I have to admit every time Jason Tipton releases a death metal album, I cringe. His taste in grind is impeccable, you won’t find anyone with better taste, but when it comes to death metal… his releases, and taste, are generally more miss than hit. Capharnaum’s Fractured finally breaks that streak. The band features ex-Gorguts/current Martyr guitarist Daniel Morgrain, Monstrosity bassist Mike Poggione, teenage vocalist Matt Heafy of Trivium, and the heart of the band, brothers Jason and Jordan Suecof on vocals/guitars and drums respectively. After listening to this album only one time I knew I’d wind up listening to this disc several more times over several months. The musicianship on this release is insane, I can’t even begin to comprehend the skill required to play the music on this album. The best way to describe it would be to do a modern more technical interpretation of Human-era Death mixed with Atheist, Cynic and Disincarnate, with a bit of a Swedish death metal flair, only heavier and faster done by members of Gorguts and Monstrosity. There is just no way to full wrap your mind around the music with one listen. The dual guitar assault will make all garage virtuosos weep into their talentless pillows at night, the lightning fast bass pluckings will make Alex Webster trade in his axe for a crayon and coloring book and the drumming is surprisingly technical for a virtual unknown, almost into the Sean Reinert level… almost. The only part of the band that isn’t top notch is the vocals, which, for the most part relies more on a hardcore-ish yell. I’d prefer hearing a Chuck Schuldiner-type handling the vocal duties, or even a straight-up death growl, but overall the vocals themselves do fit the music and aren’t a hindrance. Fractured is the type of music that’ll leave you wearing Depends, strapping on a bib and rambling incoherently between drool bubbles. This is way too much for the average death metal fan to grasp, and by that I mean people with no muscles who wear sleeveless shirts at metal shows and think getting punched in the face 87 times in a mosh pit is the sign of a ‘good night’, but for people with more refined tastes and can appreciate amazing musicianship without shouting "WHERE ARE THE PIT RIFFS, DOOD?", this is the album for you. By far one of the finest albums, musically, I’ve heard in a long long time. I can hardly wait until their sophomore release. I swear if they don’t record a second album I will break the fingers of every member of this band. All 50 digits! MORE!!!!!

Written By: Teufel