Era.
https://dessiderium.bandcamp.com/
It really did warm my heart to see that announcement; Dessiderium is getting the love they deserve, and we got a whole new full length out of it? Badass. That turnaround time is incredibly impressive too, man’s has an hour long follow up record for us just one year after the last one.
I will say he’s changed things up a bit this time out. Shadow Burn was a blast of technical death metal melancholia, whereas Aria is a proggy melodeath epic. There is exactly an hour worth of material here stretched over 5 tracks. Each track is expansive and breathtaking.
The guitar work here is absolutely nuts. The lead work is gorgeous and there’s plenty of catchy melodic riffing. I love how dynamic and immersive the playing is, you really do get lost in it. The basslines are deep and layered. All of the instrumentation is simply bursting with technicality.
It’s so much more than just a kickass, masterfully played extreme metal album though. The vibe created here is simply immaculate. It’s packed with melancholy, but there’s also a twinge of triumph, or at least perseverance thrown in there, making it a soaring, diverse experience.
The vocals are great as well. The mid range screams are full of emotion and intensity, and there’s actually a lot more cleans on this record. They sound very nice too, super smooth delivery. It’s not often that I go through and read a record’s lyrics, but I did this time, and let me tell you, I strongly recommend doing so yourself. The poetry is brilliant.
Overall this was an otherworldly, ethereal listen. This dude has some serious chops, it still blows my mind that this is a solo project. This is fantastic work, great record.
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