After forming a decade ago and releasing three demos over the last six years, "Measuring the Abstract" is the first proper release from Sweden's Terminal Function, who I had never heard of prior to receiving this disc in the mail from Willowtip. The label cites comparisons to Meshuggah, Theory in Practice, Cynic, and Dream Theater, which is a rather lofty assessment, but it's actually quite accurate! I'd say the base is built around a mid-90's Meshuggah type of sound, as subtly-fucked-with rhythmic twists and tactful start/stop riffing tend to be among the first influences that kind of jump out and take hold, though the staccato vocal patterns here explore much more ground, not to mention sharing space with some actual singing from time to time. However, Cynic's speedy alternate picking style and penchant for lush, jazzy clean flourishes start to surface early on as well, leading to some beautifully slick lead playing and a truly progressive edge that, when combined with the absolutely awesome drum work, also puts bands like Spiral Architect very top-of-mind—another loose comparison that speaks very highly of Terminal Function's approach/delivery! The Dream Theater aspect is really only tied to the flashy keyboard work, which is both surprisingly tasteful and graciously sporadic, so as not to detract from the true life of the material.
I had honestly started to lose a bit of interest in the Willowtip roster in the last year-and-a-half or so, making this by far the best release I've heard from the label in quite some time. And what a winner it is! Bands like Cynic, Atheist, and Pestilence have been highly influential favorites of mine ever since I was a kid, but these days I just don't encounter much in the way of "progressive", technical metal that really does it for me. There's still room for improvement here in terms of the overall songwriting (there's really no need for four of the eight tracks to run nearly seven minutes apiece, for example), but thankfully there are still bands like Terminal Function lingering about that have a real knack for this genre's proper execution. Well fucking done...
Terminal Function "Spawn"
Terminal Function "Tactile"
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Comments
most death metal sounds like meshuggah these days. its terrible. this isnt bad… you should try the faceless. they used to suck pretty bad, greatly improved on the new one though
12.10.2008 | By Anonymous
Ehhhh…talented guys but each part sounds almost exactly like one of their influences(Meshuggah, Cynic, later Death). They use that utterly cliche morse-code rhythm that was beat to death by Dillinger wanna-bees, too.
Speaking of Cynic, what do you think that band’s new one, Andrew? I know you were a big fan of Focus(as was I) but I haven’t heard much of their latest.
12.11.2008 | By Justin
I still love Cynic and the new album is very solid - surprisingly so, in fact. I have minor complaints, but it’s a very good disc. However, the people out their claiming that it’s better than “Focus” are A. wrong and B. fucking stupid. Such claims are just laughably off-the-mark!
12.11.2008 | By Andrew Aversionline
Actually, I can’t think of a lot of bands that sound like Meshuggah et al these days. At least not successfully so, like these guys do. Nothing wrong in nicely morphing your influences into a beast of your own. Plus, this particular style was never an epitome for extraordinary song-to-song diversity, was it? I’m pretty much all over this.
12.12.2008 | By Chris