Stargazer Scholar
Allegaeon is a daunting band. No, the musicians don’t wear corpsepaint, and no, they don’t employ spooky dissonant chords to ward off the casual listener. It’s just that their discography is so amazingly solid. One may prefer certain records to the others, but come on—none of those albums is anything less than highly enjoyable. So imagine the feelings that tormented me during the anticipation of The Ossuary Lens: Will this unlikely career-long run of form continue, or will the band finally allow itself a misstep? Well, no spoilers—you’ll have to read the whole thing.
Allegaeon’s seventh album saw the Technical Melodic Death Metal purveyors undergo a critical lineup shift. Ezra Haynes, who is back in the group after a three-album break, resumes his growling and screeching duties. A lot has changed in the interim. The band has grown even more progressive and technical, adding a more personal touch to its scientific exploits. And it’s only logical that this jolly reunion should bridge the two eras of their rich history in a very seamless fashion. But more on that later.
The Ossuary Lens is the band’s shortest LP to date, clocking in at just about 45 minutes. Given that I am yet to discover a filler on the previous Allegaeon records (fanboy? What’s a fanboy?), the Lens’s brevity seemed almost fear-inducing: these guys were definitely up to something unholy with such insolence. The premonition did not lie: Allegaeon knows no mercy, Allegaeon is here to slay, and music is the weapon. Some of those songs will devastate you, others will crush you, and the rest of them will simply break your heart.
The first two tracks hearken back to the early MeloDeath days of simpler structures, with viciously catchy choruses and illegally melodic hooks. The polyphonic arrangements are anything but simple, though, and the band’s instrumental prowess is ridiculous. Yet they never go over the top with technicality, keeping it musical and imaginative. Allegaeon is all about artistry and wit, not sportsmanship.
But then things start to get spicy. “Dies Irae” lives up to the wrathful divinity of its name with the mystical symphonic intro, the ultra-aggressive verse, and some adventurous pacing within a very compact runtime. “The Swarm” is a vertigo-inducing cosmic vortex that is doomed to haunt your thoughts, and “Dark Matter Dynamics” is the flamenco-infused Prog centerpiece of the record. I could go on for hours blabbering about the elegance of the band’s decisions on every track, the almost dreamy audibility of the bass, or the subtle interplay between the rhythm and the melody. And don’t even get me started on the magic of Greg Burgess… In the unlikely event of somebody stopping you in the street to inquire about your favorite metal guitarist, name this gentleman, please. Why? Because flamenco, that’s why.
Vocalist Ezra Haynes can definitely keep up with his virtuoso colleagues, going full-on brutal or even delivering some melodies on tracks like “Carried by Delusion”. Where I truly miss his predecessor, Riley McShane, is during the cleanly sung passages. Don’t get me wrong—they are well-written and executed by the band’s multi-talented instrumentalists-turned-singers, but they lack the commanding presence they used to have.
Still, that’s a very minor gripe to have. Following a more immediate approach, The Ossuary Lens doesn’t try to match the sprawling epicness of Proponent for Sentience and doesn’t attempt to recreate the progressive introspection of Damnum. It follows its own way and excels at it. Retaining the atmospheric feeling of the previous three albums and infusing it with the rock-’n’-roll energy of its early career, the band has created a unique record that sparkles with a contagiously fiery passion for music in general. Dear Allegaeon, never stop being daunting. We love you.
Label: Metal Blade
Release date: 4 April, 2025
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Allegaeon
Country: USA
Score: 4.1618/5 (‘Divine proportion defines perfection…’ Remember this one?)
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