Vardan - Between the Fog and Shadows [2015]

It would have been a high supposition at any rate to expect Italian one man suicidal black metal hermit Vardan to cast aside the cumbersome simplicity and rawness of his album ''Winter Woods'' and the dozen records which precede it and break mold with his 6th album for the year, ''Between the Fog and Shadows'', since the man has not only failed to mature in his taste for cover art but also to artistically develop and improve upon the quality of the music on way of another, let alone cast a wider net of influences to garner sounds from. Vardan's creative repertoire is quite frankly depleted at this point, but somehow he can still come up with songs of 10+ length by downsizing what the works of Burzum or fellow countrymen Forgotten Tomb into a recalcitrant amalgamation begetting nothing but doom and desolation. My only theory at this point is that he's bulk buying from some low-income producer of depressive bedroom black metal - who, by the way, might currently be strumming the strings of his next bleak piece - and then presenting them in seemingly remote packages for the maximum amount of profit. If not that, the man is working his ass off every hour of the day, crafting these dreary, sleepwalking bevies of desolation and wintry silence, and it's a real shame that the amount of work he's culminated hardly accrues into quality writing, on a par with other prolific modern black metal musicians like Jute Gyte. Quality over quantity, right?

The pastiche is the same; the musical equivalent of being strapped on a crucifix and slowly gliding through an icy fjord by midnight, with owls creaking in their groves and the forest leaves rustling silently behind. This is the kind of immersive experience already channeled by the likes of Midnight Odyssey, but Vardan are far too down-to-earth and never take the aesthetic to its cosmic and astronomical, mesmerizing flights as some other bands do, with raw and perturbed production standards capturing most of that early 90's Burzum/Darkthrone tone. Simplistic riffs in the river of convergence here. There is not even a hugely chord-based, Scandinavian trope to be found, since I found ''Between the Fog and Shadows'' to be even more dolorous than its predecessor, and instead there are loads of stringy open chords and flimsy, distorted arpeggios all over the place: the result is not a mess of whirlwind of intensity, but a pale wave of desolation and distress like ripples in the water. There are moments where Vardan will splash some damp gloss on the sway of the guitars with these odd, slightly inaudible synthesizers that remind me of the ambient mastery of Forest Silence, a Hungarian black metal outlet extraordinaire, but as much as I enjoyed the momentary aural realizations of the synthesizers, they're much too buried in the mix and the frankly poor levels of production to have any sheen. To wit, the songs feel outrageously long at times, and rightfully so, since by cutting down to 3 tracks Vardan is presenting us with songs of 11, 15 and 18 minutes in length, respectively, each another frigid exercise in blatant chord strumming and almost apologetic depression ad nauseam, with few breathing holes existing within their immersive bodies for the listener to take a moment from the monotony.

This seems like some pretty hateful flak here, but in fact there are some fairly 'enjoyable' sequences to be found within the album. ''Solitary Death of a Forest Spirit'' is easily the best among the triplet, with dissonant and angry chord sequences ousting the slower, black/doom moments and a rather excellent, rainy array of ambient synths working their way through the middle of the song, and during one of those rare instances Vardan truly captures the monotonous, dreary bulwark of emotion it needs to synthesize to its entirety. The riffs, limited in their natural disposition of favoring recurring waves rather than slews of unhinged creativity, are nonetheless not too bad, but I don't feel too good for them either. Vardan's vocals, once more, while the possible game changer, become stunted and lethargic as the record passes on, and with all the records pacing in linear currents and motives, vocal duties hardly retain a symbiotic relationship with the other instruments, merely propagating these harsh, unruly, echoing ululations and howls that are quite cold and haunting in their own respect, but fall short of excellent in the long-run. Unfortunately, while all the instruments never dip below the level of 'average', the drums are quite fucking painful. I'm not know to be a complainer of drums as much as I chastise guitars and riff-craft, but even the silent reviewer has to despair the awful stampede of the open hi-hat and the unnecessary loudness of the drums in general. This is a bedroom black metal record, and the drums should traditionally be embedded deep in the mix, way behind the guitars and vocals, but here they're constantly to the fore, without even producing anything besides simple beats. As Fenriz says the drums are only supposed ''to... be there'' - and thus on this one point I will be unabashedly cancel my charitableness. Fuck you, drums.

