Review by Adam on February 20, 2005.

I heard about Arsis through a friend back home who was ecstatic that he finally found good metal in Hampton Roads, Virginia. When he put in the brilliant five song demo he had gotten into his car stereo, I knew it was only a matter of time before these guys got signed. Now Arsis have a record deal with one of the most exciting up and coming metal label in Willow Tip Records, and a killer debut full length album in A Celebration of Guilt.

Arsis plays a more brutal form of melodic death metal. In many ways their style reminds me of the Canadian band Neuraxis but perhaps a bit more old school and raw. No clean vocals to be found here! For a debut this is quite impressive and promising stuff. The production is great and the musicianship is simply flawless. There is no doubt in my mind that Arsis will be one of the top underground American melodic death metal bands in the years to come. Something about the way A Celebration of Guilt sounds just makes it so pleasurable to listen to even if the genre itself does not leave much for inventiveness these days.

If you are a fan of aggressive melodic death metal, then I would pick up this album immediately. I am not sure how good the distribution for the label is so you might want to visit the website for Willow Tip Records if you are having trouble finding it. A Celebration of Guilt proves that no matter how many times we may doubt the longevity of this form of metal, there are still bands that can come up and release quality music. Arsis is one of those bands and they are sure to have a bright future ahead of them.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.8 out of 10