Not to be confused with the classic British jazz-rock band from the '70s of the same name, this Nucleus hails from Chicago and are a brutal death metal act whose debut album Sentient is soon to be released on Unspeakable Axe Records. Take one quick look at that evil cover art and images of the talented roster of both Unique Leader and Willowtip Records instantly come to mind, and Nucleus aren't far off as far as their brand of brutal, technical death metal. Single word song titles abound here, each track featuring a wealth of complex, off-kilter riffing, booming bass riffs, crushing drum blasts, and venomous growls. Tunes like "Cantos", "Swarm", "Cube", "Insurgent", and especially "Ancient" really contains some primo guitar riffs, and if you love screaming pinch harmonics, there are plenty of them here, but it's the groove laden bass and pounding drums that do wonders for these songs. In so many cases, modern tech-death bands seem to forget how important the bottom end is, but not Nucleus, and Sentient is all the more impressive thanks to this little detail. It's not all bludgeoning, fast & furious stuff either, as "Extirpate" has some slower, almost doomy passages, and "Starflyer" shows that the band know a thing or two about prog as well.
If you happen to dig acts like Nile, Atheist, Suffocation, Death, and Gorguts, chances are Sentient from Nucleus is going to be an album you are going to want to seek out. Good stuff, and definitely a band to keep your eye on!
Track Listing
1) Sentience
2) Dosadi
3) Cantos
4) Swarm
5) Cube
6) Insurgent
7) Ancient
8) Extirpate
9) Starflyer
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
