The sticker on the CD reads “For fans of Job For A Cowboy, The Black Dahlia Murder and Behemoth” and I’d be inclined to agree, though I actually think these guys blow Job For Cowboy away with their take on modern, slightly youth driven American death metal. The next nearest comparison I though of was the debut from Sweden’s As You Drown; a huge, super burly production, raging blast beats, slightly tech prose (though not The Faceless or Hiroshima Will Burn tech) and the occasional groove. Some will call it deathcore, but other than the slightly forced deep bellows of Jamie Hanks and the bands looks, An Awakening is a solid death metal record through and through.

And that is mostly due to the albums structure and mood. An Awakening ‘feels’ like a death metal record. It’s far burlier than The Black Dahlia Murder, it’s not as forgetful and pre packaged as the Job For a Cowboy. It’s menacing, its nasty and its pummeling, and never at any time was I bracing for a telegraphed breakdown, quirky interlude or humorous hidden track. Even the solos have a dark death metal presence (“8 to 5”, “Through His Eyes”).

The only downfall is that An Awakening rages pretty hard for its entirety, a little too hard, leaving no room for catching your breath or mood swings .The band could use just a little control to make the tracks stand out and break up the album a bit as from blistering opener “Awaken” to penultimate track “As The Vultures Circle” (where the band finally use a bit of pacing and melody) is one virtually relentless assault as tracks like “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”, “Building and Breaking Bridges”, “Frozen Feastings” (The Most The Black Dahlia Murder sounding track on the album) and “Lucid Nightmare” tend to bleed together a tad. Closing instrumental “Still Breathing” is the only respite on the album closing things out peacefully, so the band can do it when they want to.

Still, a very solid debut that’s only slightly less kickass that The Red Shore’s Unconsecrated and shows some of the kids today do actually have a clue.