Apparently all it takes is the proper preparation to make something entirely worthy out of a melting-pot approach. While The Esoteric's past work has been marred by a metalcore-heavy slant and reckless indulgence, this time around things have been simmered, rather than boiled, and a variety of flavors are subsequently brought to the surface.

What this amounts to is a wide range of musical territory being covered, but while aggression fuels the lot of it, focus overrides the cut and paste urges and actual variety is allowed to emerge. While much of the bands output remains grating and noisy, there are moments of serene space rock/prog-styled beauty involved as well, such as the guest melodic vocals of Steve Tulipana of Roman Numerals on "Don't Waste Guts". Tack on a few 'Neurisis'-reminiscent instrumetal cues, and some Cursed-like wrist slashings that for once don't sound pandering and you have one hellacious experience.

The palatable desperation and searing heaviness this band are able to convey is almost empowering, especially when malice-filled choruses like "the scene is dead and so are you" practically spit venom in the listeners faces. Sure there's the typical ingredients of hardcore, metal and the rest all present, but it is the bands foresight and ability to transcend the defined boundaries that puts them a cut above. That's not saying "Subverter" is a masterpiece (flagging momentum exacerbated by a lot of throwaway parts,) but it may just be one side of the shape of things to come.