Imagine
a religion of alien sentient beings. One could argue that an advanced alien type
3 civilization (according to the Kardashev scale) will/do/did not have any form
of religion, since we project logic and reason at the forefront of advancement.
But if we take into account that we are both sentient and logical/rational,
then a spiritually and rationally advanced civilization would be more accurate.
The one doesn’t exclude the other and this correlation can be detected in art.
It is not only mind and it is not only heart. There is both method and freedom
from method, structure and release from within it.
Imagine
if we reached these heights of rational and empirical thinking, devoid or
oblivious to the fact that consciousness contains both thought and heart, and
then ask ourselves: Would there be art? Imagine a futuristic world where music
is nonexistent and considered a part of human history. Maybe even be frowned
upon as a barbaric and uncivilized form of expression and communication. What a
horrible world this must be? Thank the gods of all times and spaces, this is
not the case in our current timespace.
Our
timespace is a ship floating in the endless voidness. Let us view the ship, the
non-sentient structure, as the product of rational and empirical thinking and
the passengers as the heart of it. If we see it as a whole, we may come closer
to what “Sentient” from Nucleus is.
Nucleus play death metal that is
reminiscent of American death metal acts that had a more progressive and
complex song structure. Their uniqueness comes from the aforementioned introduction
between heart and mind and the way they communicate in every song.
The
drums and the bass play in a simple manner, creating the basic stripped down
structure of sounds. The drums work with patterns that change form but yet remain
precise and disciplined. They give away the aesthetic of the marching effect we
listen in industrial music. The bass works very closely with the drums. It
maintains the thick wall of background sound that gives mass and depth to every
song. This is the ship.
The
heart is always a slippery and undefined function. It moves, it explodes, it
strikes, it flutters, and it changes forms. The riffs and the voice are the
conscious beings on board of that ship. The riffs are swirling, spiraling in
circles from within the ship and upwards. Lead guitars appear from within them
and play solos that create the unsettling feeling that only death metal can create.
Twisting and ugly and frightening, this album might as well tell the story of an
interstellar travel that ended up beyond the event horizon and deep into the
timeless hell. A rational account of a tragedy.
The
voice is the storyteller, moving above the instruments, singing about the
planet “Dosadi”, as it is described
in the sci-fi book “The Dosadi Experiment” by Frank Herbert. The “Cantos” is, as Wikipedia explains, a
form of division in a long poem and it could be attributed to the novel series
“The Hyperion Cantos” by Dan Simmons. I do not have the lyrics, but we can safely
assume that the lyrical themes of “Sentient”
came from Sci-fi worlds (novels, movies, tv series).
All
of these different aspects work together and create a tight and cohesive debut
album from Nucleus, with the riffs
and solos being its strongest asset. The riffs are engaging and inviting to the
listener. You will move with them, bob your head, air guitar and even feel the joy
of headbanging while you are in the bus, the car, home alone, in the middle of
town square or what have you.
I
really enjoy this album. I would say that my favorite riff/riffs are that of “Insurgent” and I am assuming that it
is about a great galactic battle. The pacing of songs change, the riffs are all
good and the song structures are interesting and engaging. I find all songs to
be of the same quality.
As
an end note, the cover art is made by one of the most prominent artists in
metal, Dan Seagrave, and it reflects
the album’s quality and aesthetics. Oh, and why does the logo remind me of
something?
Recommended
track: Insurgent
Release
date: 15/04/2016
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