If Steve Vai played death metal, he might sound like Gorod.

Neurotripsicks is such an orgy of guitar technique that one suspects this French band writes tracks only to show off its chops.

Sweep picking, whole tone harmonies, light-speed trade-offs, lines that climb like double-jointed acrobats -- the guitarists probably melted a few picks in the course of recording this album.

But for technical death metal, it isn't as ridiculous as it could be.

This is due to a firm grasp on melody.

Neo-classical harmonies help ground "Smoked Skulls" and "Pig's Bloated Face"; "Earth Pus" has a much needed clean-toned break.

At times, the band buckles down and focuses on meat-and-potatoes riffing.

"Pig's Bloated Face" has storming thrash passages, while the syncopated grooves of "Neuronal Disorder State" recall Pantera.

As the song titles suggest, the band doesn't have much to say.

The lyrics are terse and vaguely address gore and death.

The growls and screams, too, are less than inspiring, serving merely as mid-range filler.

While clear and detailed, the production isn't cohesive, and the band isn't as tight as it is on follow-up Leading Vision.

Still, fans of six-string wizardry will find much -- perhaps too much -- to enjoy here.