Beside that little mishap, ''Between the Fog and Shadows'' is not a bad record, and that mournful sameness it breeds would help you with sleep if one day you're in the mood for slashing your wrists open and there aren't any knives to be found in your house. Anti-depressants that come with corpse paint. But heck, we've already been through this, and if you've somehow traced this review from whatever obscure source you found it in, you're probably pretty well-versed in black metal yourself, and know that groups like Burzum, Bethlehem, Forgotten Tomb, Sombres Forets or Austere have long emerged as apostles of this somber, wintry sub-genre, so your chances are probably stronger with them.

Highlights:
Solitary Death of a Forest Spirit

Rating: 55%

Vardan - Winter Woods [2015]

I've yet to delve into Vardan's tremendous backlog of releases, averaging 3-4 records a year in the last few years, but immediately becomes clear that the man's productivity is no moot point. With so many records already under his belt and a few extra projects like Nostalgic Darkness running smoothly, the man aspires to be the Italian black metal equivalent of one Rogga Johansson, with his own immersive logjam of calculated Swedish death metal carnality. Just about six months into the year, and there are already five albums to his name, each, no doubt, like the one at hand, haunting exercises in rabid, scathing cold and wintry despondency. Of course, haters are gonna hate, and the whole bedroom black metal mentality has over the years acquired such an edge that most bands have seamlessly dissevered themselves from the outside world for the sake of recording in their own forsaken basements and whatnot, usually with mixed results: it can decidedly be hard to adapt any stringent attitude towards the trend, because my one half screams hallelujah at the advent of bands like Darkthrone and Leviathan while the other half yearns to pull out all the hairs on the top of my head in dismay that so many modern black metal have ended up as broken eggs while going for bedroom black metal omelette...

Thankfully, ''Winter Woods'' veers more towards the former camp. If you're familiar at all with your Burzum, Darkthrone or Forgotten Throne, you know what this sounds like, harrowing waves of mourn and broken lines of cruel, frozen melody piercing your eardrums with unruly monotony. Vardan IS a riffs man, with some cool Transilvanian Hunger-esque tremolos cascading with spiking anguish, but the range of riffs on the album are admittedly not too varied: we're definitely not talking about something on par with ''In the Nightside Eclipse'' here. With the rustic/seasonal cover art and the initiation of the opener, ''Winter Woods Pt. 1'', it's certainly not difficult for the listener to have at least some idea of the underlying contents of this disc, that is rustic and depressive black metal solaces being funneled down your ears, yet Vardan somehow manages to capture a few instances of true grief and captivating dolor without sounding too repetitive. The pace certainly me reminds me of their more well-known and notoriously suicidal countrymen Forgotten Tomb at their peak, circa 2002-2004, since Vardan never altogether rushes into gaits of unbridled Norwegian ferocity, like, say Carpathian Forest of 1349. To add, the sense of longing here is magnified by the high proportion of doom-y entanglements and slower moments, bleak sequences of linear clean guitars where that resonant despair of Vardan simply enclosing himself in a toilet and slashing open his wrists while seated in the bathtub becomes all the more vivid. Certainly, I could cite 2-3 instances here where the unfolding of the fuzzed electric guitars after a prelude of cleans eloped me almost entirely with sheer pang and melodious regret, like on ''Cold Night of My Soul'', and indeed those are the best moments in the album.

But let's not entirely be deluded. This obviously isn't the next best Leviathan record, and maintains a startling simplicity. There are moments where ''Winter Woods'' doesn't feel like a far cry from the Hungarian mavens Forest Silence with their lurching, despondent atmospheres, though Vardan at once feel grittier and less bombastic. For one, I wouldn't have minded some ambient effect, because for the most part Vardan's 'eerie' clean guitar sequences drone with too discolored a sound. And this surely isn't the easiest pill to swallow if you're ears aren't trained for the gritty and the ghastly. I also have little appreciation for the drums, which are hardly professional. Granted drums aren't too significant in black metal, but Vardan never lowers their volume too much, and the constant open hi-hat abuse occasionally pangs the consistency of the recurring tremolos and dense ambiance. That said, I can say I've enjoyed Vardan's vocals enough to make 2-3 spins worthwhile, as he howls like a haunted cacodaemon in the shivering cold of the night, echoing with dismay. For sure, Vardan could ramp up his proficiency in the riff department: considering all his other albums follow a similar path to ''Winter Woods'' he must be running short on riff-supplies, and the ones existing here aren't the most inventive ones either, especially with artists like Jute Gyte who can put the grit and creativity of most other black metal musicians to shame. Rawness is key here. Blunt winter tapestry for minimal absorption, with guaranteed lacerated wrists if overdosed. Not the best black metal I've heard recently, but sufficiently engulfing if your tastes lie in Burzum, Darkthrone, Forgotten Tomb, Ulver, or the like.


