Who is the world’s fastest band? It something I have never really thought about, but I would have to believe it rests somewhere in the death/black/grind world. There are clearly plenty of people who love fast and furious given the sheer number of speedy brutal bands. I do love ludicrous speed, but I need it to have variation and melody; otherwise, I get bored.

Enter Vancouver, BC, Canada’s Archspire, carrying the torch for brutal speed insanity, so much so that they actually reached out to the Guinness Book of World Records to see if they could qualify as the world’s fastest band. “The Book” told them no, but record or not, they are definitely near if not at the top. In their quest to push the speed envelope, the band just released their fifth full length, and first in five years, “Too Fast To Die.” It is set in a dystopian world where the scariest aliens you could imagine are ready to take over, and you hope you can live up to the album title for your own survival!

Musically, this is inhuman technical wizardry at billions of miles per hour. I remember the first time I ever heard Archspire, and I was literally like, what is happening right now?  Incessant blastbeats pummel and destroy you, making 250 bpm seem like child’s play. Guitars and bass are in constant sweep mode, giving string companies the real world stress testing they never realized they needed. Lead vocalist Oliver is a human Gatling gun, firing volley after volley in such rapid succession that you expect him to pass out from pure exhaustion. I have seen the public love/hate relationship with his vocal approach, but the talent it takes to do what he is doing is incredible. Even more amazing is how effortlessly he pulls it off live, particularly when he mixes in the pig squeals and more standard death growls amidst the machine gun spray. I did mention earlier that speed devoid of melody is a no go in my book, and this is a non-issue for Archspire. For an album that is absolutely blistering, there is plenty of melody, and on the rare occasion the band takes a breather, your ears are blessed with thoughtful passages that bring in dynamics to add texture to each song. This is pure, unadulterated technical death metal accomplished at light speed, with  enough variety and melody and light progginess weaved into the musical fabric to keep things interesting and fresh.

“Liminal Cypher” starts out with a simple guitar melody, slowly building until the missile is released from the launcher, a storm of blastbeats, guitar sweeps, and rapid fire vocals dominating the soundscape. The song does a fabulous job navigating different tempos and dynamics amidst the blistering bpms, including old school death metal throwdowns, a reprise of the laid back intro, and a killer guitar solo that complements the speed of the drums, going from normal speed to blastbeats crazy. Just over halfway you get tricked into thinking this will devolve into a deathcore breakdown as is common in this arena, but the brief crawl serves as a nice transition before ripping your head off again. There is plenty of speed and guitar lead in the backhalf, keeping you on your toes as it eventually comes full circle to the beginning as it closes out. What a killer song to open the album!

“Red Goliath” wastes no time blasting ahead, with the drums constantly shifting rhythmically without sacrificing velocity. The first instrumental bridge allows the drums to ease slightly, allowing what is a simple guitar melody to shine through, reprising again after a short verse as the foundation for the chorus. The bass also gets to shine a bit more, getting some great solo sweep action. The chorus sees Oliver take more of a pig squeal approach that is shockingly melodic, complementing the simple guitar lead. Normally, you might expect these vocals to be clean as many bands do, so the choice here is refreshing as it takes a different extreme angle that works super well. The back half of the song takes full advantage of this melody, using it as the foundation for the rest of the song, even when Oliver is cantankerously spitting his growls. It provides a sense of grandeur as the onslaught continues to the end.

“Carrion Ladder” features some lightspeed death-rap-capella before all the instruments join forces and obliterate your ears. The brief burst of speed relents to a mid-paced syncopated rhythm while the vocals maintain their incessant cadence. Things meander back and forth until the middle drops everything, again featuring a straightforward guitar melody that makes sense and gives you a chance to catch your breath before pummeling you again. The second half of the song features catchy melodies surrounded by speedy drums and sweeping guitars, leading to a false stop that resumes with syncopated riffing and drumming until the end. This an absolute standout track on an album of great ones.

“Anomalous Descent” starts in grinding fashion, melding old school death sensibility, pig squeals, and lightning fast leads. The chorus has an old school death feel to it with its syncopated chugs and long form growls, a shift from the normal harsh staccato attack. The middle provides a breather, a moody picked guitar melody amidst an occasional high hat, then destroys you again with a killer guitar solo over lightspeed blastbeats. The ending carries the chorus over hefty chugs and plentiful guitar and bass sweeps.

“The Vessel” starts with a somber melody, then runs you over in a fury of blastbeats and crushing riffs. This song can be characterized as stupid fast, a marathon sprint that never lets up, barring a brief reprisal of the intro melody late. The song maintains an underlying melodic vibe amidst the incessant speed.

“Limb of Leviticus” is another favorite, an absolute speed demon that brings a variety of influences to the table, crafting a song that keeps you on your toes as it meanders from passage to passage. It is the most proggy feeling of any song on the album, navigating old school death, grind, and thrash textures while blending in various melodic breaks and undercurrents that add rich texture. You get a massive helping of melodic and guitar virtuoso licks, sweeps, and solos. Oliver’s vocals are an EF5 tornado, ripping and destroying everything in their path, unrelenting in their furor. The moodiness of the melodies match the underlying story, and the somber ending works perfectly. 

“Deadbolt the Backward” features some of the best guitar leads on the album, with solos galore contained within the blastbeat aggression. Oliver interjects pig squeals amidst his staccato attack, and the song does a good job varying midpaced crushing chugging riffs against the faster wall of sound typhoon.

But you haven’t really experienced true speed until the Category 5 hurricane of the title track “Too Fast To Die” assaults your auditory senses. I have no idea what the official bpm is in this song, but it is FAST, unquestionably the fastest on the album. I characterized “The Vessel” as “stupid fast.” This is brain dead fast, seemingly impossible to execute, and yet the band does it at a never ceasing pace. In this song, a breather is defined as slightly slower than average, adding rhythmic complexity as a foil to the blasting attack. The guitars and bass must literally be stress testing the structural integrity of their strings, and I cannot imagine drumsticks not being entirely mutilated by the end. Despite all of this, Archspire still manages to infuse enough melody to keep it from sounding brain dead, string melting sweeptastic leads coloring the soundscape. This is the perfect ending song.

This album is a molten slab of metallic insanity. It rarely relents, though the moments it does work great, weaving in variety and melodic depth. For as great as the bassist is (he is a marvel to watch live), I would love to see him get featured a bit more. The few times he does really stand out in a positive way. Beyond that slight nit, I can’t really complain. A crazy story backing an intense album that is well written and executed…what more could I ask for? I highly recommend letting this album dismember you in its melodic fury.