Release date: April 4, 2025
Origin: Denver, Colorado, USA
Personnel: Ezra Haynes-vox, Greg Burgess-guitar, Michael Stancel-guitar, Brandon “Booboo” Michael-bass, Jeff Saltzman-drums
Technical death metal can be hit and miss. There’s a tendency for some of these bands to get caught up in the technical aspects of the genre at the expense of the songs themselves. A lot of time things can devolve into a musical wankery exercise rather than crafting solid songs. Allegaeon has been guilty of veering too far into the wankery in the past. This current album walks a fine line. The proceedings at the front end of the album are pure frenetic riffing. Greg Burgess and Michael Stancel are a super tandem of extremely technical guitar players. Some of the early songs are honestly hard to keep up with. However, the last half of the album (especially the last four songs) really elevate The Ossuary Lens into the realm of being a solid album. This album also saw the return of longtime vocalist Ezra Haynes. I was always a fan of his vocal style and goofy stage antics. So, that was a welcome return. Another nice addition is that Stancel has begun adding clean vocals to the proceedings and he simply has a lovely voice. Nice solid album.
4 flip flops out of 5
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 