Review by Adam on April 10, 2002.

Few bands could have endured the kind of history Angra has experienced. After loosing three of its members, the remaining ones faced a difficult decision and it looked as though the band would not survive. However, endless fan support helped Angra to regroup and craft their strongest effort to date. Now with Rebirth, the band are on a new path to continue delivering some of the best heavy metal around.

Lending more influence to power metal, the music on this disc is even more towards an epic sound than past efforts. The title of the record was an indication that a change had taken place musically as well, and this was definitely a change for the better. Angra is now a greater threat than they ever were before. The vocals are much stronger than those delivered by their past vocalist in my opinion. The drum sound is massive, but coming from Brazilians, this was almost a sure bet. This guy has incredible rhythm just as the band, as a whole, has an amazing sense in dynamics. The talent of the musicians radiates through every note. The keyboards are a very nice touch as are the percussive sections and Brazilian singers.

As you would expect, the production is grand. Power metal usually demands the highest quality in production and this disc surely delivers. From the luring keyboard intro to the gliding melody closing this disc, the sound oozes perfection. There is still a muscle behind the music, so for those fearing Angra have gone totally happy metal, they can put those fears to rest. The sound has more punch than ever amidst the power metal atmosphere.

This cd took a while for me to get into personally. When I finally gave it a chance to sink in, I discovered how amazingly brilliant this cd is. It demands your full attention and then proceeds to rip you a new one. From the up-tempo to the slow and melodic, this cd has it all without becoming cheese. Angra fans are not to be without this glorious return! Power metal fans and fans of melodic heavy metal in general should get this cd as soon as possible!

Bottom Line: If you are a fan of the band or the power metal genre, then you simply must own this!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 8
Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 9
Production 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.4 out of 10

Review by Elijah on January 16, 2020.

I never really dug into this album until a few months ago when I finally gave it a full proper listen, and my god, this blew me away! Aside from then, the only time I heard this album is when I was just getting into Cenotaph, where at that time I had only been interested in the albums Puked Genital Purulency, Reincarnation in Gorexctasy, and Putrescent Infectious Rabidity; where for when it came to this album, I only skimmed a few songs and didn't think much of it.

This album is straight fire from beginning to end. This album has a heavy-staticy-raw vibe, and it's all over the place, in your face, relentless, and very brutal indeed! The drums in my opinion are the best part about this album. They have a pummeling raw brutal sound, the kick drum sounds just perfect, and the playing is full of skill. Aside from the constant blast beats and fills, the drummer implements some jazzy patterns and structures as well, which makes for a great listening experience. Most the songs on here got your usual BDM drumming, along with some cool ass innovative jazzy-type stuff. Very very awesome.

Guitars sound great. Along with the drums they got a raw vibe that also sounds slightly grindy and loose. The riffs are great, and the musical content presented here isn't tedious nor boring. The vocals done by sole original remaining member Batu are still great, just as they were when the band first debuted. His vocals on past albums have had more of a late era Disgorge sound, like how the vocals are on "Parallels of Infinite Torture", but with some more girth and strength. On this record he still sounds just as good, but he changes it up a little. Its more growl based and less guttural and meaty. Change is good, and the subtle change in his vocals here are cool.

Overall, every area and aspect of this album is awesome and doesn't fail or lack power. You got your heaviness which is accompanied by awesome songs, great instrumentation, consistency; everything enjoyable is here. This album legitimately makes me feel happy and energetic. It's incredibly catchy and upon listen it'll keep calling you back for more once you're finished with it. All the songs are nutty, and every member does their part greatly! Can't find a single negative part about this release anywhere at all.

The band hadn't put out an album in 7 years, and with a huge comeback releasing an album like Perverse Dehumanized Dysfunctions, they've proven that they're still brutal, active, and not dead. Every second of this album is enjoyable, fun, and once again; brutal. If you're on the search for some good newer brutal death metal or are just a fan in general of this genre, I definitely recommend this album right here. Cenotaph are and will remain the Turkish kings of brutality!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Stellarium on March 23, 2024.

For the death/doom fans, this was probably quite appreciated back in '93. If you'd either missed your chance to hear "Karelian Isthmus", and weren't one of the lucky ones able to acquire the "Disment of Soul" demo Cassette, this was your best chance to hear this hot new Finnish prospect that were being banded around as the next "big thing".

Re-issuing some tracks that have only been around for a year is always a head-scratcher. Especially when the material is relatively sub-par in comparison to the forthcoming masterpiece that is not only infinitely better, but in an entirely different style. This EP is a somewhat problematic offering to the Amorphis back catalogue, in the sense that there's really no clear reason for it to exist in its final form.

With all of this in mind, the tracks aren't worthy of being buried and forgotten. The consistency of them foreshadows an ability that time and again was displayed by the group. They may be skeletal at times, but they're extremely necro. The Abhorrence cover remains fantastic, and the cavernous echo of the guitars and the drums will not be of disappointment to fans of true death metal. There are hints of melody and operatic effects layered underneath the ferocity of these compositions. The trademark growls are the heaviest they would ever be, and the speed is somewhere between early Katatonia and Opeth.

The songs on here haven't yet formed Voltron, but they are the bastard hybrid of the raw, callous sounding demo songs, and the well produced label debut. I'll concede that given a better production does help the songs, but maybe the point is entirely lost among me as to why this needed to be done so shortly after the tracks were originally released - ESPECIALLY as they were still available to be purchased. It's common knowledge that this was supposed to be a split release with Incantation, as a stop gap recording between the debut album, and the upcoming "Tales from the Thousand Lakes". However, there are two very solid reasons why this remains an outlier.

The band had already moved away from the death / doom metal sound that they played in 1991/92, and rather than this be an early teaser of upcoming material (which most good EP's should), it's a step back to an already out-dated Amorphis sound, and would have confused any perspective listeners back in 1993, as they'd have likely picked up the next release a few months later and wondered what the hell they were hearing.

That isn't to say that the material is bad. Relapse at least found a way to put the cancelled tracks into the public domain, and later released them as bonus tracks onto later editions of "The Karelian Isthmus", but they should have remained as a definitive addition to the era they represented. As such I struggle to see this as something more than an opportunity to sell the same music as a year before, but with the demo tracks cheekily tempting fans, as this is their only official re-release. Yet the track "Disment of Soul" never got an official release, and they could have added it on here as well to make it significantly more tangible.

Rating: 7 out of 10