Havent been here in ages - just thought I would mention a great tehcnical death metal band I discovered recently called Obscura. I got their latest cd 'Cosmogenesis' after reading that they were some kind of mix between Cynic, Death and Necrophagist. The good thing is that they don't go for the infantile lyrics about being a demon or killer etc (the thing that turns me off most extreme bands). As far as the guitar playing goes, it's bloody excellent. Extremely tight rhythm section with uber complicated lines mizxed up with some acoustic and jazz elements. The lead work involves a lot of sweep picking, similar to Necrophagist but a lot more musical and including a lot more different styles. Bass is off a 6 string fretless axe which sounds amazing and the drums are pretty insane (blast beats a'plenty). Personally, I think Obscura blows Necrophagist out of the water, their songs have way more elements to them and are better constructed, they are way more musical and the solos are more melodic (some Vai influences in there too).
Check it out of you like death metal and shred - you won't be dissapointed.
Technical death metal
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