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Capharnaum: Fractured

12/06/07 || The Duff

When looking over the Mike Poggione interview on the site, my eye caught something (after using my “Streaming Bollox Decryption Kit”) that sounded most interesting:

“the point of the band I guess is straight up technical as fuck and brutal as fuck. technical is a word that too many bands are getting said to be these days… it s a fucking crime.. tech to me means full on shred balls fret board athletics… u know, just about impossible to play….. capharnaum is that… real shit that makes u want to never play your guitar or bass or drums again…... like give up….”

Now, in entering “Fractured”, I was really expecting something to rip my face off it was so unbelievably technical. However, after my first couple of listens, I figured that Mike simply didn’t know enough of the underground death metal scene to avoid talking out of his ass, and I quote:

“I didn’t join the deathmetal scen til 1998. sorry to say but during the mid 90-s I was in gay school and into gay sports and weights. d-dammmit, i’ma soe gayeeee. i WIsh I cood fuque anoth-th-er mann inthee asssshe………. Whyyeeeeeeeee am ieee soe humu?!!?!!!”

Regardless, our most beloved metal prophet is correct in one thing: this is technical and this is brutal. In fact, aside from the hardcore vocals performed by none other than that fucker from Trivium (this disc is screaming for low-end, guttural growls like those found on track “Icon of Malice”), “Fractured” is one of the more promising technical displays death metal has to offer, pushing Capharnaum up alongside new-age tech death bands like Anata, Spawn of Possession, Psycroptic and the likes.

The one gripe I can find is that the bass is too far diminished in the final mix.

Haha! No…

There’s been a fair amount of melody inserted into this product, and although such a thing in death metal is hardly unheard of this day and age, it is entirely welcome as always. There are a couple of times where the riffs shift towards a hardcore vibe to suit the vocals, which ain’t the worst thing I’ve heard since “St. Anger”, so no complaints there; it certainly doesn’t detract from my overall appreciation as I would initially have thought.

My hat goes off to both guitarists, who sound incredibly proficient in their trade, integrating solid quantities of shred, sweeping and slow-paced lead work reminiscent of Swedish melodic death into their very tasteful, respective styles of soloing (Daniel Mongrain is probably the dude from Martyr, but I’m not entirely certain – nor do I really give a shit).

The production is of a high standard, accentuating some powerful drumming without drowning out the rest of the instruments (a possible exception with the bass – mwehehe). Everything comes together to form an invigorating experience, even though I would recommend other bands over Capharnaum simply due to personal preference – if you’re new to the genre, I don’t see what wrong you could do starting here.

Overall, good stuff that has impressed me.

8 strings on a bass out of 10.

Information
Released: 2003
Label: Willowtip Records
Website: www.capharnaum.org
Band
Matt Heafy: vocals
Mike Poggione: two hundred “I’m not a fag” string bass
Jason Suecof: vocals, guitars
Jordan Suecof: drums
Daniel Mongrain: guitars

Tracklist
01. Ingrained
02. Fractured
03. Perpetuate Catatonia
04. Machines
05. Icon Of Malice
06. Reins Of Humanity
07. The Scourge Trial
08. Refusal

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