Similarities define genres, right? You can take a group of musicians, cite some sort of common threads through their records, and coalesce those into a genre. But when there are too many bands in a certain genre, things just get stale. And I feel this way about "technical/progressive death metal." Unfortunately, Illogicist's The Insight Eye is another entry into this somewhat tired group of musicians.
Normally, Willowtip is good about finding the cream of the crop amongst death metal's massive legions. However, I feel like Illogicist just doesn't meet the same level of quality as their label mates who are actually innovative. But for every Crowpath there has to be an Ion Dissonance or Illogicist. This seems like a somewhat banal approach to things that Atheist and Cynic have been doing since the early 90's. And this isn't even to say that I don't like the occasional throwback, or that everything has to be wildly innovative, but sometimes it feels like, "Why bother?" And this is where I'll provide a caveat - these guys are obviously talented and passionate musicians, but the music they're passionate about just isn't giving them enough to really take it to the next level. Or they're just not trying hard enough.
I would point at Necrophagist as someone whose similarities are very apparent, but whose musicianship and creativity is more than enough to transcend their genres limitations. And this isn't to say I am even fond of the genre of technical death metal at all, but I can recognize when someone is making something worthwhile and not just a hackneyed recount of a popular trend.
Illogicist isn't nearly as offensive as my home state's Job for a Cowboy, and their music grates on my nerves like the bastard marriage of death metal and mosh like Despised Icon - but conversely, they don't do what they do as well as a band like Arsis. In the end The Insight Eye will find its way into your collection if you like most of the bands I've mentioned, but if you're mildly tepid on this genre I wouldn't bother.
