So far ahead of their time that most metalheads still haven’t unearthed their capsule, after their first album these technical Texan thrashers lost their vocalist and guitarist (pretty key parts of any metal band). They hired Hades shrieker Alan Tecchio and six string wizard Ron Jarzombek and released this absolutely insane ode to mangled time signatures. Kind of like if Voivod got their marching orders from Mahavishnu Orchestra instead of Pink Floyd, their thrash compatriots didn’t pick up on this but death metal dudes sure did – vocals aside, they basically invented technical death metal here. Its influence can be felt in everyone from Death to Cynic to Necrophagist.