Clawing apart their third-iterative carapace for a second-level retraining of all metacognitive morphoses Warsaw, Poland-based progressive/technical thrash metal trio SPECIES meld the surreal expressionism of progressive metal muse with the laser-cut defiance of speed metal’s last hyper-futuristic generation on this exceptional sophomore full-length album. ‘Changelings‘ is a continuously flowing ~40 minute font of both personal and referential ideas divvied up into CAD-sketched vignettes each of which speak a very specific language of prog-thrash metal increasingly afflicted by rock guitar heroism and jazz fusion accented transitional modes. With these antipodal firings meshed in irregular spurts an organic and highly expressive assault fumes from their rehearsal room built collective of still-raw sophisticate.

Inspired by their collective exploration of high-rate late 80’s underground thrash metal classics, heavy music staples and early 70’s progressive rock Species formed as a trio circa 2018 with each of their resumes highlighted by stints (or direct hands) in local death/thrash metal groups (Pandemic, Sacrofuck, War Messiah, et al.) and such around that time. Though it took a preliminary release to sort their labyrinth and pick up some speed the genetic expressivity of the group carries three major poles as far as I’ve gathered and most of this should be apparent to any true thrash metal psychonaut as an amalgam of late 80’s underground progressive metal by way of the eastern European ex-thrasher scene alongside some hits of early progressive death-thrash metal bolstered by the very much related late 2000’s/early 2010’s penchant for exaggerative technical thrash metal abstraction (ah via ‘Outer Isolation‘). Rather than representing a metamorphosis of the zeitgeist’s husk their work morphs between these modes seamlessly on each of their LPs.

That is to say that this isn’t an ouright extreme metal band but one that’d carried the wisdom of three ages into their debut full-length album (‘To Find Deliverance‘, 2022) which I’d reviewed to very high praise upon release, commenting: “[the album] speaks directly to the conflict of existentialist desire for autonomy within the confines of a very controlled and challenging existence today yet it won’t too-directly indicate the genuine ‘old school’ thrash metal sensation of progressive metal they’ve inflicted upon the general public ’til you’ve jumped in.” before placing it at #66 on my Top 100 Albums of the Year. It was notable work and 20 Buck Spin clearly noted the potential available to it, signing them soon after.

Species‘d been pretty clear about their main points of inspiration back in 2022 but whether we look to the Bay Area or Poznań when pinpointing a specific nod for the riff-obsessed fandom it will be difficult beyond vague generalizations as one man’s circa ’89 Watchtower reference could be another’s hint of ‘Futurity and Human Depressions‘ and from my point of view looking towards Coroner or Voivod might as well be a dismissive wave of the hand on the part of the listener. Sure, I bet they like ‘Master of Puppets‘ too. With that said there are vibes to be felt here which resonate with me: Fans of of peak Artillery will find “Waves of Time” has that level of swagger applied to its most key riffs (see: ~3:47 minutes in) yet when we zoom out and find the song has more in common with the first Psychotic Waltz record per its clean vocals in refrain, not to mention a hint of ‘Unquestionable Presence‘-copped volume swells informing the lead into said clean vocals. There are myriad weird and wonderful things happening “under the hood” here but this time around most all of it is visible, clarified into a sickly glowing pit beyond their debut.

If you can bear a momentary meta commentary on sub-genre music I’d suggest a lot of today’s celebrated (?) progressive thrash metal has evolved into salad-tossed incestuous hero worship wherein all available traits are farmed as datum in service of regurgitated tropes which lack taste, or, any point of view. This doesn’t fly in the realm of prog/tech thrash (not the stuff anyone remembers) and this brings me to the reason a young band like Species might stand out as they purport a comparatively narrow beam of stylized abandon which they use to forge their own space within underground thrash metal authentic sounds (a good thing); However you categorize and place the trio’s work in the continuum of freak thrash you’ll note that the one thing missing from the high standards of yesterdays within their work is a cockish, power-wailing vocalist and instead a squawked, spoken and cleanly crooned effect (no gang shouts?) builds over the course of ‘Changelings‘ as their ouevre expands beyond ‘To Find Deliverance‘ into more daring venture. In this way vocalist/bassist Piotr Drobina occasionally carries the relentless cadence of Alan Tecchio at his most verbose but in a characteristically Eastern Bloc-era thrash way, something slightly more extreme and less precise.

It’ll take a few songs to really get into the thick of the action I’m already chipping through, opener “Inspirit Creation” may very well appear strangely normal within its first two-thirds, but by the time we hit “Voyager” Species have unleashed fury, funk and distraught skin-peeling narrative within. The choice then is to space out, dial back the intensity mid-album and prepare for a wild high-density attack throughout Side B. “Born of Stitch and Flesh” is the major cut in this sense, a shift into darker more introspective tones and bigger bopping basslines which foreshadow the shrieking, wingspan revealing pulse towards the end ahead. Naturally the 10+ minute closer “Biological Masterpiece” is both a serious opus and kind of a jam, one of several points where their sci-fi paranoia briefly lifts for the sake of quickly jettisoned awe and a “fun” looseness. All “fun” in metal disgusts me on a visceral level but a great bass player and some fusion-cracked movement help to take the edge off.

Only the strictest adherents to this space will recall my years-long obsession with this general sub-genre, the exploration of it in full and such, and this of course generates some unruly hype on my part as an undying fan of technical thrash metal and all that it’d spawn. With this in mind I’d suggest ‘Changelings‘ both speaks to the proclivities of emergent technical thrash metal (techno-thrashers if you’re EU adjacent) and its own tunnel vision of rapid-firing ideas with the latter ultimately taking over in a way that the previous album hadn’t fully grasped. Beyond that point Species‘ve created an album that worms in mind with each listen, a technicolor sluice through imaginative but never avant-garde estrangement with a clear search in mind. In this sense following their seeker through its train of thought was consistently transporting, a pleasure to leave on repeat and weave through its maze-like sojourn. A very high recommendation.

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