Band:	Sxuperion
Album:	Omniscient Pulse
Style:	Atmospheric death metal
Release date:	June 15, 2020
A review by:	RaduP

01. Owl
02. Death (Bussard Ramjet Malfunction)
03. Planet Crusher - Defeating The Holy Emperor
04. Presque-Vu
05. Omniscient Pulse
06. Betrothed Catacombs
07. A New Universe Awaits (Burning The Cloth)
08. Myopian Frequency Release

Cosmic death metal and cosmic black metal are surprisingly very different. One is a technical epic fight with aliens, the other is a cold journey through the void. Sxuperion are here to bridge the gap.

Sxuperion is a one-man band led by Matthew Schott, also known as Lord Sxuperion, hence why it is pretty obvious that this is his main project, though he has other projects as well, whether solo ones or as a drummer for a band (Valdur for example). Though the project was started in the late 90s, it didn't pick up steam until 2011, and then burst open upon the scene with 2014's Through Cosmic Corridors. It would not be the last Sxuperion album to have "cosmic" in its name, just to drive the point across, and since each release has had varying degrees of success to capture the cosmic feeling it so dearly grasps, with the last one coming just last year. And with plenty of EPs in between them, there is certainly no lack of cosmic metal from Sxuperion's side. So how does their latest output fare?

As I said, the biggest selling point that Sxuperion's music has is the combination of cosmic death metal with cosmic black metal. Though it certainly is more of the former than the latter, the death metal is less on the technical side and more on the cavernous and bludgeoning OSDM side, and with it being as cavernous as it is, the cosmic black presence only ever amplifies its sense of ambiance. You won't get Darkspace levels of cold void, but you'll sense the music reaching for it at times, or at least often mashing the slab of blackened death metal into something of a similar form with a similar sense of atmosphere. And since they already hammered the cosmic theme through it appearing in the cover arts and album titles so much, there's no other atmosphere that you're going to imagine than that of space just being that brutal. And the sci-fi samples certainly help that immersion. Plus it's not like the album doesn't have enough moments of pure ambiance as well.

What feels a bit different on Omniscient Pulse is that most of the songs are comparatively on the shorter side, and similarly a lot of the songwriting seems a lot more direct. Hell, there are three tracks that are under three minutes, if you can imagine that for such an atmosphere-focused sound. So it's clear that Sxuperion doesn't aim to just create a sound. But at the same time, I wish there was a bit more of a compromise between the directness of the songs and the cosmic feeling of the record, with their brevity sometimes making them feel a tad unfinished. Though the overall length of the record is still in line with the previous records, at around 35 minutes, it still doesn't feel like the songs are fleshed out enough. But even so, the sound is ambitious enough that it falling a bit short of its goal isn't that damning, and Omniscient Pulse is still at least on par with Endless Spiritual Embodiment in honing the sound. The riffs and the gutturals are droning and varied enough that the shortcomings can mostly be overlooked.

With so much time in the making, Sxuperion is almost there, and even if there is room for improvement and the blend isn't as homogeneous yet, even if we never actually get the maturation of it, what we have so far is still more that decently crafted to work on more than ambition alone.