Heavy breathing opens Portuguese thrash/death metallers Echidna's sophomore full length, Dawn of the Sociopath. Three years since the release of their first full length, Insidious Awakening, here the band show themselves as a unit, strong, tight, focussed, and synchronised with each other's every move. The riffs, drumming, and vocals all mesh together to form solid structures around which intelligent nuances and remarkable dynamics are woven. The product then, is an album of impressive magnitude, scope, and diversity. And as a concept album, what better way to explore "the devious and malicious mind of a sociopath"? The tracks, instead of being solely full-on metal assaults have a broader landscape that uses each part of the song as an exploration that unites music with lyrics with theme. It's difficult to mark out any of the tracks as highlights since they all seem to work so well, both taken together and taken independently. Dawn of the Sociopath is an impressive slab of metal and Echidna have produced a magnificent album.
1 – Synaptic Entropy
2 – The Antagonist
3 – Violent Compulsion
4 – Commanded By Demons
5 – Agon
6 – Obscuring My Reason
7 – Sentient Nightmare
8 – Dawn Of The Sociopath
9 – Bloodlust
10 – Catharsis
11 – The Fallout