Turkish Seth.ECT's concept is mixing ancient Egyptian vibes, modern extreme metal and electronic/techno music together. What is strange, is that it actually works, if not all the way through, but at least partly. 'Godspeak' is the band's, who formed in 2008, debut album. Seth was the god of the desert, storms, and foreigners in Ancient Egyptian religion, and ECT is an abbreviation for Experimental Chaos Theory.

Seth.ECT's metal side is familiar modern extreme metal, which features influences from death metal and black metal. At worst it's typical jerky riffing, that modern pest in guitaring, but there are some nice things too, that fans of modern extreme style will enjoy hearing. Guitarists are nimble-fingered. The songs vary from mid-paced to fast blasting, and between epic sound-scapes and frantic transitions. The vocals are all growled, and pretty much incomprehensible. The drums are really pounding, sounding heavily triggered. However, the sound fits well with techno elements. The techno side is annoying, if you ask me. I cannot stand that whizzing synth, that is present a lot (the one that can be heard at the beginning of 'Keops' and throughout 'B.L.A.S.T.' for example). I have to admit, that otherwise the hardcore techno elements are pretty wicked and warped (The Prodigy influenced), and do not sound detached. Folk instruments (or synth samples) give the music some Earthly feelings, but generally Seth.ETC sound very, very machiney. It also causes the whole sound kind of soulless. There should be a lot deeper and louder bass levels happening on the album like this. As a whole, the album could have more variety and hooks on it, as some of the songs might pass a listener without a much of attention. However, the more I played the album, more it gave, but still I wanted more to digest.

'Godspeak' is available for free download on the band's official website, so if you're even a bit interested in this, then don't hesitate to grab this. A must-try for those who enjoy The Kovenant, Samael and generally electro-metal bands. I've never before come across with quite similar mixture of dissimilar music styles. It's a brave pull from the band to mix techno elements, even if hardcore techno, with metal music.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/09/2011 18:43