Recommended for fans of: Replicant, Wormed, Afterbirth
There must be something in the water – or the maple syrup – up in Canada that triggers the extreme gene in certain bands.
How else do you explain the existence of acts like Gorguts, Cryptopsy and the subject of today’s article, Fractal Generator?
Taking a heap of inspiration from the aforementioned pair, along with a hefty helping of Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel, and Mithras, this terrible trio have already made something of a name for themselves with their punishingly technical, subtly dissonant, slam-tinged, grind infused, and synth-layered brand of Death Metal, and with their third (and best) album having just been released now seemed like the perfect time to dedicate a full feature to their works.
Look upon them, and despair…
2015 – APOTHEOSYNTHESIS
What can we say about the band’s debut album? Well, for one thing it’s an absolute riff-monster, from start to finish (with the chattering chug ‘n’ churn of Decapitated-esque opener “Cycle” quickly making this apparent).
But it’s also more than that, even at this early stage of the group’s career, as the subtle synth-scape embellishments and electro-ambient undercurrents of the aforementioned opener and the gargantuan, gutturally-groovesome “Face of the Apocalypse” also demonstrate.
At its core, however, Apotheosynthesis is really all about laying down a firm foundation for the band to build upon and establishing those patterns and structures (from the twisted technicality and Morbid Angel inspired malevolence of “Abandon Earth”, with its subtly sinister progressive touches, to the cyborg-grindcore precision and uber-deathly intensity of “Into the Unknown”) which would go on to shape their future evolution.
Right here and now though there are already signs of the trio’s impressively high potential, with humongous riffs and haunting dissonance of mid-album highlight “Paragon” likely to appeal to anyone who holds the likes of Replicant or Construct of Lethe in high regard, while the cosmic symphonics and abrasive extremity of “Human” (with drummer Dan Favot in particular putting in an almost inhuman performance) could give the mighty Mithras a run for their money.
Sure, there’s still a sense that the group haven’t quite locked down their sound yet (though the swirling cybernetic chaos of “The Singularity” certainly makes some major moves in this direction) but when the tracks hit as hard as the maddening blast-a-thon of “Synthetic Symbiosis” it’s difficult to care too much, especially when the climactic “Reflections” then pushes the more ambient and/or atmospheric elements of their sound even further, giving you a hint at what’s to come!
2021 – MACROCOSMOS
The band’s second album may have taken them five years to complete, but there’s no denying that the time was clearly well-spent, as the moment the tumultuous title-track kicks in you can tell that Fractal Generator are even more of a monster than ever before, with this opening firestorm of fission-driven guitars and magnetically-accelerated drumming giving the truth to those Wormed and Afterbirth comparisons above.
It’s not just that everything has been cranked up (tracks like the unrelenting “Aeon” and the neck-wrecking, gut-rumbling “Serpentine” leaning more towards Hate Eternal than Morbid Angel this time around) it’s that the trio have clearly put even more effort into the more esoteric and unorthodox side of their sound as well.
“Contagion” is a perfect example of this – containing some of the nastiest, gnarliest riffs the band have ever concocted, all jagged edges and jarring, blunt-force trauma, along with some seriously unsettling, atmospheric layers (including an absolutely vital mid-song breather) – as is the synthetically-symphonic, blisteringly brutal bombardment of “Chaosphere”, with both tracks marrying the band’s sickest, slammiest, and sharpest technical talents with their increasingly out-of-this-world ambient ambitions.
That doesn’t mean they’ve lost their ability (or their willingness) to just melt your face off at 100 paces – “Shadows of Infinity”, for example, may start off slow and sinister but it soon transforms into a cyber-demonic Death Metal monster (Wormed fans take note, once again) that’s as horrifically heavy as it is horribly hooky – it’s just that they’ve also managed to encode a virulent strain of weird moodscapes and warped melody (see the climax of the crushing “Paragon”) into their already devastating DNA.
So whether it’s the buzzing, angle-grinding guitars and brooding, atmosphere-enhancing synth stabs of “Paragon” (which once again gives off some serious Mithras-ish vibes) or the chugging riffs, discordant anti-melody, and keening keys of the subtly psychedelic “Ethereal” (another one for lovers of latter-day Afterbirth) you’ll find that Fractured Insanity have (almost) mastered the art of delivering brutality with brains!
2024 – CONVERGENCE
The band’s third album is certainly aptly named, because this… this is where it all really comes together, beginning with the disso-death-grind technicality and synth-laced sci-fi strangeness of “Cryogenian” and ending with the unerring ground ‘n’ pound grooves of the Ulcerate-esque “Encephalon”.
Along the way you’ll be subjected to a beating by the tightly-coiled riffage, frenzied drumming, and brooding black hole ambience of “Convergence” and pierced (from within) by the stabbing riffs, strafing drums, and staccato rhythmic savagery of “Askesis”, both of which prove that Convergence is, somehow, the group’s heaviest and most intense album yet.
Want more proof? Wait until you hear “Ancient Civilizations”, where the triple-threat of guitars, drums, and bass ride the red line all the way up to the bleeding edge, while swirling synths weave a glowing ambient nebula around this neutron-dense core of crushing heaviness, after which the churning chuggery of “Obelisk” finds the band locked into a lethal orbit around the binary star system of Decapitated and Demilich.
At the same time, however, the strange synthscapes and sinister pseudo-melodic touches take on an even more prominent role during “Ciphertext” – though not at the expense of the song’s pulse-raising pace (or its gargantuan climactic grooves) – while major stand-out “Xiphoid” successfully combines pneumatic, machine-like rhythms and frantic, anxiety-inducing fretwork with an eerie aura of malevolent, post-human menace.
Clearly, then, Fractal Generator have become a real force to be reckoned with.
In fact, not only are they arguably even heavier than ever, they’re also weirdly hookier than ever too (“Algorithmic Pathways”, for example, is locked and loaded with an array of angular-yet-infectious rhythmic twists and jerky, juddering riffs) so by the time that this album has finished you should be more than ready to spin it again (after all, at just under forty minutes it’s also the band’s shortest, and most immediate, record yet) and should also be ready to start singing its praises to anyone and everyone who will listen!