When it comes to “bringing the riffs”, Divided By Design really don’t mess around. ‘Collapsing Reality’ (taken from the band’s current album ‘Stages To Osiris: Rebirth’) moves through various complex moods, exploring different aspects of very technical progressive metal, providing a brilliant showcase for each of the musicians, but particularly capturing guitarist Liam Stephenson in absolutely blistering form.

Moving from a slow, doomy intro where droning chords and funeral bells set up a very ominous atmosphere, the trio quickly hit upon a heavy sound where a massive riff introduces an even bigger sense of pure doom, before settling into very busy rhythm where thrash metal intensities collide with the intricacy of prog. Without allowing any real time for the band or audience to warm up, this finds Liam to launch into a flurry of notes comparable to an on form Michael Romeo from Symphony X circa 2002. His lead work may dominate – as is only natural in this kind of set up – but listen more closely and you’ll also hear Sam Young absolutely wringing the hell out of a six stringed bass, really reinforcing the band’s commitment to full-on speed oriented, very technical metal.

Eventually, everything slows down and a world of huge chords bring a doomier atmosphere once more, and Liam drops in a selection of effortless sweeping notes that show off more of the band’s melodic side, before sharing an equally melodic solo where the usual speed oriented approach is joined by flowing, almost bluesy notes. The way he uses these in tandem with some really intense drumming by Tom Chambers sets up a wonderful contrast, and this feeds into the latter part of the track where slower, jazz influenced guitar work shares slower, occasionally jarring notes against a really tight drum part that doesn’t feel like the most natural fit, and yet, for those who love all things technical, will certainly invite a very close ear.

Naturally, this won’t be for everyone, but for the adventurous prog metal fan looking for a more interesting alternative to Dream Theater (yawn) and a band that might easily be the natural successors to Animals As Leaders, or even take the sounds of Dark Matter Secret to the next level, this will certainly be of huge interest.

Watch the video for ‘Collapsing Reality’ below.