Highlights:
Cold Night of My Soul
Uroborous Black Circle

Rating: 65%

Electrocution - Metaphysincarnation [2014]

With the little need to elaborate on the upsurge of old school death metal that has literally been the largest explosion in metal in the last 5 years, I think it would be reasonable enough to pinpoint a few others bands that have somehow found themselves intermingling with this putrid resurgence of death metal. Of course, I'm talking about the old breed. A handful of 90's legends who, by making use of their cult status and this underground bombast, have soundly found themselves at the center of this movement. The ones that come to mind immediately are Autopsy, Incantation, or the more obscure Rottrevore; in short those who haven't attempted at and succeeded in some of the most tragic failures of the decade, like Morbid Angel, a band which requires no discussion. That said, I would imagine Autopsy and Incantation didn't face much of a problem when they were looking for labels that would harbor an interest for the particularly gruesome and cavernous brand of death metal that they cultivate, whereas, a few, like Italy's Electrocution, I'm sure weren't exactly greeted with commercial deals after deciding to reform.

Now, I firmly believe that Electrocution is a band that we will need to elaborate on, folks. In a death metal scene where obscene, cataleptic gestures alone wouldn't find enough attention to last one for a week, with the entire retrogression movement rigidly planted upon either buzzing chainsaw necromancy or primordial, squamous cavern-core aping, derived largely from what Incantation put out in the early 90's, it is indeed difficult to distinguish yourself. The resuscitation of Electrocution, easily the premier death metal act of Italy, made a great impression on me with their ''Inside the Unreal'', which, despite being essentially a practice of Floridian death metal propensities with nice, technical flavor, was an album deeply cherished as one of the first ''real'' death metal albums I listened to years ago, along with ''Leprosy'', ''Human'', ''Altars of Madness'', ''Consuming Impulse'', and so forth. Though naturally devoid of the classic appeal of the uncanny debut, Electrocution's sophomore resonates with similar fervor but with an audacity that would be more on par with modern technical death metal bands than the cylopean dirges of its current peers.

Indeed, this is still ''death fucking metal'', but neither is it as modern-sounding, as, say, Nile or Deeds of Flesh, nor as disgusting as Autopsy. ''Metaphysincarnation'' is literally halfway through the two boundaries. It's hard not to comply at first with its melodious twist, booming, proto-brutal death metal riffage that burst the seams and wires that connect the album like hyper-charged juggernauts, and the riffs are well-balanced with almost equally voracious drums - a tight circuitry running eagerly and proficiently. It's jumpy and nearly as punishing as Suffocation on the basis of its mechanized tremolos and chord protrusions, and I can even say I appreciated the vocals to a certain extent: the loud, bassy gutturals that were sown into into the thrashing mayhem with seasoned competence. Even the leads are clever and memorable. Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends. In spite of the frenetic feast here, it quickly becomes obvious there isn't much of an essence in this record that would do to penetrate the armor of a dragon, so to say. The tremolos are sufficiently effective, and I quite liked the fact that they meddled with some of the technicality of the debut, refined it, coated it in shiny titanium plates and made a temporary craving material for all the guitar nerds out there, but the effort is rather futile in the end.

So basically, the record started to get tedious after the first 2 or 3 spins, and that's when  you know the battery is in need of a nice charge. A charge which unfortunately does not exist in this case. ''Metaphysincarnation'' (a name which I will not try to type again) ultimately makes it point, that not all of the old breed have the life left in them to produce something more than just worthwhile in the grim 21st century, even if the Italians have sure as hell proved that they can sustain their survival, if that was ever the problem. It's unfeigned and polished death metal that gives Vader and Brutality a shy little nod, but if you're low on money, there are definitely more fish in the sea.

Highlights:
Wireworm
Bloodless
A Son To His Father

Rating: 70%

Krownn - Hyborian Age [2013] (Demo)

Considering my lack of history with both Italian metal and doom metal itself, I honestly wasn't tempted to approach Krownn's ''Hyborian Age'' demo (which, at first, I accidentally took for a proper full-length) with a sense of zeal when I first found it in my mail, partly because of a simple apprehension that suggested the band's offering would turn out to be an appalling experience. My knowledge and more importantly love for doom doesn't go very deep, and my knowledge of Italian doom bands make harsh stop at Paul Chain. However, my recent and pleasant experiences with other new traditional doom bands like The Gates Of Slumber somehow urged me to dive into the demo, and after only a couple of tracks, I must say that I became very content with what I heard. Krownn is marginally rougher around the edges as far the most traditional values of doom goes, with a small and fairly versatile range of influences sticking to band members' preferences of traditional doom masters, but all around, ''Hyborian Age'' still follows the ways of its precursors at trudging gaits.

