Scalpel
Methods of Delusion
(Self-Release)
New England death metal quartet Scalpel are happily infused by their old-school visions. The band has a flexible intricacy that coats its surrounding, making room for shifting passages and refined taste. Methods of Delusion, the group’s newest work, is tighter than previous releases, achieving exacting resonance and sculpting a sort of high-art death metal. Every section (and every scale) is not fighting itself; there’s room to breathe and excitement throughout.
After four scaly rippers, including the very progressive “The Stink”, and the highly evolved “Feeding The Room”, an eerie interlude sets the record a new space. “Methods to Delusion” comes front and center, taking its time to build, center, then curl around the central theme. “The Woodsman (Part II)” is sort of introverted, infinitely thrashy, and has this maddening southern-hills wildness to it. It sort of shouldn’t work, but does, and the song exudes a hefty depth because of its fearlessness.
Methods of Delusion has a familiar feel to it; its glassy and icy touches remind one of Suffocation and Decrepit Birth, with maybe an Aborted – Misery Index-like grindcore touch. But the full package is pure, natural and well intended, and you can feel the want for quality, the want to make something that’s real. And no matter how you play it, if you can drip every last ounce of yourself into something, you’ve made it, no matter what they say.
I saw Scalpel open the day up at a New England Metal and Hardcore Festival some years ago. It was definitely one of the most righteous performances. The energy was raw and luminous. The group’s only gotten tighter, stronger and better equipped to elaborate since then. Methods of Delusion is a beast, an album crafted with resolution and desire. Closer “Intensified Festering” grips you, makes you rage hard. You start the record up again as soon as it ends. It’s like playing Pierced from Within over and over again so many years ago. Good death metal is infectious.
