Review by JD on August 13, 2009.

Buffalo, NY based Siege A.D. has been touted to be a sort of bridging point between the melodic crush of Iron Maiden and the sheer pommelling power of Lamb Of God. That is sort of a true assessment... but not it is not at the same time.

Siege A.D. may have some fairly clear similarities with the likes of Lamb Of God, but that is only a little for me. What I am actually hearing, I think they are way closer musically to very early Sepultura (before the tribal beats) and add in a serious touch of Cannibal Corpse pounding rhythms into it as well as some Dark Angel as well. The whole ‘maiden’ comparisons seemed not to be there.

Solid and meaty songs coupled with the fact that they did not over produce the album, made the over all atmosphere nearly perfect. It clearly is the fact that there is that whole simpleness and sparseness throughout the CD, which makes it work so damned well. So many bands in this style of metal do this when recording, to the point that it takes away the barbaric brutality that this music was born to release. Siege A.D. do not forget that point, and make that there sound.

They do not break any new ground musically, but they do the whole Thrash/Death thing so good. Songs like the head cranking ‘Bipolar’ or the sledgehammer like attack of ‘Forged In War‘ is just the few of many examples of that.

When it all said and done here... this is album that most headbangers would be proud to have in their collection. I thought they were great... now I hope they go to Godly status. Because they have the talent to do so.

Categorical Rating Breakdown　

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 9
Originality: 7
Overall: 8.5　

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by JD on April 7, 2012.

Polish Death Metal is some of the most impressive and has this original spin on gut-wrenching power that even some of the more notable Scandinavian Death Metallers can’t produce. I think it is just the way Polish Metallers go about developing their slabs of heaviness that makes it stand out so far... they leave none of their souls behind, its all on the album.

One of the mainstays in the Polish Death metal elite is a five piece that hails from Cracow calling themselves Sceptic. This beast of a band comes at you with a force that even Mother Nature would have to doff her cap to. With having such an amazing vocalists ever to do Death Metal (Marcin Urbas) this band should have been known more than what they were especially over here in North America.

Melodies that not so quietly enter your brain, then deliver right inside the brutal and acrid heaviness - that is what Sceptic delivers. From the simply barbaric 'Controlled By Mind' which plainly shows that perfect integration of harmonies with razor sharp shredding that seems to perform surgery on you to the musical masterpiece that is the instrumental perfectly named as 'Voices Of The Past', you are handed a bonafide Death Metal classic that stacks up to anything out there.

This opus needs to be in any Death metallers collection - or any bangers as well. It is a rarity to find this perfectly balanced attack of Heaviness, wicked Aggression, bone jarring Power, amazing Musicianship and masterful Lyrics of pure gore. This is fast becoming a staple on my MP3 Player and I know that it will become just that for you. This is clearly a classic in every sense of the word.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.1 out of 10