Sophicide - Perdition of the Sublime

Hard to believe the mastermind behind this one man show is only 22, but this is some pretty good (and heavy) stuff.One of the dangers of being a music reviewer/critic/pundit - even if it's not in a professional sense (i.e. a trained person getting paid for their skills) - is that there can be a temptation to pigeonhole the artists you listen to. I don't think it can be helped that humans make sense of their world by comparing what they perceive to what they know, it's one of our strengths that we recognize patterns so readily. So when I started listening to Sophicide's debut album Perdition of the Sublime, my brain saw the grandiloquent title, heard the machine gun blast beats, the cookie monster vocals and thought "Technical metal? Meh. Does the world really need another atonal, 300bpm, wall of sound that's too clever for its own good (and makes my teeth hurt)?"

Well, I was wrong.

What began as a one man project a couple of years ago by musician Adam Laszlo (who was only 19 at the time) has since grown into a fully realized album that is able to stand shoulder to shoulder with material from the likes of Allegaeon, The Faceless and The Red Chord. It's not clear who does what with regards to the music as the only information I can find says that Adam is the vocalist and that Sebastian Bracht handles guitars. But, regardless, this is some well crafted music that was written, recorded and mastered apparently at Laszlo's home studio which is equally amazing as the production on this brutal CD is on par with anything I've heard in the genre.

The Bottom Line: Touted as a one man operation, Sophicide is a buzzworthy new name in the field of technical death metal and deserves a place in the collection of fans of the genre. Here's hoping we hear more from this German wunderkind soon. 

Tracks to Risk Shattering Your Car's Windows to: Of Lust and Vengeance, Freedom of Mind, & Folie Á Deux

- Genghis is suitably impressed, but still wondering who played what on this album...