Artistic depth has two possible extremes. One extreme tries to express itself with an increasingly diverse set of stylistic ideas, choosing to portray emotions with whatever musical idea suits them best. The other extreme of artistic depth is the exploration of a single idea from as many angles as possible. Robert Schumann once hammered the same a note on his piano until he went mad, looking for possibly the perfect expression of that one note. Steve Reich explored the shifting of rhythms, creating rhythmic polymeters as dense as they were fascinating. Cephalotripsy slam. And they do it a lot.
Cephalotripsy’s Epigenetic Neurogenesis is the kind of album whose biggest strength is its biggest downfall at the same time. Cephalotripsy serve up slams and only slams. Every riff on the album is downtuned, chromatic chug and yet, I can find ways to describe the difference between them. Any potential for variety inherent in the slam riff is thoroughly explored by Cephalotripsy. Some riffs will feature more punctured chords, syncopating them heavily. Other feature a faster chord based approach, spreading the notes more evenly across the bar. Unusual triplet grooves can be found on Epigenetic Neurogenesis, even, often suggesting odd time signatures that might not be there – I admit that I did not create a drum map for the album. From moment to moment, Cephalotriopsy serve up some of the best slam riffs of the decade. On an song or even album scale, Cephalotripsy repeat themselves too much. I can’t help but compare Epigenetic Neurogenesis to Pathology‘s latest offering. Pathology are less committed to the slam riff, featuring a hefty influence from more traditional death metal. Pathology are less impressive in the individual moment, but their album does not wear down on me. Cephalotripsy do not really write songs in the way that Pathology do. Cephalotripsy write slams. I am certain that Cephalotripsy play the better live show, but Pathology made the better album. And since I have to review albums in a setting where I cannot kick someone’s ribs in in the pit, I have no choice but to apply the correct rating.
