Review by Maverick on January 29, 2024.

Sometimes it is tiresome when one wants to find some decent death metal, you know, something that isn't Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Suffocation, or any of the household names. This is exactly what this offering is, a solid lineup of some good death metal. Here are at least some reasons why one should consider listening to this album.

This release is full of traditional death metal riffing, but it is compartmentalized in a modern metal way, which means pretty good quality production. It utilizes a lot of technical-melodic death-type instrumentation for the most part, but where it does align with Cannibal Corpse-esque riffing, it does not resemble the thrashy type guitar work that one would find in traditional death metal, at least not in this release. This can easily be seen in songs like 'The One With The Hooks', which starts with technical-melodic riffing, and then harmonizes with more traditional death metal rhythm guitar works. The timing in this album is on par, very technical "mathy" time signatures are littered throughout, and no instrument overpowers the other. It's pretty rad when you consider that it's a recent release. The problem with many death metal bands, or even deathcore bands is they sometimes bite off too much that they cannot chew or simply alternate carelessly between riffs that are more fitting for sloppy experimental albums. There is no experimentation in this release that overpowers the listener, rather there's a careful interchange in riffing.

Vocally, the album is pretty standard. Death growls that move between deep guttural vocals, and high-pitched screams. The velocity and speed resemble brutal death/grindcore-type vocal ranges but deliver in a way that is not too cumbersome or all over the place. The vocal part of this album makes me stay clear from giving this a perfect score since it moves too much in a predictable way, but the integrity of the whole album is cohesive enough to make me conclude that it is worth listening to. 'Bellem' was probably the best song that delivered the most appropriate vocal delivery, as to 'Mist And Darkness' sounded too much like a move in the direction of slam-death. There was something about the song that just seemed unnecessary in that regard.

Finally, this album was not bad but a solid piece of death metal that has been done right for the most part.

For fans of Decrepit Birth, Suffocation, Necrophagist and Cannibal Corpse.

Rating: 9.2 out of 10