Review by JD on May 12, 2009.

You have to listen to Australia's 'Neath's album in a way the befits the dank mood it is projecting. Do it under a brooding sky beside a lake that no one ever goes to late one night. Play the album where the only light flickering is the small fire you made for yourself to protect you from the unknown and your only friend is the small flashes of lightning up in the cloudiness overhead..

Technicality mixed in with this gloomy doom of massively heavy and complex guitars... That is what makes 'Neath stand out like hardcore gangster rapper at a Celine Dion Concert. The band is musically progressive, darkly doomy, Extremely heavy and at times flays your mind with sheer power... and all while doing it in their own way.

Sure it has this sort of overall feeling that makes me think of a mixture of Novembers Doom mixed with early My Dying Bride... but it has extreme death moments that makes me think of something along the lines of Finland's Immortal Soul. 'Neath is as heavy and brutal as it is complex with a overture of moodiness that begs for a prescription of an antidepressant the size of your head.

This Austraillian group steamrolls with whole lot of talent, feeding you their own brand of heavy depression while still making you bang your head with ever mournful beat the band makes. Aggression meeting depression would be the perfect catch phrase for these guys. Some might not get into it, that is true... but most metalheads will have to admire what these Aussies have.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

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

Rating: 8.8 out of 10