It seems that it is a rite of passage for Tech Death acts to at some point play up the transcendental nature of their music. This usually manifests either as a Buddhist influence or more general Indian mysticism. Meshuggah has done it, bands like Sutrah do it and Goratory has even parodied this trend in a particularly testicular manner. Very rarely do bands actually transcend anything, though. Pure technicality is not Psychedelia and neither does it really push a genre that is already focused on instrumental virtuosity anywhere. 7 H. Target, Russian Slam weirdos, have now also committed to the trope. Luckily, they maintain their original weirdness.
The band had always had an experimental notion and has done many things that other Brutal Death Metal acts would never have done. The songs often take surprising turns and even the more straightforward Slam parts are often bizarre in indescribable ways. In the past, the production had always hindered their efforts with the drums being too loud and the mix in general being too messy. I understand that the Tetsuo: The Iron Man image informed a certain mechanistic style in the production. Now that Tetsuo is out and Indian mysticism is in, a more organic approach has taken its place. Songs like “Shiva Yajur Mantra”, complete with female clean vocals in what I believe is Hindi over skronky, dissonant Slam, couldn’t have been made by a different band. An ever expanding toolbox, like reverby, proggy leads and synthwork, round out the sound of a band that has always been ahead of the pack – and that now also have the production they deserve.
