Review by Maciek on February 18, 2013.

I always thought that releasing a promoting video is good for promoting the album. In this case if you really want to check this EP out, listen to it first, then watch the video for 'Emperor'. I've watched video first and those images keep haunting me every time I try to listen to it.

The material on it is very mid to low level. It is simple metal somewhere close to Death Metal, with simple riffs and sampler drummer. Solos are mostly out of tune and I'm not sure if it's the desired effect, it's very hard to tell. At few points the vocalist uses some distorting effect and then his growling is more Grindcore styled. Some keyboards are used on this album as well, but not really sure how does that fit with the rest of the material. Slower than 'Emperor' 'Into The Past' is more Thrash Metal track, something reminding of Sepultura and something else I cannot remember. The overall material is varied when it comes to style of vocals, guitars, drums, but I'm not sure if the band's members feel comfortable in any of them. I've read that they are involved in many other projects/bands, so it's quite surprising that the workshop still leaves so much to desire. Same thoughts when listening to 'Al Ihtiquar' and 'Hermanos' with the latter confusing with some Mexican-style shouts and clapping at the end. And definitely quite unusual choice for a cover track for the album - 'Freezing Moon' by Mayhem. Slower version, but I'm more into "Chimera" than "De Mysteriis...", so I cannot tell if it's as good as the original.

Overall quite average material, nothing really new has been discovered on this EP, the band definitely needs more experience and maybe over the years something more interesting will come out of it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 5
Atmosphere: 2
Production: 9
Originality: 2
Overall: 4

Rating: 4.4 out of 10