Latvia's self-proclaimed "finest technical death metal band," Neglected Fields may not have enough competition to help substantiate such a claim, but they are certainly adept enough at their craft to, err...claim it. Briefly choosing the name "Carrion" after forming in 1994, founding vocalist/guitarist Sergey and bassist Sergey (echo intentional) broke up the band before returning as Neglected Fields in the fall of 1995, alongside guitarist Herman and drummer Karlis. This quartet recorded 1998's impressive Synthinity debut, which was released by British label Neat Records, and showcased a style bridging the stylistic distance between the Byzantine death/jazz of Atheist and the synth-enhanced space age prog-death of Cynic. 2000's Mephisto Lettonica followed a similar formula with equally impressive results, adding occasional industrial and choral nuances reminiscent of Switzerland's Samael, courtesy of new synthesizer player George. Neglected Fields went on an extended hiatus over the next few years, but eventually returned in 2006 with their third album, the reliably inventive Splenetic, which saw second guitarist Herman replaced by yet another Sergey! ~ Eduardo Rivadavia