REVIEW: DECONSTRUCTING SEQUENCE - 'Access Code' (EP)

"This is Chapter 2, just another stage of Exile..."

I've long heard of bands claiming to be of the 'Space Metal' variety. Though, in my opinion, most simply place themselves under this category upon the annoyingly repetitive use of Flange Pedals and bleep-bloops (listen to almost anything 'spacey' by Ayreon or the members various side projects for many examples). Frankly, bands like that just don't capture the scope or terror that I personally believe should come from Space-centric themes. I mean - where is the claustrophobia, fear, anxiety and inevitable madness that would come from the uprooting of ones physical being to a floating death-box in space? Well, either by coincidence or expert thought into the matter, DECONSTRUCTING SEQUENCE has hit the mark.

Though 'Access Code' is only a mere 2 tracks in length, I enjoyed them far more then even some of the entire albums I have in my possession. DECONSTRUCTING SEQUENCE provides a extremely maddening, desperate and uprooting experience from the get-go with 'A HABITABLE WORLD IS FOUND'. Moving from a bizarre intro of 'Oh My God, its Full of Stars!' into a collection of schizophrenic riffs and blast beats; settling down for a few clean moments and verses; and into some almost-required electronic bits - its easy to say that DECONSTRUCTING SEQUENCE wanted to pelt you with sky-high skill levels and variety. Though, with this comes a small flaw in the EP's construction. With such a powerful first track, that covers so much ground, the second track 'WE HAVE THE ACCESS CODE' just doesn't feel as bombastic as the first part. And, that's somewhat of a shame since the second track really does have some extremely good ideas floating around in it. However, after over seven minutes of extremity and experimentation - it does feel like maybe the EP should have been cooled down a little more but instead, with every step it takes to slow down - there is always some element that wants to break through into extremity.

'Access Code' is very much up there with excellence in its construction and definitely in production as well. However, such a strong first track certainly makes anything else that follows very underwhelming. DECONSTRUCTING SEQUENCE, even with that is still a extremely high-quality band that does Space-Metal right and for that, I'll be keeping my eye out for anything else they do in the future. I suggest you check out their EPs and do the same.

-Keith J Ham-