{"id":610994,"date":"2026-04-17T21:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610994\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T21:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:07:10","slug":"review-archspire-too-fast-to-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610994\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Archspire – Too Fast to Die"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Andy<\/a> on 2026\/04\/172026\/04\/17<\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork by: Shindy Reehal<\/p>\n

Style: Technical death metal (Harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Necrophagist, Psycroptic, The Zenith Passage, Vale of Pnath, Infant Annihilator, Origin
Country: Canada
Release date: 10 April 2026<\/p>\n

Carving out a niche in a crowded scene is hard, but Archspire struck gold with their 2017 instant classic, Relentless Mutation, a record which stretched the possibilities of neoclassical tech death to an excess of 350 bpm. Then, following the wise \u201cmore is more\u201d philosophy of Yngwie Malmsteen, the Canadian quintet went faster on follow-up, Bleed the Future, cresting the mythical 400 bpm mark on \u201cA.U.M.\u201d Since then, they\u2019ve hosted an online spectacle of a drum audition, dropped Season of Mist as a label, and continued goofing around on social media. They also Kickstarted their new record, Too Fast to Die. While humor has always been a key part of the band\u2019s identity both online and live, with an album title so on the nose, I grew increasingly uneasy that they were becoming a self-parody \u00e0 la DragonForce\u2014that they had embraced the meme so much as to let it infiltrate the music.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about Archspire, though, and rest assured that this band\u2019s floor is still 99th percentile stuff. And in some ways, the record is even more serious than Bleed the Future since it skips out on things like the (admittedly hilarious) iconic voicemail on \u201cA.U.M.\u201d telling the band they need to \u201cbring back the fucking danger in the music.\u201d Among Archspire\u2019s myriad strengths is impeccable songwriting: one can take any song on the Too Fast to Die1<\/a> and observe a masterclass of how to write variations on a theme. The longest track on the record, \u201cLimb of Leviticus,\u201d plays into Relentless Mutation\u2019s neoclassical style the most, opening with a minute-long series of insanely technical melodic riffs at a variety of speeds with differently accented pacing; yet five and a half minutes later, the various melodic lines all make sense as they\u2019re continually reintroduced between breakdowns and recontextualized in a slow-mo, string-only counterpoint middle section and outro. Other tracks, such as \u201cThe Vessel\u201d and opener \u201cLiminal Cypher,\u201d start with these contrapuntal string sections, providing a brief introduction to the melodic contours to come before they\u2019re presented to you at the speed of light. The willingness to play with the same riffs in different parts of the same song on Too Fast to Die helps untie the cerebral knottiness of the string parts; the songs funnel into themselves ouroborically via smart repetition and reuse of guitar lines, keeping each song cohesive and self-contained\u2014no homogeneity fatigue here.<\/p>\n

The well-lubricated speed machine that is Archspire is also the picturesque version of conservation of momentum2<\/a>. In their frictionless high velocity moments, the strings weave tapestries of spindly counterpoint in precise rhythms as the wicked dual guitars of Dean Lamb and Tobi Morelli skip strings, sweep, tap, and harmonize at the speeds relativistic physics were introduced to understand. Archspire perform together as a single laser-focused entity, though, and with sudden, fluid transitions, the entire band might slam into a wall, perfectly shifting into neck-breaking chugs\u2014the heaviness gets cranked the fuck up. While I live for the intricate Bach- and Mozart-informed string acrobatics, it\u2019s hard not to love the frequent slams and breakdowns\u2014like the punishing one reminiscent of Cattle Decapitation\u2019s \u201cPacific Grim\u201d in \u201cLiminal Cypher,\u201d or even the stop-and-start riff of \u201cCarrion Ladder\u201d that underpins the track\u2019s lead guitar shenanigans. Oliver Rae Aleron also adjusts his vocal approach depending on the section, either percussively barking out bars at Tech N9ne-pace to keep up with the guitars in a virtuosic display of vocal nimbleness, or letting out a range of inhuman-sounding inhaled harshes or maybe a classic deathcore bree.<\/p>\n