As stated, ''Hyborian Age'' is, above all, a homage to such old school mavens as Candlemass, Pentagram or even Sabbath picked up at a much heavier tone. The riffs are mostly muscular and granular and tightly composed, with a variety of harmonies and twists used to grab the attention of a wider spectrum of listeners. The bulldozing simplicity and sheer primal power of the riffs have a wonderfully coherent, mystically ancient feel to them, as if they were spawning right out of the beguiling, spectral silhouette of cover art, and these churning, heavy stomps are so wondrous that they have a heavy tinge of stoner rock and doom, which just another representation of how wide a net these guys can cast. The vocalist ragged vocal style is both a thing of enigma and enjoyment for stoner fans. Especially in tracks like ''The Woodwose'', he plunge into a deep, unpredictable vocal inflection, which, infused with the titular riffing that rock in the open, sounds like the perfect stoner/doom tune to blast through the stereo on a drunken afternoon. The balance of the tone is incredible; it's stuck somewhere between a grimy, filth-doused old school inclination and another, more more overt and modern texture, ultimately brought forth in western-sounding theatre.

The rhythm is great, the punches accentuated through the heavy manifest of husky riffage, and the bass just plods on, bearing its bombastic tone with pride. ''At The Cromlech'' was probably my favorite piece here; a feast of both desolate and memorable traditional riffs intertwining with that of a more traditional facet, rumbling as the vocalist takes on a more cleaner, NWOBHM-esque toning. However, ''Stormborn'' has to be the most entrancing of all with over seven minutes of chugging and doom-y goodness, and fairly brief stop near the middle where the Italians literally transport you into this western ambiance of stoner/doom psychedelia with moody, resonating medleys of guitar work swaying gently between everything. We're also exposed to plenty of experimental touches on ''Stormborn'', revealing the band's penchant to rarely erupt into a more creative complex of music. Krownn got me where I wasn't expecting it at all. An unprecedented ambush of stupendous, creative traditional old school stoner/doom that rocks so much harder than all the rehashing drones that you'd be astounded. Surprisingly, despite having nearly 40 minutes of brilliant content, Krownn dubbed their debut release as a demo. Well, that just means we'll get something even better and more extensive when the full-length comes. I'll just leave you with your beer and stereo now.

Highlights:
At The Cromlech
For The Throne Of Fire
Stormborn

Rating: 86%

Children Of Technology - Mayhemic Speed Anarchy [2012]

Italian speed freaks Children Of Technology have already buried themselves into the consciousnesses of voluptuous crossover enthusiasts with their 2010 debut which was highly, highly redolent of punk, thrash, grime, denim, and though relatively new to scene, they deserve some applause for the considerate punk, hardcore and thrash choices, exclusively injecting old school energy into their overt amalgamations. It's own simple sphere of influence, ''It's Time To Face The Doomsday'' was a vigorous assault of near-clamorous motorcycle frenzy and explosive outings of punk and hardcore fundamentals, and now they've decided to once again cope with their mass provider of motorcycles, Hell's Headbangers, a two-track EP being their latest penning. Despite the excitement fervent listeners will have over this, there's no need to exaggerate the fact that the motorized punks are going for standard procedure here; chaos, annihilation, and of course, motorbikes aplenty.

I say aplenty, but in truth, there's not much material here, nor would you expect anyone to cram layers and layers of buttering crossover/punk/thrash into a spurious little CD of six minutes. Children Of Technology are, as I stated, applying basic, robotized pressure on their fans with gushing frivolous and downtrodden punk dives and pumping hardcore beats, keeping the fuel burning throughout the almost ludicrous six minutes of run time. The Italians, however dominant over their moshing minions, are not really letting the eclectic listener get anything else than distorted nostalgia: they've got a rumbling bass line line sometimes crashes into the spotlight right before its fellow proponents arrive and take control of the whole stage with unhinged aggression, the drums have take much less space in the mix than the guitars, occasionally going for some perky cymbal abuse after exhausting sessions of one-dimensional blast beats, and the guitars are caked with dirt, the same way it was on the debut, conjuring crunchy and eager crossover pursuits that fit the drum rhythms perfectly in their own simpleminded sense.

