Though underpinned by the same low-pitch syncopated riffing that many of their peers almost exclusively depend on, Germany’s Neberu have a broad spectrum of sounds and moods permeating their debut. Obstructor’s sinister tones and pained, whispered vocals erupt into a nightmarish squall of angular riffs and frenzied effects, while the title track conjures an unsettling labyrinth and drops that could cleave meat from bone. Inferiority moves from a fiddly riff to delicate, spacious passages and dabs of electronics while sole guitarist Simon Frank lets his flamboyance show through the gorgeous textures of Delusional.
Philipp Bernhard’s clean vocals don’t quite have the power to achieve the desired impact on the tenacious chorus of Interiority but he comes into his own on Selfecution’s dreamy melancholy before the song explodes into a wall of sound that matches his determined roar. Even on the simpler nu metal motifs of Reversal and Perversity and heavyweight groove of Two Faced there’s still plenty to keep you on your toes, making this debut far more smart and surprising than more experienced purveyors of tech metal.
