DYSTROPHY – Wretched Host
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 31-12-2015
Together since 2007, this New Jersey quartet have morphed from a more progressive/thrash metal oriented band to technical death metal, as evidenced by this second full-length "Wretched Host". Aware of the struggle between musically intricate while keeping the material flowing in a cohesive manner, Dystrophy throw in a lot of wild Voivod-ish jangly chord parts and insane blast beats against a rumbling bass, churning your insides out.
Everything from Dying Fetus and Suffocation to Atheist and Voivod come up when taking in a lot of the dissonant riffing, manic tempos, and occasional doom-like interludes before the next escapade picks up. Favorites include the 7:42 "Apex" (love the mournful violin that gives way to the instrument cat and mouse chase), the delectably slower "Within the Mind" and head crushing "Demise". Technical death metal can be satisfying if the musicians temper the intricacy with spots of hooks, subtle melodies and brief reprieves – "Wretched Host" has this and more (including some killer lead break spots during the closer "Nadir").
I’ll have to look into more of Dystrophy’s back catalog.