Clear Vinyl. The debut album from British/Austrian Methodical Metallers, COGNIZANCE. "One of the best damn Technical Death Metal bands out there" - Metal Injection. Featuring guest appearances from past and present members of JOB FOR A COWBOY, EXTOL, ABORTED and THE FACELESS, Freshly signed to Prosthetic Records, COGNIZANCE have just put the finishing touches to their first full length release, Malignant Dominion, which will be released on September 6. Spread over two countries, the unconventional quartet have settled into a steady line up and revelled in a period rich with creativity. Undoubtedly COGNIZANCE share some of the same DNA of iconic death metal bands that have gone before them, and whilst their technical abilities add a more than impressive flourish they operate on a 'don't overcomplicate for the sake of overcomplicating' rule. Keeping theatrics to a minimum has yielded a lean, progressive, European extreme metal album that embodies the blueprint of old school death metal and embraces both melody and groove. A look at the lyric sheet offers blood-soaked echoes of those same pioneers of the genre, but rather than existing in a gore-laden fantasy world, COGNIZANCE find true horror in the everyday. Rooted very much in the real world, an abundance of anatomically precise material has found its way into their lyrical cannon, as well as a healthy dose of philosophical reflection. The juxtaposition of modern life and living rubbing against the eternal, pure spirit of nature gives pause to think about the concepts of entropy and decay. Having always invited collaboration, Malignant Dominion continues the tradition with guest spots reserved for the likes of Job For A Cowboy's Jonny Davy, Extol's Ole Borud, and members/ex-members of Aborted and The Faceless. The self-recorded album was mixed by Audio Hammer's Jason Suecof (Deicide, The Black Dahlia Murder, Death Angel), who also found time to lay down a solo on Ether of the Void . The album artwork is by renowned musician, artist and tattooist, Jef Whitehead (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice).