Blending more modern progressive death metal with elements of techdeath traditionalism such as Necrophagist, Pennsylvania’s Alustrium are poised to launch their first full-length in five years, and their Unique Leader Records debut, in A Monument To Silence. Not much silence can be found on its near-65-minute runtime, however, with a relentless assault of technicality and groove found alongside the trademark Unique Leader heaviness. Founding member Chris Kelly and fellow guitarist Mike DeMaria may be familiar to some from their previous work in Star Wars-themed instrumental metal band Galactic Empire, yet despite this, the music is more skewed towards being vocal-led (and extremely capably too by Jerry Martin) – with a backing of neck-snappingly catchy riffwork. As one would expect for the...
