Shinedown - 'Amaryllis' (Roadrunner) 4.5/5

Over their past three albums Florida commercial hard rockers Shinedown have been slowly building a reputation as a band that can bridge the wide gap between mainstream acceptability and underground chic, and now with the release of this their fourth album it finally looks like they are getting that ballance down to a fine art.

There are twelve cuts on offer here, each one a prime cut of note perfect commercial edged hard rock that puts nearly everything issued by their rivals (Nickleback, Theory Of A Wifebeater, 30 Seconds to Mars, You and Me At Six etc) well and truly in the shade. There really is something for everything on this one. You've got some great hard rockers like the highly headbangable Enemies and high energy anthem Nowhere Kids; there's some sweet little softer post indie work outs like the highly infectious Miracle and  the title track, Amaryllis - a cut that sounds a little like the great Crowded House at their best. Chuck in cuts like the REM flavoured power ballad I'll Follow You, the Black Veil Brides-u-like My Name (Wearing Me Out) and the epic closing number Through The Ghost, with its orchestra backing and dreamy melody and you end up with one of the best mainstream rock albums of recent years.

I think where this album wins over most other stuff in this vein, is the way its played and produced. Veteran producer Rob Cavallo is a bit of a master at bringing the best out of an act, and here he has worked his magic once more, the flow of the album is spot on and the sound is polished when it needs to be polished and mercifully left a little rough around the edges when it needs to rock out. Throw in some great musical performances from the band, especially from vocalist Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers and you really do get something worth taking note of.

In short this a great album and one that marks Shinedown as big players in the field of mainstream rock.

Highly Recommended

For fans of... Nickleback, Crowded House, Halestorm, Young The Giant, Kids In Glass Houses....

OSI - 'Fire Make Thunder' (metalblade) 4.5/5

Fates Warning / Arch Matheos guitarist Jim Matheos must be a contender for the hardest working man in rock award. Just six months or so after the release of the most recent Arch - Matheos album, he's back, working once more with Chroma Key (and ex Dream Theater) keys man Kevin Moore and Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison to bring us this the fourth album from OSI.


Now I'll admit I'm rapidly becoming a bit of a fan of Mr Matheos, and with this release he has cooked up another winner. From the dark and almost paranoic opening of Cold Call, which builds and builds for almost two minutes before the first killer guitar riff cuts in; to the desolate and bleak closing chords of Invisible Men; this whole album is a sonic ride through a glorious texture of sounds, styles and musical excellence. You get gloriously powerful metal riffing, some infectious pseudo electronic beats and rhythms and some truly inspirational prog rock moments, yet its all blended together into a superb whole that keeps the listener hooked from beginning to end.


Highlights include the almost Pink Floyd like Indian Curse, the Porcupine Tree influenced Wind Wont Howl and For Nothing, a track that has a certain blues feel about it.


In short Mr Matheos and Mr Moore have served up a fantastic album here, and with the once great Dream Theater falling apart at the seams and vanishing up their own backsides, it is one that may well catapult OSI into the top slot of US prog.


Very highly recommended


For fans of... Dream Theatre, Porcupine Tree, Panic Office, Opeth etc.....

Jack Blades - 'Rock And Roll Ride' (frontiers) 4.5/5

Legendary four stringer Jack Blades has had a bit of a glittering career, having done time in Rubicon, Damn Yankees & Blades and Shaw amongst others, he's still a key member of the classic AOR outfit Night Ranger, penned several movie sound tracks and played session for the likes of Ringo Starr, Ted Nugent, Motley Crue and a whole host of others to boot. And that's not to mention a long list of song writing credits.Yet he has still found time to bang out a couple of solo albums, of which this is the latest.

Now I will say from the off that I'm liking this one lots and lots. Rock and Roll Ride is an eleven track long old school rock and roll album, the sort of thing you used to get off the likes of REO Speedwagon before they sold out to the MTV vid kid movement. Kicking off with the highly boppable Back In the Game, this record just rocks. We get some great hard rockers like Born For This, The Who meets Tom Petty influenced Love Life and the superb title track that hints at classic Aussie rockers Rose Tattoo. Then there are other influences in here as well; West Hollywood is a fantastic piece of laid back west coast post psyche rock that hints at the likes of The Beach Boys and Supertramp. Closer Hey Now, is a nicely chilled out semi blues fueled cut that has an almost country rock vibe and Anything For You (penned by Cheap Tricks Robin Zander) is a classic pop-rock track of the old school. All in all this is a damn good album, and one I can't stop playing.

In short this album is a big of a gem and one I will recommend to anyone who likes classic US rock at its best.

Just great

for fans of... Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Tom Petty.....

Jeff Scott Soto - 'Damage Control' (frontiers) 3.5/5

New Yorker Jeff Scott Soto is definitely a guy who gets around a bit. So far he has sang for the likes of Journey, Talisman (the Swedish rock outfit, not the UK reggae band), Yngwie Malmsteen and a fair few more, sang sessions for every one from Brian May to Lita Ford and even done sond tracks for TV shows like Biker Mice From Mars and the movie Rock Star; and he still has found time to put out a string of twelve solo albums, of which this is the latest.

