Phlebotomized - Skycontact [CD]

"Skycontact" is Phlebotomized's sophomore effort which retains little to nothing from their previous LP "Immense, intense, suspense". "Skycontact" is one of those polarizing albums that usually shuns old fans away from a band's later work due to its radical escape from familiar playing grounds, and more often than not a completely disparity in the collective's approach to songwriting. Only three years separate this release from the band's debut album but the differences are perfectly evident. Brutality has drastically decreased (if we consider "Immense, Intense, Suspense" brutal) although heavy, dense and muddy guitar riffs are still present as growled vocals do. But this time emphasis is put on melodies and mood, as the ever present keyboard or the presence of clean vocals indicate. This clearly isn't your typical album by any stretch of imagination, as you'll witness the band rapidly changing from upbeat rocking grooves into quasi-ambient psychedelia, intermixed with a forlorn death metal riff here and there. Yes, death metal still exists in this album, although it's the different influences that make it special. The album's genre is quite difficult to define because of its heterogeneous composition. In a way this album verges a bit on Edge Of Sanity's mid-nineties work and this influence is best witnessed in the four part suite that closes the album. You could easily find passages that could be described as: ambient, death metal (without blast beats), fusion, grunge, rock, doom... although not every song features all these influences, (thrashy) death metal and ambient part are what you will come across more often than not. This album is clearly for the open-minded who enjoys savoring his/her metal best with "eclectic-sauce". It's not an easy album to digest, not when it reminds me of Edge Of Sanity, In The Woods..., Faith No More or Genesis! Nope, it isn't going to be an easy one for sure, and even when it comes to avant-garde metal this is very much over-the-top in its pretentiousness. Leave those expectations waiting in the backyard for a while, crack up a bottle of your best distilled flavour, and just kick back and enjoy the relaxing and soothing nature of this album. It's definitely worth your time. This one is just different from even the non-normative ones, and while therein lies its downfall so does its brilliance and sheer beauty.