I am always interested to hear the wealth of metal that happens outside of my US borders. Today it happens to be Piah Mater out of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Late last year, this duo released Memories of Inexistence: 7 songs of progressive death metal goodness. I'll admit that I wasn't entirely bought in at first, but something about it left it sitting in my wishlist for some time. My persistence was rewarded, as this is truly quite the experience.
Think Still Life-era Opeth mixed with Isa-era Enslaved. Scathing black and death metal growls mix with a melancholy clean tenor. There are plenty of awesomely proggy chord progressions reminiscent of both bands to enjoy. These are offset by clean post-metal and acoustic passages. Songs contain varying percentages of these elements, with tracks like “Cathiard” leaning more towards the former. Meanwhile, others like “Anticipation” stick to the latter.
Regardless of the mode, transitions are surprisingly skillful. The moody acoustic guitar rolls right into the heavier portions. The interesting solos and classical arrangements on "Mother Soil" segue nicely into "Inexistents." True to the genre, songs are on the longer side, but carry themselves well with various changes. “Young Rust” is a bit more manageable at six minutes of pretty severe “Leper Affinity” death metal. But my favorite song may be “Immaculate” for it's moving, stage-setting clean intro and subsequent attack of distortion.
With a pretty solid command of dynamics and composition, Piah Mater are every bit as talented as the groups they will inevitably be compared to. It's progressive, blackened death with a touch of doom. If you like any of those things, than Memories of Inexistence will be right up your alley. Check it out on bandcamp and pick it up as a Name Your Price. Just give it a chance to sink in.