This is not a typical tech death album. Normally, tech death is a fairly singular genre, in that most of the appeal involves stretching instrumental work to its absolute limits in speed and complexity. This means that it’s usually evaluated on how good a job it does at that — how often a solo makes your jaw drop, how often you hear a clever reference to classical or jazz fusion language, or how often an especially fast and technical riff makes your heart race. A common criticism is that there’s not much of a human element left to the music given that — a claim I disagree with, but that’s a different piece for a different time. What we have here, instead, is the debut album from Berlin-based fretless guitarist Tom ‘Fountainhead’ Geldschläger’s new project Changeling. And while the album of the same name is worthy of being evaluated on the criteria I’ve mentioned above, there’s an atypical separate human dimension to it that needs to be considered going in. I’m of course talking about Geldschläger’s contentious tenure in Obscura and their 2016 album Akroasis, which was ultimately the only record of theirs he was part of the lineup for.
The story goes that Obscura’s frontman, Steffen Kummerer, fired Geldschläger from the band before that lineup ever toured together, making several pernicious claims about Geldschläger’s professionalism and musical ability in the process. This was far from the first time Kummerer has had issues with Obscura’s growing list of ex-members (and far from the last, having been publicly accused of stealing ex-members’ compositions for material on Obscura’s latest record). Geldschläger has since been subject to his Akroasis playthroughs being taken down, his contributions to the album diminished, and obviously the very real hit to his reputation as a professional musician. For years since, Geldschläger’s talked about writing more material in the style of his contributions to Akroasis, and especially its legendary final track “Weltseele”, the 15-minute epic he penned for the record. That brings us back to Changeling, which is just as much a tech death album from a brand new group as it is a redemption story for a musician who was caught in a very public falling out. And once one knows the album’s backstory, it’s difficult not to hear it reflected back in the music. This is already a sprawling and ambitious work of art in a vacuum, but there is an undeniable creative energy within it on top of that. It sometimes feels as if Geldschläger went above and beyond in needing to prove — perhaps just as much to himself as anyone in the tech death world — that his musical voice matters, and that he could harness it to put together a project of this scope.
No two songs on Changeling sound alike. Atop the tech death backbone, there are excursions into symphonic metal (”Abdication”), progressive death (the excellent “World? What World?” and “Anathema”), and punishing downtempo riffs that sound like a tech death Primitive Man (”Abyss”). But the two reliable constants remain Geldschläger’s fretless guitar wizardry and Alkaloid/Dark Fortress frontman Morean’s vocals, the latter of which are as powerful and theatrical here as they are on Alkaloid's excellent repertoire. There is just so much on this record to explore and pore over, and that’s not even getting into the thirty-some guest performers providing contributions big and small across its runtime, including former members of Death and Cynic, no less. Still, the field never feels too crowded, and Geldschläger’s adroit guitar work retains centre stage, which is a mantle he takes up with confidence and strong showmanship.
Of course, casting too wide a net can be an issue with any record; eclecticism can easily look like unevenness, or even a lack of focus, to a given listener. But spun another way, it also just means there’s something in here for any kind of tech death fan. The progressive parts are undeniably fantastic, but I’m personally here for the explicit tech death parts most, and that makes cuts like “Falling in Circles” and the title track land best for me over more experimental songs like “Abdication”. Point being: there’s just too much packed in here to not find something that strikes one’s fancy. And that’s before we get into the 17-minute closer “Anathema”, which is truly a worthy successor to “Weltseele”. This is not a light claim, but I'd even argue the song's dynamism and execution brings it to the ranks of legendary long-form tech death, along the lines of Gorod’s “Transcendence” or Spawn of Possession’s “The Evangelist” and “Apparition”. Changeling just has so much on offer here overall, making it the kind of album that exponentially rewards revisits each time – the highest compliment any tech death release can get in my books.
Changeling is a burst of freshness and innovation, and one of the best tech death releases in recent years. It's a must-listen for anyone with a passing interest in the genre or technical music in general. Above all, one just cannot deny the unfathomable creative energy bursting at the seams across this record. It’s at the point where the closing notes of “Anathema” feel less like Geldschläger ran out of things to say, and more than he just needed to take a breath. No matter when he speaks next, one thing is for sure: the genre is better off with his musical voice in it.