Band:	Beneath The Massacre
Album:	Fearmonger
Style:	Brutal death metal, Technical death metal
Release date:	February 2020

01. Rise Of The Fearmonger
02. Hidden In Plain Sight
03. Of Gods And Machines
04. Treacherous
05. Autonomous Mind
06. Return To Medusa
07. Bottom Feeders
08. Absurd Hero
09. Flickering Light
10. Tarnished Legacy

Beneath The Massacre are the kind of guys who play Battletoads for fun.

After exploding out the gate with a couple of ear-catching full-lengths delivered to mixed reviews (due to the polarizing nature of the style), this Canadian tech death outfit honed their songwriting approach with a more streamlined focus, resulting in a familiar sound expressed with a more concise emphasis on structure and flow. Understandably driven with the intent of writing increasingly complex rhythmic sections to accompany their unrelenting assault on the senses, Incongruous worked to establish this updated direction for a band who clearly possessed the talent to break out, just not the vision. Nearly a decade later, Fearmonger continues with the same goal in sight, featuring a finely tuned cast of gifted musicians all visibly reading notes from the same page.

No longer an up-and-coming underground purveyor of extremity and technicality, Beneath The Massacre have had plenty of time with which to further develop their take on the genre, having gone silent for the greater part of the 2010s but never officially announcing a hiatus or breakup. A small change in the lineup introduced new drummer Anthony Barone into the fold, whose transition upon the percussion throne has re-shaped ever so slightly the band's style into one that highlights the extreme rapid paced speeds synonymous with the likes of Brain Drill or Origin. This isn't to say the mid-paced chugging and deathcore-like drops have been completely removed from the equation, but the big picture is now one painted by a group of competitive speedrunners instead. That should entice most of the fan base, as one of the lacking points in the band's back catalog was their tempo choices, but any change no matter how small will always be met with its share of naysayers.

Having found a more appropriate home with Century Media, leaving behind their Prosthetic days of yore, now is the time for this once-hyped band to capitalize on the newfound momentum and carry it into the next decade. With added experience under their collective belt and a rejuvenating new release to ride on the back of for a year or two, they only need now to consistently release material of this quality within more acceptable parameters. By doing so, they could spearhead themselves to the top of the technical death metal food chain. As of yet, it remains to be seen what the future holds in store for them.