We are not even halfway through the first quarter of 2024 yet it’s already that the realm of technical death metal has been hard at work to make it another flagship year for the sound in more ways than one. From the returns of legends like Job for a Cowboy to a supreme assault from Vitriol and the arrival of new acts like Abyssius, we are truly spoiled already. Yet, there is yet another that was destined to make 2024 a massive year for the style in such a way that surely got people interested immediately: Replicant. It was with their last album that they devastated and astounded, and it’s with their forthcoming effort that they’ve only heightened their brand of madness.
Where the limitations of our mental prisons keep us from reaching new levels of cognizance and transcendence, Replicant flourishes. It was already with their previous album that Replicant made itself an entity to be feared and respected, and I think many of us were content with waiting an obscene amount of time for any sort of follow-up. We have only needed to wait a scant three years, however, and it’s with every single given ounce of “Infinite Mortality” that we can see just how otherworldly Replicant’s power has mutated itself into. One song bleeding into the next for a simply horrifying yet truly captivating performance of wild brutality that’s only tempered by the utterly magnificent display of technicality which Replicant has complete dominion over with there not being so much as five seconds within the creation that isn’t carefully designed to peel away at the very layers of your fragile sanity. This does not mean Replicant is afraid to bring things to simplify things just a little bit or take this insane ride to a halt altogether to make for an intense contrast that really shows just how much of a stranglehold of an experience “Infinite Mortality” is in all of its nine demented testaments. This is what it means to take your craft to such a level that borders on the very definition of overwhelming mastery.
It was already that Replicant didn’t need to prove anything with their terrifying skill in this particular corner of death metal, yet it is pound for pound with “Infinite Mortality” that this New Jersey quartet propels themselves to such a height in the hierarchy of technical death metal that is simply bewildering to gaze upon. Where we were confident that 2024 couldn’t have started off on a better foot when it comes to technical death metal, it’s only natural that Replicant would return to show us what all is still possible.
“Infinite Mortality” releases on April 12th via Transcending Obscurity Records!
LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Infinite Mortality” on Bandcamp here.
LIKE Replicant on Facebook here.
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