Review by JD on November 18, 2008.

Against what the band’s name really means, Cessation Of Life is a celebration of Metal life and gives you a kicking ass on a grand scale. The huge earthquake that had hit San Francisco way back, was nothing more than a child stamping it’s feet while in full tantrum mode compared to this band. This one shakes the very core of Metal... and wakes the masses.

This Camarillo, CA band comes out of the blocks with both guns blazing away like a wall of automatic weapon fire. They sound like a progressive thrash act, off setting that with shades of styles such like Grave Digger and alike. Massively pleasing guitars dually attack your mind while earth-quaking bass and the bestbest drummers I have come across in awhile assault you and hits a 10. COL plainly delivers tasty metal shots, while assaulting you with a completely in your face attitude that breeds the need to be heard.

With such amazing tracks like ‘Necropolis’, ‘Murder In The Pit’ along with the very haunting and disturbing instrumental ‘Admitting’... they show both a complexity that is refreshing while keeping the bombastic nature and delivers it with a massive punch. What COL gives to the world, is a refreshing twist to strong and yet amazing music. The have made a big fan out of me.

Forget needing CPR if your metal heart seems to have suddenly stoped beating for some reason. The treatment is clear... put this album on at the highest volume your stereo can handle and it will jump start your heart every time. They have had three other studio albums out there, but I have to say, those are nothing as amazing as this opus is. Cessation Of Life is a starting point for real Metal.


Categorical Rating Breakdown


Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.4 out of 10

Review by Tomek on April 13, 2017.

Sometimes allowing YouTube to play the ‘next play’ band can lead to quite interesting discoveries. Pandorium popped out of nowhere and got me interested, so after a little bit of research - here is what I found out. Four dudes hailing from East Westphalia in Germany recorded a demo called Demolition to get themselves some show-playing opportunities, and when their hard work paid off and interest in the band peaked they decided to record their first album The Human Art Of Depression.  To place those guys in a genre and to let you know what we are dealing with before continuing, I would say that mix of Bay Area thrash with a pinch of melodic death metal, some progressive, some technical and also a dash of middle-eastern spice is what you should expect.

For a debut album this is more than plenty of material. This slab lasts almost 65 minutes! I’ve listened to it more than a few times and the strange thing is that it never seems that long. Songs are well built and so interesting that length of this album does not seem to matter and when the album ends I was getting a feeling of satisfaction. While putting out good quality thrash metal that reminds me of early Testament, these guys also managed to incorporate some progressive twists that bring a kind of intricacy to the fold and make almost every song twice as interesting. Most of the songs have some kind of technical styled sections, some melodic death soloing and/or melodies and there are also the ones that are finished with ethnic or Middle Eastern styled themes done by guitar riffing. Album is divided into sections or chapters called ‘Global Demise’, ‘A Matter Of The Single Constituent’ and ‘The Ray Of Hope’. From what I gather, it’s supposed to show a sequence of evolution of humanity, the vulnerability of men and their obsession for the unobtainable happiness or something along those lines. I’ve been known to misinterpret even the most obvious so you are more than welcome to do some research if you want to find more about it; I opted for spinning the album numerous times since I’m here for the music.

So to sum things up: Pandorium came up with an excellent album and I feel very content with the decision of giving it a go. For all of you out there that enjoy a good thrash full of tasty bits from different spectrums - this album should be on your list.  As for the band, they are working on new album that’s supposed to be out in the near future, there are even samples on their FB page. I can’t wait for the new one.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10