I absolutely love brutal death metal, but after going through this record no less than 20 times, I’m struggling a bit with how to approach it.  Does it check all the boxes?  Guttural vocals? Check.  Double bass and blast beats? Check.  Lack of any real bass guitar or bottom end in the mix?  Check.

The first four songs are pretty straight forward, quicker death metal, but definitely not blazing.  The fifth track, “Psalm Carnage in the Ghoulish”, slows things down and takes on more of a mid-paced death-thrash feel.  The rest of the tracks are pretty similar to the first four, with some solid guitar work and some head-banging chugs to keep the groove going.  The whole album clocks in a just over 37 minutes, which again is par for the course and about the range of time for most brutal death albums.

So with that in mind, how does this particular output rank?  I would say somewhere squarely in the middle of the road for the genre.  I actually purchased their second LP, Anthems of an Empyreal Dominion, which I feel was overall better than this one.  They both feature the same lineup, with the aptly (and humorously named) Goremaster on drums, with Emre Uren and Erkin Ozturk handling the guitar work.  I searched but was not able to find a vocalist listed, so likely one of the guitarists handles that portion.  It’s also worth noting that Goremaster’s snare is a little pingy and too high in the mix, so it’s a little annoying but not nearly as bad as some that I’ve heard over the years.  And I know most death metal bands don’t have the money to get a great mixing/mastering job done, but they need to learn that if they add some bass it GREATLY improves the enjoyment of an album.

So there you have it.  If you’re a fan of the genre you’ll likely enjoy this one, and it’s definitely a grower as the more I listened to it the more I liked it.  It won’t make any year end lists, but is definitely not a disappointment.  Also check out the artwork, as it’s pretty bad ass.

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