### Sceptic: Internal complexity

#### 15/12/11 || InquisitorGeneralis

My eternal bromantic love for Coroner brought me to Sceptic’s doorstep; and it’s a place I’m happy to do heroin and die on. Some Wikipedia searchin’ a few weeks ago keyed me on to the fact that a polish techdeath band did a cover version of Coroner’s Paralyzed, mesmerized.

Boner

I love Polish techdeath and I really love that song. So, I found the band, the album, and the sweetness. The cover track is excellent and stands on it’s own next to Coroner’s original gem. Plus, the rest of the damn album is pretty solid melodic/technical death metal too.

Double. Boner.

And there is a chick on lead vocals who sounds pretty fucking evil to boot. “Internal Complexity” kind of sounds like Angela from Arch Enemy singing over “Human” era Death.

Double. Triple. Boner…Squirt

To be honest, Weronika is not quite as good as Angela, and Sceptic is not quite as good as Death. Still, it’s an excellent combination for a record and a band I’ve never heard of or gave a fuck about until recently. The production screams 1995 and hits hard. Think “Black to the Blind” by Vader if you need a reference point. The music is definitely technical but not as intense as other Poletechers like Decapitated or as brutal as the previously mentioned Vader. Sceptic go for a groovier type of love with lots of solos, double-bass, and easy blasting. There is no Inferno hummingbird blasting to be found…and I’m ok with that. If I need a Polish earfucking I toss on “Zos Kia Cultus” or “The Negation”. Sceptic are for my more introspective, thoughtful moods. The cover of “Paralyzed, mesmerized” really is the tits and succeeds where all great metal covers do by retaining the original feel but still adding something new and interesting. In this case it is a definite death metal feel to the riffing (especially the rythem guitar which fucking awesome on this version) and a heavy overall sound. Unfortunately, Weronika does not do vox on “Paralyzed…” and her harsh, feminine growls would have further added to Sceptic’s ownership of that track.

Holy fuckballs, “Manipulated” is a great song too. Definitely the album’s best. Did I mention the fact that Vogg from Decapited does guitar duty here? There is a reason the two epic solos on “Manipulated” fucking dominate. Like I mentioned, there is definitely some Death worship going on, but that is pretty standard for any technical death metal band. Sceptic keep things interesting by mixing up thrash, death, and progressive elements into a tasty Peirogi of metal goodness. Album closer “A typical reverie” is a prime example of this. The other bookend, “Alteration of destiny”, is also sexy and is where the real “Human” vibes kick in. Jakub Chmura’s drumming is very good, but not spectacular. He doesn’t go to blastville to often, but his footwork and groovability are both where they need to be. Sceptic are a tight band, but they don’t do anything mindblowing or insane; there certainly are more technically impressive outfits out there.

I would recommend this to people who stroke their boners or finger their squirty vaginas to bands like Death (duh, have you been reading this asshat?), Obscura, Arsis, and Quo Vadis. Poland continues to dominate, and my love for techdeath, sweet solos, and Coroner is as strong as ever.

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Mystic Production
- Website: Sceptic MySpace
- Band
- Weronika Zbieg: vocals
- Jacek Hiro: guitars
- Vogg: guitars
- Paweł Kolasa: bass
- Jakub Chmura: drums
- Marcin Urbaś: vocals on “Paralyzed, mesmerized”.

- Tracklist
- 01. Alteration of Destiny
- 02. Internal Complexity
- 03. Suddenly Awaken
- 04. Manipultaed
- 05. Knowing Nothing
- 06. Anomaly
- 07. Hidden in the Light
- 08. Paralized, Mesmerized (Coroner Cover)
- 09. Those Who Remember
- 10. A Typical Reverie