"The Body Cosmic": Iapetus Electrifies Melodeath (and Your Brain) with Proggy Artistry
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Stumbling on the occasional gem in the rough is one of the purest joys that music journalism provides, especially in genres whose heydays have come and gone. New York duo Iapetus proves two things up-front: no genre ever truly dies, and melodic death metal deserves a solid place in the annals of progressive music. I stumbled upon The Body Cosmic just shortly ago, actually, and was immediately won over by the album’s incredible breadth and its sensational depth — as the band’s proggy style ebbs and flows between hyper-modern blackened blasts, gentle ambiance, and oranges-hoisting melodicism, something “right” just clicks, and clicks hard. The riffs groove majorly, feeling actually fun (is that allowed?) at times versus dead-serious, but the backbone of Iapetus’s music comes down to a wonderful integration of so many moving parts, itself a well-oiled machine worth all the mouth-agape appreciation it’ll surely invite. Stream the whole thing now below before tomorrow’s release.
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There are nine songs here, with a handful serving as somber interludes between some truly behemoth 10+ minute monsters. Diving into the opening title track will blast you into space right away, for sure, but The Body Cosmic really starts to bleed once you’re settled in for the ride. Listeners get: cosmically lush guitar leads, a sensational drumming performance by Ne Obliviscaris’s Dan Presland, body-moving (and audible) basslines, and wildy shifting song structures which challenge your ability to locate yourself within the album’s extremely dense musicianship. Despite the seemingly overloaded nature of The Body Cosmic, just sitting back and listening will allow all the elements to congeal into one unified sound which, as far as I’m concerned, can only be Iapetus. Where a lot of melodeath albums fall short (and a lot of metal, to be honest), The Body Cosmic makes up enormous amounts of ground, filling any voids with an unabashed progginess that just makes me feel warm and cozy inside instead of cold and dead. Then, at just the right moment, Iapetus slaps you goddamn silly with hooky lines and triumphant atmosphere, and you finally remember: metal is fun.
It’s a beautiful, if obvious, revelation… but one always sorely needed. Consider my ears (and brain) pleased beyond belief.
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The Body Cosmic releases tomorrow; purchases available via Bandcamp.
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