Although Archspire have a well-established formula and their need for speed, they still experiment with a couple new techniques. The gang vocals on \u201cAnomalous Descent\u201d fit the style well and aren\u2019t abused, appearing in only one track; and the grindcore explosion in \u201cRed Goliath\u201d is as quality as style veterans like Benighted and Cattle Decapitation\u2014the track somehow seamlessly transitions into an Inferi-esque meloditech riff from there. On \u201cThe Vessel,\u201d however, Archspire tread ground too close to melodic deathcore bands like Shadow of Intent and Lorna Shore, and the bombastic, saccharine melody doesn\u2019t fit in with Archspire\u2019s more noodly spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same issue that prevented Bleed the Future from dethroning Relentless Mutation as my favorite Archspire record plagues Too Fast to Die as well, unfortunately: the drums on this new album are too damn loud. Except for the previously noted string-only micro-interludes, the tempo is primarily driven by blast beats over 250 bpm\u2014along with switch-ups and groovy non-blasts behind the melodic parts\u2014and the machine-gun tone Archspire chose for the record drowns out bassist Jared Smith too much\u2014yes, the best fretted bassist in tech is lost a bit in the mix except for his wicked solos. Archspire lose out on a whole dimension of their sound, and Too Fast to Die is a shallower record because of it, with fewer addicting parts to follow as I struggle to trace the bass as much as previous releases. I\u2019ve seen the band meme on Instagram playthroughs of Smith\u2019s bass parts that they\u2019re too loud, so it\u2019s a self-fulfilling prophecy, I suppose. Of course, the band wants to highlight their new drummer. Losing out on generational tech death drummer Spencer Prewett was a bummer, but Spencer Moore3<\/a> (ex-Inferi) is a Moore-than-capable replacement, keeping up with the relentless, physically taxing pace of an album whose title literally sounds like something that would be used to torture a percussionist. He not only hangs onto the endless blasts, but he injects intriguing fills all over\u2014his fingerprint is here, and he clearly fits in with his new gig immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Besides the lack of bass, the only time Archspire take the bit too far is the closer and title track, \u201cToo Fast to Die.\u201d At 440 bpm, even the most consummate guitar players on Earth struggle to keep up; they sweep at tempo, but the harmonized leads sound uncharacteristically sloppy, more like Origin or Rings of Saturn than the Archspire we all adore. At this pace, interesting writing is blown right by, with some of the band\u2019s blandest riffs and solos of their career. Such a result shouldn\u2019t be unexpected at this genuinely insane pace, but when a band keeps pushing the boundary so successfully, you start to expect the impossible. Will they attempt to go even faster next album? I think another attempt at 440 would be better\u2014or just go back to 350 bpm since \u201cInvoluntary Doppleg\u00e4nger\u201d is a much better song and didn\u2019t lean too far into the gimmick.<\/p>\n

My worries before the release were a bit overblown because Too Fast to Die is an exceptional record from one of the best bands in the history of death metal, but it is their weakest of the last three and suggests a couple worrying trends. More Archspire is more Archspire, though, and I\u2019m sure as hell not complaining that we got their longest album4<\/a>. My biggest concern is that the pits at the band\u2019s live shows are already violent, and with the even faster, even groovier, and even heavier moments on Too Fast to Die, the band might cause a literal death in one\u2014or maybe the circle will be moving too fast to die.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Liminal Cypher, Red Goliath, Limb of Leviticus
You may also like: Spawn of Possession, Viraemia, Carnosus<\/a>, Ophidian I, Aronious<\/a>, Henker
Final verdict: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: independent<\/p>\n

Archspire is:
\u2013 Oliver Rae Aleron (vocals)
\u2013 Dean Lamb (guitar)
\u2013 Tobi Morelli (guitar)
\u2013 Spencer Moore (drums)
\u2013 Jared Smith (bass)<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n