''Quantum Catastrophe'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band

Brain Drill Brain Drill was an American technical death metal band formed in 2005 from Ben Lomond, California founded by guitarist and songwriter Dylan Ruskin. They released 2 albums while signed to Metal Blade Records and self released their final third alb ...

, released through

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

on May 11, 2010. After the release of their debut album ''

Apocalyptic Feasting ''Apocalyptic Feasting'' is the second release and debut album by the technical death metal band Brain Drill. It is the last release by the band to feature bassist Jeff Hughell and drummer Marco Pitruzella before their departure from Brain Drill d ...

'' in February 2008, the band almost broke up with the departure of drummer Marco Pitruzzella and bassist Jeff Hughell in March 2008. The remaining members, guitarist Dylan Ruskin and vocalist Steve Rathjen decided to continue with the band, and from May to September 2008, auditioned for bassists and drummers. In September 2008, the band announced drummer Joe Bondra and bassist Ivan Munguia as replacements. Bondra was replaced by drummer Ron Casey and this new lineup began work on the album in August 2009. ''Quantum Catastrophe'' was recorded between December 2009 and January 2010 at Castle Ultimate Studios in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

with co-producer Zach Ohren (

Suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

Decrepit Birth Decrepit Birth is an American death metal band from Santa Cruz, California. They have released two studio albums through Unique Leader Records and two through Nuclear Blast, and a demo independently. All of their studio albums feature artwork ...

All Shall Perish All Shall Perish was an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. The band was signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their final album, ''This Is Where It Ends,'' was release ...

), who also engineered and mastered the album along with the band. It is the only album to feature bassist Ivan Munguia and drummer Ron Casey. It is also the last album to feature vocalist Steve Rathjen Although ''Quantum Catastrophe'' is not a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, it's loosely based on the

2012 phenomenon The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count cale ...

. The album's lyrics were written by vocalist Steve Rathjen, inspired by themes such as " Universal decimation (

black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...

s, galactic

cosmic radiation Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

pandemic disease A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of in ...

and zombie re-awakenings." Rathjen further explained that "mankind is entering an age of mass speculation as foreseen by numerous ancient cultures. Space to all humanity still primarily remains a mystery even in our days of immense technological advancements. We know this void is filled with infinite extremities which could occur at any instant; easily decimating all habitations. We also know our planet has fulfilled these

mass extinctions An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It ...

time and again centuries in the past. The question which remains, are we due for another apocalyptic transition?" Musically, Brain Drill continues to draw the attention of music critics with its over-the-top

virtuosity ''Virtuosity'' is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Howard W. Koch Jr. served as an executive producer for the film. The film was released in the United Sta ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated that ''Quantum Catastrophe'' is "in its own vicious, bombastic, skullcrushing way, ..a celebration of virtuosity." In contrast, ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' defined the album as "an incoherent mess of doodly-doo," and pointed out that "the band's survival is a bad thing."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Steve Rathjen, Dylan Ruskin, except where noted.

Personnel

*Steve Rathjen –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

*Dylan Ruskin – bass,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, lyricist, composer *Ivan Munguia – bass, guitar, composer *Ron Casey –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Zach Ohren –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mastering, mixing, producer *Pär Olofsson –

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

*Brian Ames –

layout Layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), a proposed page layout presented by a designer to their client * Layout (computing), the process of calculating the position of obje ...

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Brain Drill albums Metal Blade Records albums