The ever reaching quest for THE RIFF continues, and for technical death metal enthusiasts it’s never enough. For us mere mortals, finding something to like in the realms of tech can be like finding a riff in a harsh noise album. But there is a subset of this genre that sometimes yields interesting results. Take a band like Archspire; insanely talented and odd, they have their own character and yet they deal with overly melodic content that is easy to listen to and remember. It is in this realm we find Cognizance and their new album Phantazein. People looking for THE RIFF will surely find it here, as the band cycles through several modes in the sub-five minute songs. Their 11 tracks cover a lot of different ground, touching on different sounds already tread by other bands. “Futureless Horizon” is an early highlight, starting with a Gojira groove that leads to some Slugdge-like tapping riffs, sending the song into space before it headbangs its way down to earth. Meanwhile “Shock Heuristics” carries the urgency of a The Black Dahlia Murder song, with its tremolo riffs backing up a death metal beatdown that could have been on Everblack or Ritual. These two songs are easy to enjoy and the album has a lot of neat tiny details, like the clever use of start-stop riffing, and the neo-classical guitar leads in “Broadcast of the Gods” (Castlevania mode) and “A Brain Dead Memoir”. The latter ends on a dour backing riff while the lead guitar bemoans its sorrow above, a favorite trick used by Opeth circa Blackwater Park.
It is here I realize that I can’t find Cognizance in the middle of all of these references. There is a certain type of death metal that is vaguely defined, technical and modern, in the vein of Hath, where I have a hard time remembering what I’ve heard after the last song fades. Phantazein unfortunately sits in this category of tech. The band is competent of course, as most of them are, but for all the clever details that pepper this album, the ideas feel woefully under-utilised. This is a shame, as there are times where songs like “Futureless Horizon” and “Shock Heuristics” show what could be if Cognizance would learn to trust where a song leads them rather than start with THE RIFF. Still, if you are inclined towards this kind of riff-fest for the quick rush, then Phantazein will hold you over till your favorites in the genre release their next thing. As for myself, I’m good waiting for the next Archspire or Slugdge.
