Review by Carl on August 2, 2023.

It may be slamming death metal completely by the book, but I'd be a dirty liar if I went around saying that I don't like this.

From the logo, layout and the artwork, there are no prizes for guessing in which domain Cercenatory operates. Brutal death metal, with gutturals that sound as if coming from the bottom of a slimy well, as well as slamming sections alternating with savage blast beat driven upheaval, you've heard this before. Bands such as Devourment, Defleshed and Gutted and Devour The Unborn helped write the book on the style, and these guys almost follow it letter by letter. Is that a bad thing, you might ask? Well no, because this style is one of those I prefer as pure as possible. I do not need uber-technical Marty Friedman style leads, psychedelic interludes or marimba solo's in my brutal slamming death, just a right old pummeling. And a pummeling is what they provide. The slams are crushing, the gutturals undecipherable and the fast parts down-tuned and chaotic in an awesome way. By the insertion of some death metal guitar leads, the band actually manages to insert some identity of their own here. And these are the good kind of leads, Marty Friedman isn't seen or heard anywhere near. Which is nice.

What isn't nice, is that we are confronted with a cliché of brutal death I'm not that frisky for, and that is the inclusion of pointless spoken word samples. Here it's just another instance where they fill up space and add little to nothing to the whole, and as in most cases, it does cause some annoyance here. Another thing that caused annoyance is the paint can sound of the snare drum, veering dangerously close to the dreaded "St Anger" snare. It's not as annoying as that, but it still needed some getting used to on my part.

As a closer I'd like to point out that the production is more on the raw side than that of most of their brethren, which I actually like a lot. It's not as oppressive and over-produced as other bands in the genre, which makes it sound all the more brutal and violent, in my opinion. The fact that the overall sound mix is somewhat off-balance actually adds to the chaotic atmosphere Cercenatory exudes in the faster parts, which sounds great, to be honest. One thing that could've been more in the background is that paint can snare, though. Other than that, great stuff!

There you have it, brutal slamming death mostly played by the book, yet with some touches one doesn't expect, and a raw and violent production that gives it a somewhat demented edge that suits them fine. This should not fail to please the brutal death metal hound out there, for sure.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Joshua on February 20, 2005.

If you've heard Einherjer's full-length debut, try to remember the songs "Dreamstorm" and "Forever Empire," and imagine what expanding upon those musical ideas would sound like as a full-length compact disc.

If not, try to imagine what the "Viking" metal style would sound like without the tone-deaf "clean" baritone singing about hair-shirts and dragon's breath. Now turn the keyboards down or off, relegate the "clean" vocals to sporadic appearances on the last few songs, and teach the "clean" vocalist to properly sing. There; that's a good comparison for the uninitiated.

If that still makes no sense, or you've never even heard of "Viking" metal, that's ok. It's a stupid term anyway, and I don't see any of these "Viking" people raiding French or English shores. So, try to imagine black metal with thrash and death influences, rhythms grounded heavily in Norwegian traditional music, and snarling vocals. The songs are of average length, midway between the verse/chorus/verse structure of traditional metal, and the flowing, epic style ofnumerous black metal bands; in fact, Einherjer's song structure strikes an almost perfect balance between those extremes.

Is there a trend of metal bands returning to their eighties roots? It's starting to sound that way. One listen of a song like "Wolf-Age" makes my intended point obvious: Eighties thrash solos and melody have both returned to black metal, and Blot is peppered with a handful of them. "Wolf-Age" is the most obvious example, sounding disturbingly like Savatage, but the eighties influence is everywhere. This isn't necessarily bad; tempering Einherjer's characteristic sound with a concentration on catchy rhythms keep the band far above the cesspool of lousy "Viking" metal acts that’s overflowed on the genre's bathroom floor. In fact, it only improves on the concepts that Einherjer used for their last CD.

This album's defects are few, but I can't let them slide. First, like so many other modern metal bands, Einherjer intersperse their songs with melodic passages; and, like so many other modern metal bands, they often sound completely out of place, to the point where I think "what the hell just happened here? Did they get bored?" There aren't many melodic sections, and most of the songs make do without, but that only makes the contrast more glaring when it surfaces. Also, Einherjer's strong Norwegian folk influence gives some songs a really annoying "sing-song" feel, especially during those melodic breaks - about how I’d imagine the Swedish Chef sounding, on a black metal CD. Thankfully, there are no clean vocals singing "bork bork bork." If you really want those, look for Thyrfing's latest.

Ah, yes, metal clichés: There are a couple, but you’ll be straining to find them, so they don't detract from anything. Keyboards, for example, are generally minimalist, or else relegated to providing atmosphere- but Einherjer have always used those, and they're a lot less prevalent than on their last two CDs. Also, a singing chorus makes an appearance during Ingen Grid, but they're so unusually talented that it fits inperfectly. Overall, though, this one's sound is heavier, occasional acoustic introduction notwithstanding.

What more is there to say? Einherjer have always had a unique sense of musicianship, and here they present it in a refined and developed form. The balance of playing styles and influences broaden this album’s appeal, while their songs are interesting enough that one can replay the album without getting bored. It’s not so melodic as to annoy a seasoned listener, but there’s enough atmosphere to set a proud and near-Medevial tone. I'd call this their greatest effort yet, and I'd recommend the disc to anyone.

The Bottom Line: An excellent, mature effort from Einherjer, showing an impressive range of influences. In the end, it's Viking metal with snarling vocals, but it's so exceptionally well performed that even genre newcomers should have a listen.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

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

Rating: 7.8 out of 10