Arbitrator are a Canadian death metal act comprised of Robert Kukla (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, lyrics) and Corey Chesnesky (drums), and The Consummate Ascendant is their debut EP. These two play a pretty impressive take on the Swedish death metal scene, with some bits of industrial & prog thrown in for good measure. Mastered and mixed at the legendary Unisound studio by none other than Dan Swano, you know you are going to get something of quality here. In fact, the band have a certain Edge of Sanity and Bloodbath thing going on here, as well as the influence of The Project Hate and Aeon, making for a very enjoyable extreme metal EP. Both tracks are in the 8 minute range, chock full of solid vocal growls, punishing riffs, jackhammer drum blasts, and a smattering of keyboards & electronics. Kukla's vocals are a cross between Swano & Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth, and he manages to create some inventive riffing and glorious keyboard soundscapes on these two brutal songs.
Honestly, I'd love to hear more of this, so let's hope Arbitrator can latch onto a label, fill out their line-up, and get working on a full-length follow-up to this very promising debut EP.
Track Listing
1) Into the Eternal Flame (8:15)
2) Suffer His Unrelenting Dominion (8:26)
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