New England continues to thrive off of its growing local Heavy Metal scene with slews of quality bands forming over the years and taking the small club venues by storm. Replacire is one of those bands and have released their sophomore album in Do Not Deviate (Season of Mist). This record puts together both sides of the Death Metal spectrum where the overall sound can be heavy and aggressive but then switch it up to a more Technical Death approach. This helps keep the album fresh and interesting throughout the thirty nine minutes of blistering riff after riff.

‘Built Upon the Grave of He Who Bends’ is a track that focuses mostly on the technical side of Replacire. The riff-work in the verses will remind you of Mathcore, the solo will melt your face, and then the outro will hit to finish you off with aggression. ‘Cold Repeater’ is both a perfect mix of brutality and technicality but it also has a true horror movie feel to it with the creepy piano intro, spoken words “Look behind you” at a break, and the overall feel of the song. The next horror/slasher reboot should hit up Replacire to write the score. ‘Moonbred Chains’ could very well have the best riff on the whole album. While listening, I could really appreciate the fancy guitar work but also bang my head away at the little slam pieces that slide their way in. Oh and if you wanted a breakdown, you get a fun one to close out the track.

Putting out a second album can certainly be trying, but Replacire absolutely deliver in this instance with Do Not Deviate. Every song has a story to tell that has its own build around how much technicality is in the riffs versus how aggressive/heavy/brutal/other buzzwords the riffs can actually get. Normally I pay little attention to vocals in death metal, but Evan Berry really brings it home with his ability to be harsh yet still audible. This is also the first album to showcase bassist, Zak Baskin, and he certainly delivered on the low end. Chalk this album as another win for both Replacire and the New England metal scene.

8.0/10

TIM LEDIN