Technical, challenging Death Metal always has a special place in my book especially when it is done well and with devotion. The 4-piece act know as Ara comes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and released a 5-track EP titled The Blessed Sleep back in 2012 prior to their debut album, Devourer of Worlds, which was released at the end of 2014.
Devourer of Worlds pretty much blew me away. Unlike so many other technical and progressive Death Metal bands these days, Ara have decided to not take the easy approach on their debut. There's one band in particular they remind me very much and that is Finland's Demilich. The album is filled with tricky and extremely unorthodox song compositions in the same mold that Demilich used to amaze extreme Metal fans when they put out Nespithe back in 1993. Devourer of Worlds has a lot of the same instrumental craziness as Nespithe did. Feel free to add some Gorguts, Morbid Angel and Cephalic Carnage into the mix and you will be pretty close to understanding what Ara sound like. All their riff and rhythm work is full of unexpected changes and they always seem to take the most challenging approach. Just listen to the song "Obelisk", which could not be more twisted and complex whereas "Jerupitus, the Blood-Drenched" is Ara's own "Where the Slime Live" (starting at the 1:24 mark). There's a true orgy of instrumental finesse present on this opus from start to finish, which is sure to impress extreme Metal fans from Osaka to Melbourne to Chicago and all the way to Espoo.
What an infectious album Devourer of Worlds truly is, offering complex and tricky Death Metal of the highest possible caliber. Highly recommended.