Review by Emma on March 30, 2009.

Lightning Swords Of Death deliver an earful of metal pleasure for the angry and the damned. Autarch welcomes us to their world with demonic vocals that have a guttural effect likened to Gorgoroth, but with the cadence of Dissection. Black Metal with Thrash and Doom moments, the LSOD sound opens old wounds and rubs them with cemetery dirt. The riffs in ‘Invoke The Desolate One’ stand out the most, carrying you into head banging madness and before you know it the first song is up.

Following is ‘Damnation Pentastrike’. One can only guess what ‘pentastrike’ means, but it sounds right with drumming reminiscent of war. After assaulting their listeners with earth and decay, LSOD take an unexpected turn in pace. I enjoyed the following tracks, though I would have liked a few more rounds of the brutal stuff before moving on.

‘Venter Of the Black Beast’ slows things down to doom-coated level with riffs that quickly bring to mind Burzum’s song-of-a-thousand-covers, 'Dunkelheit'. Before I could shake my head though the piece was saved with a more epic conclusion than the above mentioned.

Our time with LSOD wraps up with ‘Paths To Chaos,’ a song with a title of perfect descriptive accuracy. This meandering bit shot off from what was previously playing, leaving me wondering if they know what direction they want to go. This half of the split gargles, fizzles, and slowly fades into nothingness, marking the end.

To sum, the song writing isn’t the most original. I feel LSOD have the potential to push the envelope, but didn’t quite make it there. However, it is an overall enjoyable listening experience, let’s see what else they’ve got.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Originality: 5
Production: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 6.8 out of 10