For the most part, it's pretty fucking difficult to argue with the mastery at hand. NEPHELIUM is simply one of those brutal technical death metal bands that know to keep your attention onboard with every single twist and turn their sound takes. Each track on ''Coils of Entropy'' showcases complex patterns of constant variation between death-thrashy gallops, blinding staccato death-black hyperblasts, downtempo and gut-wrenching nods to oldschool death metal at its finest hour, and stomping technical deathcore. Add a sprinkle of classical influence that's utilized in such a skillful manner, I'm immediately prompted to namedrop one NECROPHAGIST. Actually, the list of influences forging the backbone of this unstoppable entity has to be fucking endless; starting with CANNIBAL CORPSE, cruising along the sidelines of DYING FETUS, going all the way towards OBSCURA, and even being fierce competition alongside kings of testosterone BRAIN DRILL. That being said, if you don't know shit about what makes a quality death metal album, and have your inner boundaries closing in around your heart, clutching on tight, this record isn't for you. This is incredibly mathematical, meticulous, and experimentation-hungry, so if you're the type that prefers sticking to an embodiment of meat n' potatoes caveman rock, look the other way. The work we have here is alchemically bizarre, in the best possible fashion.

''Burial Ground'' immediately stuns. I'm a particularly picky type of human being, and I've to admit my jaw was already on the floor, right out of the damn gate. There's no question about the effectiveness of the riffs, and the eclectic factor of even the *leads*. Do you often hear a brutal death metal record with licks that speak with raw emotion, or are you most often used to hypershred devoid of any type of soul? Here, we have an equal balance; the best of both worlds. Those two guitarists simply have the magic, and their chemistry is of an almost supernatural precision. Every single detail within this song was blatantly carefully calculated; each of those song patterns seems to haul ass through the door at exactly the right moment, and is bound to send any long-haired dude and their brother into an unstoppable fucking frenzy, right off the bat. ''Merciless Annihilation'' amps up the progressivity factor and is more subtle, less in-your-face than its predessor (albeit just an iota), but it is brilliantly constructed, and irreproachably delivered. ''Hellborne'' is chock-full of hooks; yes, hooks. In the midst of all this shizophrenic violence, those guys are crafting up some bloody catchiness to boot. ''Malediction'' has to be the ultimate keyframe of this disc. It reveals endless amounts of daring progressions and infatiguable, sharply honed talent. The vocalist particularly surpasses himself within this tune, ending it in all almighty and quite literally inhuman fucking shriek that's bound to shake you up big time. I could pinpoint a certain structure deep down under all the layers of technicality, fitting into the mold of verse-chorus-verse, and I'll be damned if I can't admit that each of those verses contains as many goddamn twists as you can possibly fit within the alloted timeframe.

This is creativity pushed to an especially cutting-edge level. ''Halls of Judgement'' is also particularly vicious, and filthy, but strikes a chord in the emotional songwriting department with riffs that speak to the heart in a profound, shiver-inducing manner, as the whole plane of thought is being intelligently laid out on a classical deathbed of admirable tempo flourishes. Some of those leads herein reminded me of Michael Amott's flair for soulfulness. I am one devoted fan of the ARCH ENEMY back catalogue, and could definitely hear the influence of those records on the general direction of the songwriting. The title-track, surprisingly enough, contains some ever-so-slightly tired ideas with gaping holes all over the woodwork, but at this point, after having been shoved left and right in complete and utter amazement to this type of considerable degree, I gotta forgive the minor shortcoming, regardless of the fact that it's ten minutes long; trim this tune from the ordeal without looking back on it, and you gotta face the fact that NEPHELIUM is one of tomorrow's fucking pillars of the modern DM scene.

If you haven't been properly looking into this band before, now's the time to do it. Also, did I mention? This is their first full-length. Yes. It is. PICK IT UP.

RATING: 9.5/10

-Noch