The strength of Godless lies not in originality, but in the way it harnesses the influences of some great bands that came before it. Of course, that’s usually the case for even the most revered death metal of recent years as the room to innovate nears capacity. But, instead of more buzzsaw and murk (not that I don’t enjoy that too), Disloyal remembers that there’s still a time and place for something more slick and punchy. They also remember that technical death metal doesn’t need to be completely sterile and forgettable. By marrying the riffs and melodicism of latter-era Death with the stuttering technicality of Decapitated and blistering speed of Vader, Godless provides a satisfying, balanced alternative to death metal’s warring factions. Disloyal’s creativity and songwriting chops may not be quite on par with those legendary acts, but they execute the style with both youthful intensity and veteran prowess. Add to that some commanding vocals and powerful solos and you’ve got yourself some damn enjoyable death metal.

As if that wasn’t enough to get me wondering where these guys have been hiding for the past 18 years, one track in particular shows that they have the ability to create something truly special. If you’re not too young to remember death metal in the early to mid ‘90s, you might recall a few instances when the scene’s leading acts released tracks that were more subdued than usual, but packed just as much punch through feeling and atmosphere. Morbid Angel’s “God of Emptiness,” Death’s “The Philosopher,” and Hypocrisy’s “Apocalypse” are some prime examples. Disloyal’s “Self-Carving Titan” is that kind of a song. It alone is worth the price of admission.

It seems strange to think of a nearly two decade old band as promising, but Disloyal is new to me, and that’s how I feel about them right now. An album with more of the magic that they captured with “Self-Carving Titan” could push them outside of the shadow of their influences and earn them a more prominent spot on the metal world map. In the meantime, I’ll be tracking down their back catalog to see what else I’ve been missing.

“A Suicidal Causticity” begins the album with brutal blast beats and some great guitar soloing at the 3min mark. Several seconds later the bass guitar works its way in and sounds killer with all the bass plucking going on. I’m beginning to notice the brutal Italian death metal bands really putting forth the effort in doing a great job in mixing the bass guitar tone into the recordings. Logic of Denial’s new one does a great job of this, as well. The guitar sound is terrific, as well as the powerful guttural style vocals. The 5min mark is also extremely powerful and Russian juggernauts, Katalepsy come to mind, quite a bit, now that I think of it. “Electrocuted Pregnancy” is not only quite a pleasant song title, but a vicious onslaught at the 1.11 break will have you punching holes in your house. The song has some tasty blast beats at the 2.40 mark and I love how the song ends with a killer growl that goes right into track #3.

“Excised and Infibulated” starts off with brutal blast beats and the 1.35 mark builds up to a ferocious bombastic slam. The guttural vocals over this part are exceptional, as well as the blast beats and solos that follow. “Eradication of the Future Progeny” has some awesome drum soloing and fills at the beginning of the track and again towards the end, tying the track together in one beautiful brutal ceremony. Album ends with “Involutional Dynamics of the Corporeal Mass” and check out not even a minute into the cd and the killer bass parts as well as when the pinch harmonics pierce your eardrums-you will smile from bloody ear to bloody ear.

The production of the guitars, bass and vocals are outstanding with all the heaviness intact and sounding crisp and punchy. The drums are overly triggered with the double bass parts and when those triggers kick in on the high speed blasting, unfortunately, the other instruments struggle to reach the surface in order to be heard. This is a shame, since I don’t mind the triggering, just the band has to be careful, that in the future, if used, to mix them in properly so that are not so overbearing.

However you see how some of the songs, I mention, how many memorable parts there are on this and the rest of the album is just like this. So brutal, yet so memorable. The cd cover is rather dark-cannot make out too much of what brutality is going on as well as the band opting to have an illegible band logo that is tough to read. The booklet contains a thanks list, pics and brutal lyrics. But Ghastly Music dropped the ball on misspelling the bands name, not only on the CD spine but also on the insert card that comes with the CD, spelling the name-Sucidal Causticity. I know Suicidal, actually is a pretty tough word to spell, I get that. However, when you’re releasing your product, this is representative of your company, so take the extra time to proofread what you put out, so as not to embarrass your label and disrespect the band. I am telling you all Suicidal Causticity’s debut The Spiritual Decline is a beast of an album that you need to have in your brutal death metal collection. Interview forthcoming!