I admit that my relationship to technical metal is not unproblematic, because this subgenre emanates too little cordiality and comprehensibility to me, and I try - as in the case of ARSIS - not to distance myself immediately after the first date, but to search for catchy hooks or melodic subtleties that would ultimately win my favor.
After the first run, after a lot of complex, playfully flawless songs with enormous dexterity, only the very last song His Eyes stuck in my memory because of its well thought-out, stirring structure... it says accordingly much that this song is just a cover version (of Pseudo Echo).
Certainly ARSIS hide rocky parts or harmonic solos in the song structures every now and then, e.g. during As Deep As Your Flesh, but on the whole, Visitant seems like a series of admittedly exquisitely executed riffs and measure changes as well as partly dissonant sounds. The one-dimensional screaming could use a bit more variation.
This certainly doesn't sound very pleasant at the moment, but this record has to be worked on until its qualities are revealed - Visitant is at least miles away from being easy to consume. Some riffs finally shred themselves into my heart because of their uncompromising nature, but for me the pieces are too frayed and broken up by too many breaks, too fast a good rhythm is replaced by the next crossed beat, so that at the end only the cervical vertebrae and nerve endings knot, but otherwise little gets remembered. Dead Is Better stands out due to vocals that are more variable as well as a more direct approach and finally becomes my favorite. Also the following Unto The Knife runs well in the ear canals, apparently I got used to the composing technique…
The complicated style, in which ARSIS feel comfortable, is made especially for experienced ears; all others will bite their teeth on the nerve-racking, highly complex mixture for the time being. So patience is required when searching for meaningful song structures.