NEXUS: The Paradise Complex

Produced by Geoff Eaton and Dan Grainger

Released: July 2009

Perth's isolation from the rest of Australia has always made exposure to its metal scene difficult, but this same isolation has also made it one of the most remarkable scenes around, one that seems to throw up a disproportionately high number of quality bands. Allegiance, iNFeCTeD, Samain, Karnivool, Voyager, Pathogen and Chaos Divine are just a few of those amongst the cream of the western crop of the last 20 years, and to that list can now be added Nexus.

This death metal four piece has created something that can only be described as a saga, a complete science fiction mythology that even has its own language. With the beginning of the story having being played out on the earlier "Eve of Destruction" EP, The Paradise Complex continues the narrative of Raethe, a starship commander who transforms into an omniscient super entity called LhaArn'dHrr. The elaborate storyline is played out both in the lyrics and as a short story included in the booklet, and accompanied by some fantastic modern technical death metal.

Because this is a concept piece, this plays more like a suite where each track flows into the next, yet each one is distinctive enough that it never becomes monotonous or even predictable. Nexus throw in quirky off-time passages and neck-breaking bursts of technical playing, laced with neat melody lines. Stylistically, the band moves between jazz-inflected mathcore moments and technical grind with plenty of pure death metal in the middle. Occasionally, they get just a little too tricky and sound like they've cut off a riff midway through, which can make it all a bit jarring. The lyrics are heavily detailed and delivered through a voice that is variously a roar and a growl, with some sections in the band's own invented language which reads and sounds like a real language, rather than just a bunch of gibberish. This is no small feat in itself, but Nexus is clearly a band that likes challenges and excels at them.

The Paradise Complex is an amazing album and without doubt one of the best metal releases of this year.

1. The Paradise Complex I: The Reckoning
2. Ultimate Knowledge
3. Genesis
4. The Paradise Complex II: The Reasoning
5. Twelve Minds
6. The War of Thought
7. The Paradise Complex III: The Reawakening
8. LhaArn'dHrr

Rating: 87%