I will say this upfront, Just by looking at the cover, I was expecting a standard run of the mill death metal album, boy was I wrong!  What we have here is a semblance to Necrophagist, a smidge of early Shadows Fall and some of the thrashiness of Exmortus. You get all these and roll em up to get this 6 song rager from UK based  Infected Dead.

Not quite an EP but this is a condensed shot in the arm of adrenaline and listening to this gets me sitting forward and adjusting the headphones for a better listening experience. I know for the most part in some bands the bassist just follows the chords/patterns of the guitarist but here the drummer plays along with the guitarists and adds his own flourishes and embellishments to the guitars and riffing in general. Much like Vinnie Paul and Dimebag of Pantera, who played together giving the songs that extra oomph and uniqueness. Here, drummer Martin Tang is just all over the place. I’m not saying one dimensional hyper speed assaults ( but he can blaze away when needed ) but just different fills and nuances that just add to the song.

 Needless to say, color me impressed. Both guitar players, Alex Brown and Chris Rahman give a bit of modern tech riffing and song structure in the guitars, this is definitely not grimy old school metal, just razor wire riffing that is intricate a bit melodic but still gets you air guitaring (sorry, my word ) and headbanging at the same moment. Listening to this, you just have to take in the different aspects that make this so enjoyable. The multi faceted vocal delivery of Lou Ede, from semi deep growls to higher pitched screams from verse to verse further compliment the twin guitar attack. At times I get reminded of the vocals of Brian Werner of Infernaeon (also now in Vital Remains) but here Lou is so much more dynamic, imposing in his vocal delivery. Obviously I spoke of the drumming and the bass player, Nathan Hammond can be heard in the mix a bit and gets little spotlights here, such has the ending of Archaic Malevolence. I can’t really say just  come out and pick one stand out track because at 6 songs I feel they all have their moments were things shine and hold your attention.

All in all, an impressive release from these UK ragers, if you are fans of the aforementioned bands and maybe the more modern death metal sounds of Aborted, Black Dahlia Murder, this release can be right up your alley.