You've got to accept that no matter how long these Italians are going to stay in the music business they're always going to be tied to the same aesthetic with crude leather belts, and even though their love for everything old school and everything vigorous and punk makes goosebumps perk on my skin, they're not going to be able deliver anything truly special for fans who like things nuanced now and then. Perhaps my favorite performance was the vocals, reeking of ''Sheepdog'' Mclaren of early Razor, Cro-Mags and perhaps even DRI, lashing out contemptuously shrill high-pitched shrieks to boast their crazed, anarchic cause. Anyone in desperate need of straightforward-as-fuck, broiling old school crossover should throw himself/herself right at this, but then again the debut would serve the same purpose with better overall efficiency, and that's what renders ''Mayhemic Speed Anarchy'' so simple - the only thing that won't be expunged from the listener's memory fifteen minutes after discourse is the cover art, barely memorable itself.

Highlights:
Computer World
Mayhemic Speed Anarchy

Rating: 72%

Into Darkness - Into Darkness [Demo]

Death/doom is a genre that has not been cultivated as frequently as its notorious counterpart, old school death metal, and this is not because it is not preferred among bands, but because few are able to fabricate it in it's ways of being gory, obsessed and stretched upon dark imagery. There has been a few acts in latter times, such as Undergang or Anhedonist who have worked these mysterious and ghastly nuances of death/doom as if contemplating a multi-threaded web, but the majority of the genre, as far as I can see, focuses on the inclinations of death/doom that developed after the primal beginnings of its aesthetics, mainly having a bloodline on par with such Gothic death/doom bands like later Paradise Lost or As I Lay dying; and even that vein of bands are now tainting their efficiency with modern influences, and thus a handful of long-lasting heroes are now left to carry this archaic art. Fortunately, after bastardizing thrash metal with a horrid and substantial wave of retro-thrash acts, Italy kicks in, with a brand new face in the cemetery - Into Darkness, probably one of the brightest hopes of the revival of old school death/doom.

This one-year-old trio does not rupture into an assertive display o completely fresh material, instead, as I said, it's a concise offering to the olden masters themselves. Mainly the band fluctuates between Derketa and Mythic, boiling in bleak broth of early Asphyx, and I was also surprised to hear no trace of Incantation here, because, after so many gimmicks the legend has become the trademark sound of countless albums, yet here, there's no infatuation with those indulgent inclinations, which is, in a way, a breath of fresh air. Into Darkness like cosmic and esoteric horror, galactic evil, and stuff like that which can pull you further in to the primeval coordination of the daunting gears that get the formula of the album going. Into Darkness can be ferocious at times, abruptly breaking into carnal and ruinous assaults, but the band likes to channel between heftier and sludgier riffs, keeping the pace volatile and fresh.

The demo has another upside besides its astronomic adoration. The tone is crisp but slightly cavern-riddled, which is perfect in bestowing that crisp and slightly haunting sense upon the listener, and the vocals, fierce and uproarious in their own voracious manner, are perfect for ripping flesh out of deaf ears, settling somewhere between Van Drunnen and John Walker of Cancer, and inimical overtone possessing the gutturals. With it's atmosphere, it's canal efficiency and every other dark aspect it possesses, Into Darkness have truly won my respect. It's a long way from here to composing a full-length, but already they're mustering a fairly convincing audience, and have signed with the great Unholy Domain Records for further trudging damage, perfecting their rather shortly anticipated kill streak. Well, almost. The band will still need to strive to obtain dominance over the gory seat of death/doom, but I have hope, that one day, the combo shall be complete.

Highlights:
Into Darkness
Shadows

Rating: 82%

Axevyper - Metal Crossfire

Most of the products that come from Italy may be stale and inorganic, but I'll admit, over the last few years, they've been housing scores of traditional heavy and thrash bands, and they just can't seem to stop. Seriously, it seems that most of the prime thrash/heavy countries are mostly out of material, it looks like Italy's starting to suck more and more fans towards their cheesy thrash/heavy masses. Axevyper isn't a completely new story, but they've incorporated chunks of happy power metal elements and USPM cheesiness into their Maiden-esque brand of heavy metal, no an exceedingly rare sight I must say. And even though brawny hippies alongside with armored lizard mutant fighting space vanguards with machine guns isn't the compelling cover that can exist, I still felt sublime relaxation flow through my body as the swayed and swaggered, and the groovy beats always made by head bob rhythmically.

