In 2005, the renowned extreme music label EARACHE gave a true gift to death metal connoisseurs. Releasing the third album by Canadian act NEURAXIS — "Truth Beyond" from 2002 — in Europe, the label appended a second disc containing the first ("Imagery," 1997) and second ("A Passage into Forlorn," 2001) releases, plus two bonus tracks.
Let's follow the chronological order of these releases presented across two CDs, starting with the 1997 album "Imagery." The album runs a mere 29 minutes. Through the first several tracks, we don't hear anything unique distinguishing the band from the majority playing brutal death. We're already inclined to think that these countrymen of CRYPTOPSY and KATAKLYSM have nothing remarkable to offer. However, by the track "Oscillated To Intelligence," we hear fascinating solo passages and marvel at the excellent technique with which the composition is performed. The rest of the album largely continues in this spirit — highly technical and precise guitar work, blast beats from the drummer, and periodically emerging quite melodic solos against a backdrop of high-speed pummeling. Toward the album's end, in "Psycho-Waves," we encounter melodic death elements as well. The quiet instrumental guitar piece "A Drift..." that follows reveals the same tendencies. Overall, the excessively extreme vocals don't quite suit this kind of music. We hear very deep guttural growling interspersed with very vicious highs. The vocals would be far more fitting for grindcore. Indeed, several of the album's compositions could easily be classified as grind, particularly the 40-second closer "The Drop," but on the whole the album is still death metal and not overly brutal, so the vocals in many tracks simply don't match the music.
Onward. Before us now is a different work, emerging a full four years after the first — "A Passage into Forlorn." Two demos were released in between. Here we hear a completely different NEURAXIS. First and foremost, the vocalist has changed — Ian Campbell's vocals suit the band far better. The band's style has also shifted noticeably: the sound has lightened while simultaneously becoming much more diverse and multifaceted. The style is now fairly easy to define — this is technical death metal. Lyrically, things remain identical to the first album; both records center on the broader problems of human civilization, technological progress, and its inherent contradictions. Surprisingly, this album is even shorter than its predecessor, which doesn't prevent it from standing out much more favorably. The second track, "Virtuosity," could easily claim the title of masterpiece. The remaining compositions are no less worthy — "Link" deserves special mention. Melodic and technically intricate passages appear in nearly every major composition. The album is a breathless listen from start to finish. In the finale, we again hear "The Drop," but the shift in sound transforms this speedy blaster into a magnificent piece. The instrumental "Forlorn..." concludes the record — quiet guitar sounds, as if the preceding 23 minutes of speed, technique, and fury never happened.
Let's move to the first disc and consequently the newest of the three releases on this compilation — "Truth Beyond" from 2002, which gave its name to this edition. Honestly, after such a strong second album, you expect clearly more. But you don't hear anything fundamentally new — the same precise and clean sound, equally technical, with compositions sounding somewhat more expansive. However, a distinguishing feature of this release soon becomes apparent. It's not in the sound — there are no changes there — but in the construction of the compositions on this now 41-minute release. The combination of vocal and instrumental passages is far more thoughtfully arranged; the album is much more professionally executed in compositional terms, with incomparably more rhythmic transitions. Yet the album somehow becomes more repetitive compared to the previous one — I'm not sure why. As on the prior release, there's an acoustic instrumental, only now it's joined by an electric solo. Well, immediately after it, at track 8, we hear another masterpiece from the band — "Structures." The following track "Mutiny" doesn't lose out to it at all; the closer we get to the album's end, the more positive the impression. The disc closes with the title track "Truth Beyond Recognition..." — undoubtedly the strongest on the album. After its finale, the only thing you want to do is immediately listen to it again. Then comes the Outro — once again, calm and very beautiful guitar playing...
Also on the first disc, you can view video footage of the band's live performance. The quality isn't the best, but it's more than enough to form an impression.
The bonus tracks consist of "In Silence" from a 1999 demo recording and a live version of "...Of Divinity," which provides a pleasant surprise — the band sounds every bit as good live as in the studio. All parts are brilliantly performed and the vocals sound excellent. Let's hope the band will have the opportunity to release a live album in the near future. For now, for any fan of technical music, extreme progressive, and unconventionally sounding death metal, this double edition would be a very worthy addition to their collection.