Band:	Roswell Deathsquad
Album:	Welcome Home
Style:	Progressive death metal, Technical deathcore
Release date:	January 04, 2024
A review by:	F3ynman

01. Devolve
02. The Swarm
03. Cryogenocide
04. Event
05. Invasion
06. Hive Mind
07. The Heart Of The Universe I Puncture
08. The Heart Of The Universe II Flatline


Wait—there's a genre called aliencore? And it's actually really good?

A new year begins with new resolutions for many of us. One resolution that I have is to further expand my musical horizons and explore sounds that I've previously avoided. Thus, scrolling through new metal releases on Bandcamp, I came across an album with the tag “aliencore”. Sure, I thought, it makes sense that a band called Roswell Deathsquad would have an alien theme (Roswell, New Mexico being, of course, a famed alien crash site in 1947). But, to my surprise, there are plenty of bands with the “aliencore” tag on Bandcamp. Rings Of Saturn seem to have popularized this term, playing on albums like 2012's Dingir fast-paced, aggressive, and technically impressive progressive deathcore centered around sci-fi lyrics. But, with Rings Of Saturn veering off into experimental trap music territories in their eponymous 2022 album, maybe the time has come for a passing of the torch.

Australian Roswell Deathsquad are definitely a worthy successor of Rings Of Saturn’s proggy deathcore, offering a highly entertaining mix of aggressive vocals and complex guitar-work. I personally haven't delved too much into deathcore, to be honest. But I do like progressive thrash and, to some degree, progressive death metal. So, it didn't take much for me to enjoy this batch of progressive deathcore. These musicians are clearly very talented, creating an intricately woven web of lightning-fast, meandering riffs. The proggy noodling is only truly effective, though, as a contrast to the more straightforward, energetic vocal performance.

The vocals, in fact, are where the band differ the most from their aforementioned aliencore influence. While Rings Of Saturn use both severe guttural growls and squeals, Roswell Deathsquad (except for the beginning of the first track) primarily rely on more raspy screams and hardcore vocals. Thus, the strained, impassioned vocals sound more like those typically occurring in blackened thrash rather than brutal death metal. The vocals are definitely very engaging to follow, adding this addictive rabid energy to the songs. But the true meat of the album is provided by the excellent technical instrumentation. With jazzy bass lines, guitar playing delivering both groovy rhythm and melodic soloing, and the drums keeping a mostly fast pace throughout the tracklist, there's never a dull moment to listen to.

In extreme metal, I have great appreciation for bands that know when to slow down their music to add variety to the pacing and add more impact for the aggressive parts. Roswell Deathsquad exemplify this ability as the album progresses. For example, mournful string instrumentation takes center-stage at the two-minute mark of “Cryogenocide”, while there’s a melodic, tranquil section of acoustic guitar and prominent bass guitar at the 4:30-mark of “Event”. The calmer elements reach their climax in the last two tracks, especially as the album concludes with a full minute of delicate piano playing and sombre strings.

In conclusion, Roswell Deathsquad’s Welcome Home is a very promising debut effort, continuing the progressive deathcore legacy of Rings Of Saturn, balancing melody and technically impressive intensity, all the while keeping the listener fully engaged for 48 minutes. I didn't expect this flavor of metal to grab my interest so suddenly, yet Welcome Home has left me already anticipating the next aliencore installment.