What happens when you band together Swiss and Brazilian death-metal musicians? Why, Omophagia, of course. Forming in 2006, the international five-piece have staked a pretty brutal claim within the world of extreme metal, having toured with the likes of Nile, Hate Eternal and Vitriol in support of their 2019 album 646965.
Taken from that record, First Light is a shining example of the best of modern tech-death metal, with furious breakdowns, technically brilliant guttural screams and even a tapping part on bass. Guitarists Mischa and Henrique and bassist Rafahell play through the track in this mind-crushing video - and they even include tabs so you can play along yourself.
Mischa plays a Agile Interceptor Pro 727 electric guitar with EMG 707 pickups through an EVH 5150III 15W LBX amp, while Henrique plays a Dean Rusty Cooley signature RC7 with Dual EMG 707 humbuckers through a EVH 5150III 50W 6L6.
Bassist Rafahell covers the low-end using a Euro5 LX Alex Webster signature bass guitar and a Gallien Krueger 1001 RB-II amp.
"Our original idea was to make a very heavy, Florida Death-inspired song," the band says. "You can hear a lot of classical Tampa inspired riffing with the typical Omophagia touch in it. The song is very groovy and has a great flow to it. And although it sounds very compact, it is quite demanding to play."
"At first we were not very enthusiastic about the song. But as we listened to the final result we were blown away. Today it is one of our favorite songs of the album."
Omophagia's 646965 is available now via Unique Leader Records.