REVIEW: STIGMA ''Concerto for the Undead''

TRACKLIST:

1. ''Chop his head off!''

2. ''Prove You are a Man!''

3. ''And they died happily ever after!''

4. ''A Monstruous Feeling''

5.  ''The Undertaker''

6. ''What About a Terror Ride''

7. ''3000 Years and Still Keeping it Real''

8. ''A Grave Situation''

9. ''Beat me Maestro,Eight to the Dead!''

10. ''Doctor Skeleton''

Right out of the gate,I'm gonna say that the very first thing I've noticed about STIGMA is the striking resemblance to the ARSIS sound.It is undeniable that these musicians have been attending the James Malone school of thought when closely observing the classical influence on the riffs,and the perfect blend of technicality,melody,and brutality forging the core of this very thrilling songwriting.

I would say that this album as a whole is very accessible to the Hot Topic masses,but it is also an offering that will impress the purists in the sense that the absolutely atomic chemistry between the musicians turns the music into such a breath-taking mosaic of advanced-level technical ideas it will simply fucking crush 'em to dust and show 'em how it's done in the adults' playground.I know for a fact that this kept me on the edge of my seat during quite a number of tracks,especially ''And They Died Happily Ever After!'',and ''3000 Years and Still Keeping it Real'',which are dizzying mazes of complexity within a heck of a rush of brutality that took over my senses and I feel those symptoms aren't going to leave me anytime soon.

That being said,the technical/classical voice of the spirit of this impressive entity is muted on quite a handful of tracks that I would qualify as very weak and quite blatantly filler.Said tracks,especially ''The Undertaker'' and ''What about a Terror Ride'',seem quite fatigued in terms of creativity.The patterns of these tracks inevitably fall into the easy-to-consume deathcore mold,with piss-poor main riffs,and very basic and watered down breakdown-verse-chorus-breakdown bullshit that quite laughably fails to punch me in the guts.I'm not saying these aren't listenable,only that they don't seem to fit within this fucking delectable rush of an album.I have a feeling it's most definitely half-assed material.All that retained my attention during these particular tracks is the very Richard Christy progressive drumwork that definitely kept the punchiness factor through the roof for all this time.

Overall,I can safely say that this disc is a heck of a big ass smoking gun.The skillful musicianship that's clearly rooted in the most complex style of music ever invented that is classical,the raspy and fucking insistant vocal delivery that definitely knew to impress me for the entire lenght of the journey,and the absolutely out-of-this-world progression/nuances and knife-sharp precision of the ensemble of most of the tracks are elements that kicked my ass across the room big time.

I want more of this.Now.

RATING: 8/10

-Noch