Review by Adam M on March 15, 2011.

Here is an album that tries to have a tortured and bleak outlook via a chaotic musical display, but ends up being tepid and unfocused instead. The outfit recalls the likes of Celtic Frost at times, as seen from 'Flammenwerfer', but lacks the coherence and songwriting talent of that band by a long ways. The music here is often an inferno of sounds that has little structure or rhythm to back it up. When the band does stumble upon a groove, it doesn’t last long enough to maintain your interest.

There are probably people that will appreciate the rabid chaos on this album, but I think it lacks direction. The evil, cold vibe of the band isn’t upheld because the music isn’t convincing. Vocals are also very screechy, although they fit with the music. The production is very sub-standard and doesn’t do anything to help the songs achieve a level of potency that is necessary to make an impact. The songs do shift gears to offer some calm to the storm that overwhelms you and these are some of the more interesting portions to be found here.

To its credit, the album does get better as it progresses, but it doesn’t have enough focus as a whole to be totally worthwhile. There are people that will appreciate the raw, disordered nature of "Feuersturm", but I found it difficult to find facets of the album I could fully appreciate. The songs don’t come together as a total unit enough at any particular junction on the work. Pass on this one unless the style of music the band plays is appealing to you.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Production: 2
Originality: 5
Overall: 4.5

Rating: 4.1 out of 10