Before I even talk about the band, I just have to say that "Spiral of Devoutness" drops the bass heavier than a dubstep song. There, I said it. Now that that's out of the way, this is Synapses formed in Italy. Take Meshuggah's groovy, pure tech-driven origins of djent + the brutal death of Cannibal Corpse and you get Devoutness.
In short, and sticking to double negatives, you can't NOT bang your head to this s@#t. Listen to the perfectly-titled "Force-Fed With Gore." That main riff burrows its way into your very being. "Der der der Der...derderderder." You know what I'm talking about. "A Place Will Be Forgotten" is an equally impressive track just full of mind-bending time-changes and catchy tech-death noodling. I want to make babies to this song.
Speaking of technical, as you can probably surmise, the drumming here is also stellar. It almost goes without saying since you can hardly have a tech death band without a good rhythm section. But dayum bruh, these beats are tighter than a...well, a drum. Walked right into that s@#tty metaphor I guess. Anyways, suffice it to say that your need for cyborg-level double bass will not go unfulfilled.
Even when just venturing into instrumental territory, Synapses have it locked down. "Expiation" is the best song that Meshuggah never wrote. "The End" is a perfect, chuggy composition to close out the album. And of course, "Hybrid Soul" is a captivating piece of music that perfectly breaks up the album with great synth melodies and atmosphere. It's so different from the rest of the album, but without feeling out of place. And it doesn't hurt that the next track is one of my personal favorites, "Pheonix Condemned." What a riff. That hook was stuck in my head for days.
Between the intense, booming bass injections, catchy guitarwork, and crushingly brutal vocals; Devoutness has everything a death metal fan could want. It's super-enjoyable without pandering, crazy technical without alienating the audience, and just infectious as hell. To quote the great 90's poets, Deee-Lite, with Synapses, "Groove is in the Heart." It can be in yours too for just $5.