Originally written by Erik Thomas
Honestly, what would you expect a project formed by Vintersorg drummer Benny Hägglund (who also plays guitars and bass for this outfit) and aided by Vintersorg (vocals, FX-AKA Andreas Hedlund) to sound like? Hatebreed? Well you’d be right. Just kidding. Fission is progressive thrashy up tempo ‘mind metal’, which has obvious comparisons to Vintersorg despite trying to sound different.
The music of Fission is slightly less complex and conceited, the overall sound still resembles Vintersorg basically due to Hedlund’s distinct voice-he simply puts Vintersorg’s stamp on Hedlund’s thrashier guise. So actually, Hägglund’s efforts to create his own sound are only partially successful, but still enjoyable nonetheless. The cerebral, futuristic motif of the music also fails to make Fission its own true entity, as tracks titled “The Core – 118 Protons of Insanity”, “The Chaos Algorithm” share Vintersorg’s recent spatial trappings although on a more microcosmic scale. Still, where Vintersorg now tends to wander slightly, Fission has a more direct and still intellectual take on their thrashy/melodic death visage. Not counting the intro “Mechanism”, and instrumental “The Core – 118 Protons of Insanity”, Crater’s songs are all solid, enjoyable tunes if unremarkable in their vision regardless of their pretences.
Each of the full tracks follows a fairly straight forward verse/chorus structure, albeit glossed with Hägglund’s futuristic synths and Hedlund’s soaring clean voice rendering the choruses with a suitably epic feel, but between the choruses his rasp and Hägglund’s riffs tread pretty tame territory relying on a delicate balance of thrash and more logical precise pacing that simply allow the listener to enjoy the material and not be overloaded with it. Granted, the upbeat thrashier moments such as “Empty Nimbus”, “Magnetism” or “The Chaos Algorithm” are delicately shredding, but don’t expect Fission to split the atom with power and speed, as they are all about scholarly, academic structures and pacing. “Mind Vortex” and “Eremiten” are more mid paced and thoughtful, and work far better than Hägglund’s attempts to add weight to a sound as cerebral as this. As expected, Hedlund puts on a high quality vocal display that fits the music perfectly, but again because of his unmistakable tone, it could almost be the next, more direct, more focused Vintersorg album. Along with Hedlund’s fine performance, the album is veneered with high quality, high professionalism that often outclasses some fundamentally solid music.
Album closer “Syndrome” is the album’s highlight that mixes Fission’s more upbeat drive with an erudite pacing and delivery. The album was recorded in several sessions at the duo’s personal studios, but you would be none the wiser as it all binds together seamlessly and creates a suitably unique sound that fits the band’s cerebral music.
Not the world beater Hägglund probably envisioned and the album loses some of its individuality due to Hedlund’s voice, but it’s a solid and personable album that’s a welcome break from all the angst ridden metalcore, hate fueled black metal and gore drenched death metal that I’m normally bombarded with.
