Cognizance – Inquisition | Review | Metalbase | Taking Indian Rock, Metal Global

Cognizance – Inquisition | Review

Mar 22 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 2009 Views • No Comments on Cognizance – Inquisition | Review

Cognizance – Inquisition

Tracklist:
1. Clones of The Night Sky
2. The Perennial Struggle
3. Epistemology
4. Defying A Natural Process

“A world of fascination lays before our senses

It reveals the most elegant design”

2012 was a brilliant year for tech death. Albums from Gorod, Gory Blister, Innerty, Sophicide, Psycroptic and The Faceless melted my face off at least half a dozen times. Come 2013 and I still do get a feeling that this year is geared to get even bigger and better with more bands getting into the genre. On one of my typical youtube streaming sessions I happen to stumble upon on a track called ‘Clones of the Night Sky’ from the band Cognizance. A single listen was all it took for my brain to get blown to smithereens and yet left me insatiate and wanting more. A bit of searching over at Facebook, led me to find that Cognizance was a two man technical death metal outfit hailing from Leeds, UK. They’ve just come out with an EP titled ‘Inquisition’ comprising of 4 tracks, this February.

More often than not, technical death metal usually ends up being one huge riff fest devoid of any character and simply exists to address a more instrument savvy audience. But with Cognizance, it’s just simply not the case. They give songwriting and structure its due credit.

The EP is nothing short of an absolute onslaught of the senses. Now there are only a few ways to pack so many riffs into one single song. Also when all of the four songs just happen to be around the 3-4 minute mark, this becomes almost impossible. But these guys do so with such relative ease and yet maintain a certain finesse so that it does not take a toll on the overall cohesive nature of the songs. Inquisition combines earth shattering brutality with intertwining melodies perfectly, emanating a certain sense of undeniable catchiness. Tracks such as ‘The Perennial Struggle’ and ‘Defying a Natural Process’ see the band through its best moments. The former showcases some really intricate and surreal lead work and probably features some of the best grooves on the album. The latter track on the other hand impressed me with the lyrics . The lyrical output of the band seem to be more direct yet potent and not descending down to being just another exercise in medical jargon, as is staple in the genre. To the contrary they are more grounded in science and philosophy. ‘Defying a Natural Process’ talks about man’s relentless hunt for self advancement(physical and mental) and in effect defying and disrupting the natural order. With the rapid advancement of science this is really not that far off. Yet the same lyric may be interpreted in different ways as well.

“Acceptance is the key to fruition regarding this solitary master”

The craft doesn’t end there, the EP despite comprising of just four tracks feature a slew of impressive guest appearances as well. The track Epistemolgy features guest vocals from Aaron Matts of ‘Betraying the Martyrs’ fame. Also featured are Reece Fullwood (Eumeria), Scott Carstairs from the brilliant Fallujah and last but not the least the drums are played and tracked by Alex Rudinger who is now officially the drummer for The Faceless as well.

This is one EP that simply will not wear you down even after multiple listens. Meticulously crafted riffs, winding leads, mind bending grooves, blitzkrieg drumming and a good ear for songwriting all make up for an enthralling listen.

P.S. I sincerely thank Henry Pryce (vocals) for sharing the EP with me.

Follow the band on Facebook.

Buy their CD for just $3 here