Fractal Generator - Macrocosmos (2021)

FRACTAL GENERATOR is a death metal band from Canada who formed in 2008. “Macrocosmos,” is their second full length album—in 2008 they released a demo as well. The raw intensity of "Macrocosmos" is both arresting and intimidating. There isn't any long songs, post metal passages, long winded ambient sections or filler intros interludes and outros. No, this album is much too focused on that for all those bells and whistles. This is unique and clever death metal that is also laser focused on being just that.

The songs explode outward like a bomb, the blast waves catching and destroying everything in their wake. A ripple effect just pushes everything from one moment to the next without rest. With that being said, however, this is an album with a lot of atmosphere and depth. The synths/keys are an important part of their brutal yet otherworldly sound but are also subtle enough to not become a gimmick or overbearing to the overall sound. Personally I would like to hear more of these often eerie synths but, hey, that's just me.

Truly, the band has taken every aspect of themselves, every thing that made their previous album “Apotheosynthesis” so great and just amplifies it and pushes even further. This is an improvement on their debut in every way. The album's title track is rampaging so hard from the very first second that it seems like upon hearing the first note that the song has already been there before you…before it all. Its futuristic and archaic all at the same time.

I don't know what's more encompassing, the frantic and weighty guitar/bass riffs, the deep death growls, or the close to inhuman drumming. The song’s mid section has an odd, cold sci fi infused melody that works with the death metal to create a deadly but interesting alien world. The riffing is both ridiculously ferocious and serious on "Serpentine." The guitar slithers through the songs opening moments like some leviathan rushing towards its prey. The very subtle ambient textures heighten the urgency of the song even while the bass and drums hammer perpetually. The song's mid section expertly sets up the heavier aspects of the last half of the song, which is so unrelenting that I became a bit dizzy when I listened with my headphones.

"Contagion," whiplash speed is very methodical, showing how much thought the band places in every aspect of their music. At the 1:05 mark, choppy riffs beat the body senseless and just when it seems it wont stop, a break in the song throws out what sounds like thunder which is foretelling of the song's final attack with throws in thicker riffs with groove. "Primordial" does come off as ancient but as an older danger rather than some harmless relic of the past. The vocals and riffs work in tandem very well for a double heavy weight that keeps the pressure on top and never lets up. The songs middle portion is both scary and immense thanks to the synths/keys that ever so lightly touch the edges of the music yet provide such damnation.

The last track, "Ethereal" is my favorite on the album—the overall feeling of the song is just trepidation and goosebumps. The beginning is a dirge, a sort of miasma that just sort of hangs in one spot and casts out its waves of darkness. The guitar solo leads in the song into faster pastures but by the songs end, it turns hypnotic and spacey—pushing it all out into a blackened void. With "Macrocosmos" FRACTAL GENERATOR have delivered a high point in death metal that will be hard to overcome by future releases of this style. They have improved their sound in every way while setting themselves up for an unstoppable future.