Moving onward and upward after the impressive Damnum from 2022, these Coloradans have produced another superb album full of hooks that is certain to appeal to fans of modern technical death metal and even will reach over the divide to melodic death metalheads. Now far from the Opeth-lite accusations which dogged the band earlier in their career, this seventh full-length is confidently heavy, bursting in after melodic intro Refraction with the death-thrash intensity of Chaos Theory. The track is led by the guitars which seem constantly changing and desperate to pack riffs in, moving from thrashy gallops a la Psycroptic to more widdly fare akin to the likes of Gory Blister. It's well-constructed and has a cohesive and entertaining flow even before the acoustic-backed breakdown towards the track's end.

And from then on there's little to dislike, touches like the melodic moment that opens first single Driftwood before the whirry tech-thrash assault well-judged and contrasting well with brief clean-sung choruses. It's infectious without being obnoxious, gently growing on you without seeming poppy or cloying - particularly since apparently the clean singing is new for previous and now returned vocalist Ezra Haynes, this being the first Allegaeon album he appears on since 2014's Elements of the Infinite, and he does a great job throughout, particularly the yearning tones of Scythe. The intense and almost blackened Dies Irae contrasts nicely, following with even greater speed and guitar pyrotechnics from Greg Burgess and Michael Stancel, who are surely the MVPs here for their work throughout.

Wherever you look, the guitar work here is fabulous. Be it the frantic speed of The Swarm with plenty of technical groove which threatens to tip over into deathgrind territory at points before fading out a little disappointingly - but still being an album highlight regardless! - or the flamenco technicality that opens and interludes in Dark Matter Dynamics, (courtesy of guest Adrian Bellue) this is without doubt a guitarist's album. Not that the other instruments are far behind, of course, especially drummer Jeff Salzman, yet there's so much to be impressed by with the guitars on this album that it's easy to get distracted constantly.

And there are absolutely no weaker pieces, the aggressive Imperial and the doomy Wake Circling Above more than commendable additions to the tracklisting that each shows off the diverse directions that the Allegaeon formula, as loose as it is, can be shot off toward. Each track has much more going on than that one descriptive word, but experiencing the way that it unfolds for yourself is, as ever, much more fun than having it spelt out, particularly for those who know the band already. They are undoubtedly a step above the death metal landscape and reward the investment of your ears each and every time, managing to be technical without losing the listener thanks to the exceedingly well-written songs. Another gem in their discography, and another highly recommended album for discerning death metalheads, then.