Whereas far too many progressive and technical dying metallic bands are joyful to stroll the identical path and keep on with a tried-and-true sound, on their second full-length The Zenith Passage forge new and exhilarating territory. From begin to end, Datalysium is pushed by creativeness, and performed by artists who’ve full command of their devices, creating one thing that stands out of any pack whereas sustaining what made them such a riveting proposition within the first place. When requested to explain the file, the band accomplish that vividly: “Think about if Necrophagist and Meshuggah have been married, and Cynic and Extol obtained married, then years later they went to a swingers get together to boost their relationships, which then turned a daily factor. From this, all of them had a child collectively, nobody is aware of who the organic father is, however that’s cool as a result of they’re co-parenting. That child then grows up, idolizing David Lynch, Ridley Scott and movie noir. He then goes to movie college for a few years, however drops out as a result of he’d relatively play synth music, however finally ends up broke and homeless. Then Datalysium could be that child.“

With an overhauled lineup that sees authentic guitarist/keyboardist/backing vocalist Justin McKinney joined by guitarist Christopher Beattie (Dreamer), vocalist Derek Rydquist (ex-The Faceless, John Frum) and bassist Brandon Giffin (ex-The Faceless, Cynic), everybody brings one thing particular to Datalysium. The skillset of Giffin and Rydquist specifically have helped catapult The Zenith Passage‘s sound into “such a cool, new territory“, whereas Beattie brings the technical prowess and magnificence the band have been on the lookout for in a guitarist. Collectively, they labored to push disparate influences extra to the forefront of their sound. “There’s at all times been issues that have been subtly finished on earlier releases, like jazz fusion passages, dissonant black metallic, synth and orchestral components, in addition to singing. What we haven’t finished earlier than is put these influences and concepts extra upfront within the songwriting and manufacturing. Singing has turn out to be a reasonably outstanding a part of a few of these songs, in addition to synth orchestration and actually eerie, dissonant, pissed off black metallic affect.” The result’s the right marriage of technical head-fuckery, ambiance, melody, and shifting dynamics, continuously demanding the listener’s undivided consideration. From opener “The Axiom Of Error” with its stop-start assault to the agitated, richly textured and unstoppable “Synaptic Depravation” or the dramatic, lush and epic closing title observe, they’re relentlessly artistic and insistently push their sound in fascinating, engrossing instructions.

Although it’s not an idea album per se, there are a few ideas that run by the lyrics of the file, and “in the end we discover some regarding impacts of know-how on humanity, and the way its development can breed concern and loneliness, which in flip can be utilized for management and obsoletion.” The title relates on to this, for “as know-how progresses, we turn out to be extra deeply ingrained in it. That is inevitable and we’re all collaborating. Datalysium is a time period we made up for the place we really feel individuals are being promised their lives will finish, within the splendor of some digitized immortality. A spot we’re willingly constructing for humanity as we proceed to invent ourselves out of relevance and usefulness.” Such themes are completely married to the mixture of mechanical rhythms and locked in riffing and spiraling keyboard components, giving the sensation usually that you’re listening to the work of a machine that’s able to creating human emotion.

The album was recorded between McKinney’s residence studio and Rydquist’s house, with some vocals tracked at Flatline Audio with Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, WAKE), who additionally blended the album. McKinney dealt with the monitoring, whereas they introduced in Ryan Williams (The Black Dahlia Homicide, John Frum) to supply among the bass and vocals. Having been pals with Williams for years, it felt pure to have him be part of the recording course of, whereas Otero additionally contributed profoundly. A longtime buddy of McKinney, that is the primary time they’ve truly collaborated on a file. “Dave is the type of dude that simply will get it, when going for the sound or thought we bear in mind, even bringing an thought to mild that we by no means even thought to do and collaborating and increasing on these concepts additional. We have been anticipating some actually epic stuff from Dave, however the finish results of that has proved to be far more than these expectations.”

Achieved as it’s, Datalysium is actually certainly one of two data The Zenith Passage have been engaged on. Initially, it was presupposed to be the latter launch, however they determined to change the order of launch and dedicate extra time to the next file, which has “a symphonic, cinematic, darker kind of vibe.” With plans to tour Datalysium for the time being, the band are in an awesome place, all of the members are shut and keen to maintain pushing forward after a very long time away. They’re additionally assured that they provide one thing that almost all bands will not be doing, making an attempt to assume outdoors of the field and each “pushing the envelope of the style whereas additionally paying homage to the previous in sure moments. We’re bringing in genres of music that usually aren’t an enormous a part of metallic, starting from movie scores to atmospheric darkish synth, jazz fusion to the sound of an idling bike. We’re doing all of this whereas trying to inform a harmonic and lyrical story that retains the listener engaged and questioning what may occur subsequent.”