I have to say The Radical Convenant is the most addictive technical death metal album I have heard in some time probably since the last Psycroptic album. Just like The Inherited Repression The Radical Convenant is quite an intense ride and features some very technical performances yet is still surprisingly catchy. I simply can't stop venturing back for more since I received my copy. Haness Grossmann is the talented German drummer/producer behind this release, and anyone who has heard Haness with Blotted Science, or as a former member of Obscura and Necrophagist will know what a talented player Haness is. The Radical Convenant is his debut solo effort and shares some similarities to Obscura which is probably expected as Haness was a significant contributor to his former band's material, The Radical Convenant also sounds flawless.
The Radical Convenant features a technical powerhouse as those notables performing with Haness are:
On lead guitar Jeff Loomis (Ex-Nevermore, Conquering Dystopia), Per Nilsson (Scar Symmetry), Christian Muenzner (ex. Obscura, Spawn of Possession),Fountainhead, Danny Tunker (Aborted, Ex-God Dethroned) and Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower, Blotted Science, Spastic Ink)
The vocalists are Morean (Dark Fortress, Noneuclid) and V.Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) with bass player Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Noneuclid) and Jimmy Pitts plays Keyboards,Organ and Synth.
There are seven tracks on this album which may seem like lean pickings though three are quite long. The Radical Convenant includes the instrumentals "The Voyager" which is a killer track and "Euclidean Elements" an impressive piano only version of the Obscura track off the album Omnivium. Haness is a blasting his way through the introduction to "Aeon Illuminate" as the album gets off to an intense start, this track subdues in tempo towards the end evolving into a very captivating conclusion. The mind boggling patterns Haness plays on Alien Uopia give way to another ever twisting display of commanding musicianship, which like the rest of this album all adds up to a must have recordings for tech-death metal fans.
Track Listing
1. Aeon Illuminate
2. Alien Utopia
3. The Sorcerer
4. Solar Fire Cells
5. The Voyager
6. Radial Covenant I. II.
7. Euclidean Elements (Piano Version)