The last seventeen years have been a rocky old road for West Virginians, Byzantine. Formed in Charleston in 2000, the band have undergone numerous changes in personnel, and split up on more than one occasion. Records have had to be released independently, and although the recording sessions for latest album The Cicada Tree (Metal Blade) ran smoothly enough, the process was hindered slightly by the full time work commitments of the members. Not to be disheartened, the band took the unusual step of recording the guitar solos and vocal sessions via a live stream on the internet. For a couple of hours a night, fans were able to interact with the band, even proposing different ways to play certain parts.

Taking its name from a variety of insect which lives underground for up to seventeen years before finally emerging above ground, the title of The Cicada Tree was jokingly suggested by the girlfriend of frontman Chris Ojeda when they discovered a swarm of the locust-like insects under a tree in their front yard. Originally dismissive of the name, Ojeda realised the creature’s lifespan could actually be a metaphor for Byzantine, as they too had effectively spent the last sixteen years underground and were now ready to fly.

Combining Lamb of God, and Megadeth style riffs with the technical, progressive approach of acts like Devin Townsend, Gojira and Meshuggah the band can be crushingly heavy and neck-snappingly fast one moment before hitting you with jazzier, bluesier styles the next. Songs like ‘Verses of Violence’, ‘Map of the Creator’, the brilliant ‘Incremental’, and ‘Dead As Autumn Leaves’, with it’s wicked, spidery riff weave their way through a variety of moods and textures while the likes of Strapping Young Lad style opener ‘New Ways to Bear Witness’, ‘Vile Maxim’, ‘Servitude’, ‘The Subjugated’ and ‘Trapjaw’, although still highly technical, are a little more straightforward in their approach. The brilliant title track sounds like a melting pot of Tool, Mastodon, and Opeth, and the band even have time to rework ‘Moving in Stereo’ by The Cars to superb effect.

Technical, but not to the point where the music is forgotten in favour of needless showboating, and unpredictable but not to the point of distraction, The Cicada Tree is well produced, and expertly played with robust riffs, smooth solos, and powerful drums. Let’s just hope they stay above ground a lot longer than the three month life expectancy of the mature cicada.

8.0/10

GARY ALCOCK