2017 sees the return of Sci-Fi tech-death masterminds Rings of Saturn with their 4th album of otherworldly, futuristic brand of aliencore that could actually be from the year 2047, Ultu Ulla.

For a band that took the deathcore/tech-death blueprint and expanded on it exponentially, to absurd levels, this new record does the impossible: making brain meltingly complex music accessible to a wider metal audience. The additions of guitarist Miles Dimitri Baker and drummer Aaron Stechauner certainly must be a defining reason for this. The guitar and drum interplay are simply inhuman in terms of speed and complexity, making us wonder what alien technology was used to allow a human to play with such speed.

Most importantly, the songwriting this time around has improved significantly. The juxtaposition of harmony next to bowel rumbling breakdowns and peppered with ridiculous guitar shredding licks are done at their highest level in the bands discography thus far. Keyboards in the vein of Super Nintendo or PlayStation soundtracks have also been added further solidifying the futuristic/alien aesthetic.  The instrumental songs mixed in could arguably be the highlights of this record. Either the Spanish Guitar tinged “Unhallowed” or the melodic shred fest of “The Macrocosom” ROS is pushing their own creativity to the brink. Not only do these tracks break up the chaos but the variety and diversity these songs bring is such a breath of fresh air in the otherwise vacuum of deep space brutality ROS is otherwise known for.

Fourth albums are typically the testing ground for bands, either staying the course with similar material or attempting to expand in new directions. I’m happy to see that ROS has decided to go for the latter. Ultu Ulla is easily their best effort yet and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.