Review by Felix on April 11, 2021.

My girlfriend has a beautiful cat. To avoid misunderstandings, she is naturally not as beautiful as my girl! But she should be much more beautiful than the dogs to which this EP is dedicated. To The Dogs - that's not only the name of the release, which first existed in demo form and will now be released as a 7" in a few days. For the sake of simplicity, the trio from Wisconsin also gave themselves this name. The lady and the two men locate themselves in the Bermuda triangle consisting of black metal, thrash metal and crust. To be honest, black metal plays the most subordinate role from my point of view. On the one hand, I'm of the snooty opinion that US Americans can't produce good black metal. Consequently, the three songs on To The Dogs lack any atmospheric element, except for an urban darkness. This, in turn, points more in the direction of desperate, angry crust. Now there may be more energetic formations in this segment. At every bus stop, in front of every furniture market and at every lonely lake in Sweden, you are likely to encounter at least one more furious crust formation.

But that doesn't mean shit. To The Dogs have the primitiveness of a rabid edition of At War, the pissed-off attitude of the Pro-Pain singer and the rumbling component of metal-punk bastards. They keep the songs pleasantly short without letting them degenerate into absurd miniature fragments. Of course, there are no frills whatsoever. There is simply one kick after the other in the stupid face. At the same time, the girl on the bass "sings" roughly as melodically as Sabina from Holy Moses - in other words, in a pitch that even attack dogs wouldn't describe as friendly. Or is that the guy on the guitar screaming to the permanently aggressive roaring guitars? Once again: I don't give a shit. The three songs immediately settle into the auditory canal and even Mr. Grind from Toxic Holocaust will have to admit that he has rarely reached this level of catchiness so far.

I have already mentioned the guitar sound. It is undoubtedly the defining element on this 7", which leaves a harsh and heavy overall impression. The tracks on the A side sound, in my opinion, a bit rougher and faster than the band's anthem, but these are only marginal differences. All in all, every note is in the right place. To The Dogs are welcome to release more, I'm curious. However, I will never join "to the dogs" wholeheartedly. I like my girlfriend (and her cat) too much for that. What a romantic end to the review for a totally unromantic work.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 11, 2021.

My girlfriend has a beautiful cat. To avoid misunderstandings, she is naturally not as beautiful as my girl! But she should be much more beautiful than the dogs to which this EP is dedicated. To The Dogs - that's not only the name of the release, which first existed in demo form and will now be released as a 7" in a few days. For the sake of simplicity, the trio from Wisconsin also gave themselves this name. The lady and the two men locate themselves in the Bermuda triangle consisting of black metal, thrash metal and crust. To be honest, black metal plays the most subordinate role from my point of view. On the one hand, I'm of the snooty opinion that US Americans can't produce good black metal. Consequently, the three songs on To The Dogs lack any atmospheric element, except for an urban darkness. This, in turn, points more in the direction of desperate, angry crust. Now there may be more energetic formations in this segment. At every bus stop, in front of every furniture market and at every lonely lake in Sweden, you are likely to encounter at least one more furious crust formation.

But that doesn't mean shit. To The Dogs have the primitiveness of a rabid edition of At War, the pissed-off attitude of the Pro-Pain singer and the rumbling component of metal-punk bastards. They keep the songs pleasantly short without letting them degenerate into absurd miniature fragments. Of course, there are no frills whatsoever. There is simply one kick after the other in the stupid face. At the same time, the girl on the bass "sings" roughly as melodically as Sabina from Holy Moses - in other words, in a pitch that even attack dogs wouldn't describe as friendly. Or is that the guy on the guitar screaming to the permanently aggressive roaring guitars? Once again: I don't give a shit. The three songs immediately settle into the auditory canal and even Mr. Grind from Toxic Holocaust will have to admit that he has rarely reached this level of catchiness so far.

I have already mentioned the guitar sound. It is undoubtedly the defining element on this 7", which leaves a harsh and heavy overall impression. The tracks on the A side sound, in my opinion, a bit rougher and faster than the band's anthem, but these are only marginal differences. All in all, every note is in the right place. To The Dogs are welcome to release more, I'm curious. However, I will never join "to the dogs" wholeheartedly. I like my girlfriend (and her cat) too much for that. What a romantic end to the review for a totally unromantic work.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Arek on February 23, 2023.

Blood Era is the fourth album by the Warsaw band, but also the first one in this line-up. It turned out that after Mindless Mass Th0rn (creator of this death metal machine) had to complete the line-up again. Although the so-called 'young blood' was not too young, the energy that this album is boiling with you can almost touch. For 20 years Sphere has not strayed even an inch from the path strewn with corpse sounds and has no intention of lowering the level of brutality. Some will praise them for it, and others will rebuke them, but in order to make an assessment, you have to listen to their new album.

No Sphere album can be said to be weak, bland, etc. On the contrary, each was 100% death metal with little technical elements and encouraging samples. However, each subsequent one raised the bar higher and higher and so it is with Blood Era. These 9 pieces of pure death metal don't bring anything new to this genre, which has been prophesied to die and waste into oblivion more than once but was reborn even stronger time and time again. On Blood Era the guitars sound more bloody. Vocals, although still created on the border of death/grind, seem to be extracted from the throat of Lucifer himself. It is hard to find any fault with the rhythm either. Every breakdown, even the slightest, unleashes an explosion and barbaric blast cannonade right after. The new version of Sphere A.D. 2022 also brings solos in rather exquisite form and melody. So it's not surprising that Dave Suzuki himself was invited to play solo in 'Conquer The Christians'. And here I have to bow my head to Paul, because his performances are not inferior to the master. Yes, it is the solos and well-chosen samples that are the salt and pepper in this blood-dripping dish. A dish to which I invite everyone, although I am aware that not everyone will be able to digest it. For statistical purposes, I will add that in 'Conquer The Christians' Damien Boynton, heard in Desolation, Vital Remains and Season Of Suffering, performed vocals.

Undoubtedly, every fan of this musical massacre should listen to this album at least once, because once the gates of hell are open, it is impossible to close it. Why anyway, why not let death do its work? On Blood Era it's the same grim reaper you heard from early Deicide, Immolation or Vital Remains. He has the same scythe, and death ends in death. So what for? And why do we listen to Slayer again and again, why do we push ourselves to the next mountain peak after we've won one? There is no point in continuing to multiply questions and answers. Perhaps you will find meaning in these beautiful yet brutal sounds.

Concluding these arguments, I must add that a worthy complement to the music is the all red and black booklet with elements of death's sleep graphic design. So if you value aesthetic quality, this item certainly encourages you to reach for the CD or LP. Believe me it's worth it.

Rating: 8.6 out of 10