Review by JD on May 31, 2010.

There are so many Death Metal bands out there that most are barely passable at best. That is because of the plain truth that there are only a small handful of acts that can be deemed as head and shoulders above the rest... bands that truly have earned reverence in the scene. I think I have found one of the unknown ones that fit into the elite of the genre...also one that is out to change
the genre as well.

With brutality and malice that will be hard to match anywhere in metal, France based band Aosoth come at you with both barrels blazing and assaults you with sadistic metal that sticks in your mind and twists the sharp blade with great pleasure. It is pure Death Metal, with a little bit of Nitro added.

Being the side project for legendary Black Metal songwriter MKM (plays with Antaeus), it is not like his usual grinding and hate fuelled Black Metal...but it is now more and should be judged on that alone. What is here is perhaps his greatest artistic leap...and ascended him into where he wanted to go with it all along. Sounding like a weird collaboration of Canadian Progressive thrashers VoiVod with bands like the dynamic Death and the fury of Bloodbath, Aosoth takes all of that Death Metal to another plain, using the influences of Back Metal and even scant bits of Doom to add in the fiendish aggression.

Simply put, Aosoth is pure Death Metal...but comes with the added bonus of having such villainous Black Metal that fuels the whole thing to that greater level. The music is clearly harsh, heavy, cold as a soulless corpse and as musical as any symphony. It is perhaps one of the finest Death Metal albums right now...and the world is going to find that out.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

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

Rating: 9.0 out of 10