xoth album

Riffing the Universe to Shreds with "Back to the Jungle," Xoth Reinvigorates All of Tech-Death

xoth album

These days, black metal and stoner doom might have outer space (including things like alien takeovers of earth) on total lock as a theme or aesthetic, but technical death metal isn’t fucking around either. In the case of Seattle-based quartet Xoth, technical death metal really, really isn’t fucking around. Oh no, oh shit no, Xoth is not fucking around, and their upcoming second full-length Interdimensional Invocations holds zero back in its riffy testament to that which comes from the great void beyond to destroy us all. This album is an absolute trove of tech-death delights, the music blending effortlessly with the band’s themology and approach. It’s one of the juiciest fruits spawned by the genre this year. I’ve listened to it like 45 times already. I can’t say enough, but enough’s enough when it’s enough, so here’s a new song, the third track from the album:

“Back to the Jungle” describes humanity’s retreat to its most primal nature as society crumbles to dust and we’re left with nothing but our dead intellects and thirst for survival even if it means drawing the blood of others. Extremely fitting, both as bespoke narrative but also sly criticism of the world’s descent into dystopia as we approach another decade of a wretched new millennium. All that aside, though, what shines brightest from Xoth’s radiant negative sun are the riffs, the fucking riffs which, for many of Xoth’s tech-death peers, have been too genre-copypasta to really drive too much interest. But Xoth really rips anew, something decidedly fresh without feeling completely alien or experimental, beholden to tech-death’s general sound but not its constriction on innovation. Interdimensional Invocations really bleeds when taken as a monolith rather than a set of individual songs — something extremely rare and good in tech-death — and “Back to the Jungle” is just a slice. That said, the song absolutely slaps, and trust me, just wait until you hear the whole shebang.

Interdimensional Invocations releases October 18th. Pre-orders available now via Bandcamp.

xoth band

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