I suppose it would be false to say that Axevyper make their formula up completely out of old school touches because a modern sound is dominant, blatant from the crystal clear production and subtle melodies urging into the music frequently, but ''Metal Crossfire'' does tend to surface the prime aesthetics of old school power and heavy metal. That being said, Axevyper experiments the cheesy face of power/heavy unlike many other who like to engage the listener with shadowy riffs, and the chorus sections usually overflow with ridiculous positive might, with sequential chords and melodies adding up to the previous in a chronological matter, following a build-up process for the most part of choruses. The good news is, the verse, break and pre-chorus sections (basically anything that's not the chorus) are vigorous and totally neck snapping, crunchy riffs exploding energetically. The epic side of things are explored quite often, leading to lots of harmonious semi-technical riffs and melodies, but in every moment you'll notice that intricacy was disregarded and the songwriting process wasn't at all that sweaty, all though I still have some admiration for the slightly messed up song structures.

Axevyper may stall you with arrays of harmony laden melodies and such, or they may keep the beat going and their wheels hot; it's really not up to us. All I can say that the offering was mighty fine and the delivery was robust, the melodies subtle and triumphant like some previously encountered bands such as Hyborian Steel and Wishdoom, and all in all it sums for a solid release, but I couldn't help but notice that it was still generic in a way and wasn't properly distinguished or clothed decoratively, and I felt the album's heart accent at seldom. It's far from climactic I'll give you that, but at the same time, let's not forget that simplicity can kick heaps of asses when it's properly composed, and I guess it's say to safe to say Axevyper's sophomore album is enough to make a small buzz in the metal underground community without completely being able to avoid plaguing cliches so many are infected with these days. It still made my bowels gurgle for more epic heavy/power metal.

Highlights:
March Of Metal Rockers
Crossfire
Heroes For One Night


Rating: 77%

Sepulcral - Anthropophagy Of Doom

It's nice to see some different worship done every once in a while when it comes to playing old school death metal, because the current scene is a swelling tumor of Autopsy/Incantation worshipers or groove laden, hardcore tinged Entombed/Dismember doppelgangers and bands with nuances will be certainly be appreciated if not adored as long as they keep true to their ancient styling. Razorback Recordings is a cool label who continuously signs death/doom bands, and they have all my support on that. Italy's Sepulcral is a fine addition to their growing list of old school death/doom bands, and the real thing that pulled me towards their album ''Anthropophagy Of Doom'' is the influences that they took rather then their overall sound. This album is not necessarily a departure from the classic death metal sound trends that are prominent today, but it's not a direct copy either.

''Anthropophagy Of Doom'' has a burden packed with only a small amount of various styles, but these influences are sufficient to build up and album with a strong base structure. The doom laden death metal reminds me of Derketa, Mythic, Goatlord, early Death rather than Incantation or Autopsy, thus, the influences are dotted with rotting parchments of thrash to bring the raw sound to the front row. Due to production issues, the band didn't actually manage to sound extremely filthy or raw, plus I feel the thrash influence lingers upon the heavy doom riffs a little too long, but nonetheless that old school death/doom sound is brought alive once again, even though some of its most crucial elements are not bestowed upon the music properly. The main thing that separates bands like Derketa or Mythic from other like Rottrevore, Cianide or Autopsy, is that the tempos are always moving and no matter the loss in speed the music stays constant and fluent, while all the other filthy death/doomers have a clear line between fast, and slow, scarcely having a middle ground. The riffs on this album are razor sharp and crunchy all the same, but the riffs may tend to sound a little too mechanic at times which may cost the band a few points.

For example, ''Sepulcral'' starts off with a stomping, doomy thrash chomp, but as the band fails to deliver any contrast to go along with that riff, the riffs soon loses its efficiency and fades away. You never feel like rambling around the album and exploring its unexplored, mainly because you can't find anything new. That's a large flaw that definitely detracts some points, and that flaw will need some healing. On the other hand, you can definitely enjoy the simplicity of the crushing, spacious riffs as they're totally open to headbanging . Songs like ''Infanticide'' are very straightforward, thrashy tracks that work along with doomy death metal formula easily, and even some of the more technically oriented tremolo bursts and groovy chord progressions capture the interest of a listener even though I doubt someone will be utterly immersed by these riffs. I did enjoy a healthy measure of this album's monotonous chomps and robust, thrash oriented chord attacks, yet I believe that band could have done better with this release. A very solid album, and it still keeps its distance from mediocrity, and I hope the next release will be an improvement.

Highlights:
Infanticide
Drastic Visions
Cemeteries Reaper


Rating: 77%


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