Being lucky enough to be a resident of the city with perhaps the best metal scene in all of Canada, it would virtually be a crime not to pay tribute to one of my favorite bands to come out of Montreal. Neuraxis has long been spinning in my CD player, so what better time to add them to the site with their latest double album reissue.

Neuraxis’s music can be described as a brutal dose of technical death metal that has gradually evolved since the bands formation in 1994. This release, or I should say re-release, features two of their albums (Imagery and Passage into Forlorn) and includes a few added bonuses such as interviews, a live track and one off their In Silence promo. For those who are fans of technical death metal or who are simply drum freaks, this is an album definitely checking out.

Released in 1997, Imagery is what you would call your run of the mill brutal death metal album of the mid nineties. Though I believe this album is fairly weak because of the thick unmelodious grunts and overly chaotic sound, it serves as a good intro as to what Neuraxis will become. Each song on this album follows a stylistically similar pattern which includes hard aggressive riffs, a plethora of blastbeats, and vocals that often lose synchronicity with the music. There are poignant parts on this album where some nice melodies and acoustic interludes shine, but overall these few great parts aren’t enough to raise this album to over-par.

After 12 songs of pure grinding destruction, listeners are then brought into a new era of Neuraxis’s career which is A Passage Into Forlorn. As soon as the first track Unite kicks in its immediately noticeable that Neuraxis has gone through a big transition. Almost every aspect of their music has been improved whether its melody, technicality production, or vocals. What will catch anyone’s attention though is the mind-blowing technical drumming on this album. Alexandre Erian breaches the boundaries of both technicality and speed tastefully by changing up beats virtually every ten seconds. One second Erian will be hammering blastbeats at mach 10 speeds and the other second he’ll be fiddling away on his cymbals like a maniac on speed. One thing is for certain; Erian is a drumming machine and definitely gives bands like Meshuggah and Kataklysm a run for their money when it comes to percussion. Vocally, Passage into Forlorn is far superior to Imagery as the monotonic grunts are exchanged for chaotic screams that have way more melody and deviate from the old, standard, and incomprehensible “brew brew brew” vocals. PIF also follows its predecessor by including some soothing guitar interludes that serve as a nice change and fits nicely with the destructive nature of this album.

As per the bonus material, this CD features two interviews (one in French and one in English) and two bonus tunes. The interviews are interesting but the bonus tunes are definitely worth spinning more than once. …of divinity, which is recorded live in Montreal and taken off their latest album, is a great live track that demonstrates how Neuraxis can shred just as well on stage as they can in studio; great sound, humorous intro, hollering fans = a great recipe for a fantastic live song.

Anyone who enjoys technical death metal or fiery drumming should check out this release. It serves as a great introduction for those unfamiliar with Neuraxis and is a definite worthwhile purchase as its two albums in one. Just make sure to buy a neck brace the same day you buy this album.