Now it cannot be denied that this guy as a great voice and knows how to use it to maximum effect. There are eleven cuts on offer here ranging from hard edged power ballads like If I Never Let Her Go and How To Love Again through to some great hard edged rockers like Krazy World and Look Inside Your Heart. Ok it does get a little bit cliche and cheesy in places, but there is still enough good stuff on show here to keep the interest going. Add in the fact that Mr Soto is aided and abetted here by the likes of Y&T's Dave Meniketti and Night Ranger's Joel Hoekstra and you do have an enjoyable if not exactly earth shattering album.


In short, a good effort that the AOR fans will love and the rest will find interesting at least.


Worth a quick look


For fans of... Journey, Drivin' and Cryin', Loverboy, Night Ranger, etc....

Veil Of Maya - 'Eclipse' (Sumerian) 3.5/5

This is album number four from Illinois progressive deathcore outfit Veil of Maya, a band who are very much caught up in the hip and happening djent scene at the moment.

Now I'm not sure if I like this one or not. There are places on this album like the brutal post hardcore riff fest of The Glass Slide and the progtastic Eclipse, that I can only describe as superb. Yet in other places such as the messy and over complex Divide Paths where any kind of vibe and musical flow has been sacrificed on the alter of seaming soulless math rock.

This is a shame, cos there is a lot of interesting stuff going on here, the musicianship is great and Brandon Butlers pig grunt vocals are as brutal and effective as it gets.

Still its horses for courses I suppose, and djentist and the like will love it up.

Try before you buy

For fans of... Periphery, Rolo Tomassi, Between The Buried And Me, The Faceless, Uneven Structure....

Delusion Squared - 'Delusion Squared II' (self released) 4.5/5

One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of 2010 was the debut album from French prog outfit Delusion Squared, a dark yet alluring concept work about corporate control, genetic engineering and revolution. Now two years on we have this nugget of a follow up.

Once again we have a concept work, this time dealing with a dark and complex tale about the end of the world, and once again it is a tale well told through first rate musicianship and song writing.

Vocalist Lorraine Young has a sweet, almost innocent sounding voice, coming over a tad like the great Errin Williams - all restrained and with an almost childlike charm. Yet it works so well, when the other two (who I'll get to in a moment) a playing the soft folky type stuff it blends perfectly, then when the guys start to lean on it and rock it up a bit the juxtaposition is spine tingling. Just check out the middle section on Recipe For Disaster to see exactly what I mean.

As for the other two members of this project, Steve Francis and Emmanuel de Saint Meen - here are two performers of the highest level. Not only are they first rate musicians, but they have read the prog rock 101 instruction manual - Mark Kelly style keyboard widdles, Andy Latimer style guitar solos, interesting time signatures and key changes... and know how to apply them and keep just the right side of cliche - and they have also learned the biggest lesson of all. In music rules are made to be broken. And that is what makes Delusion Squared stand out head and shoulders above so many other of the generic proggy wannabes out there.

Highlights? well this is a smooth and seamless concept work, so picking out any individual track would be wrong, but my favourate moment has to be the shiver inducing Vertical Paradox.

In short this is another great album, but a truly great band.

Highly Recommended

For fans of... Mostly Autumn, Porcupine Tree, Pendragon, Camel, Darwins Radio....

Pretty Maids - 'It Comes Alive' (Frontiers) 4.5/5

Now there are a couple of odd facts about Danish melodic metal merchants Pretty Maids. Firstly, despite twelve critically acclaimed albums and lord knows how many singles and eps; and being almost household names in their native Denmark, they have never achieved much success beyond their home boarders, with the possible exceptions of Japan and parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Secondly unlike many other acts, they have never issued a live album... until now (ok there were two live archive compilation releases but they don't really count as true live albums).

Now as I have said before in this blog, live albums are a bit like a certain yeast based spread, you either love the raw in your face sound and raw live on stage attitude and atmosphere, or you see them as an excuse to fob fans off with rehashes of old material. Now I am firmly in the former camp, I love live albums and I gotta say this one is pretty damn good.

Recorded in Switzerland on the bands recent Pandemonium tour, this 21 tracker is a great cross section of Pretty Maids impressive career. It blends some of their more recent material such as Wake Up To The Real World and Pandemonium with a shed load of the bands old faves such as Future World, Love Games and Hell On High Heals. In fact, if  you have yet to experience the wonderful worlds of Pretty Maids, then this album is a damn good place to start to get to know them better.

The performances from the band are first rate, and the response of the crowd is equally enthusiastic and infectious as the assembled faithful scream the hooks and chant along at every opportunity. All good stuff, well nearly, there is a rather tedious and over long version of Please Don't Leave Me, a big rawkin' power ballad, and a track I have never really liked, but thankfully its followed immediately but a storming ten minute version of the bands classic anthem Red Hot And Heavy that ends the album in fine style.

In short this is over all a great record and Pretty Maids fans will love it up, and those who are Pretty Maid curious will find this one a good starting place

Excellent

For fans of .. Royal Hunt, Vow Wow, Primal Fear, Gamma Ray etc....

Lay Down Rotten - 'Mask Of Malice' (metalblade) 3.75/5

This is release number eight from German death thrashers Lay Down Rotten and the first to feature guitarist Daniel Seifert who has recently joined as a replacement for founder member Daniel Jakobi, who laid down his axe at the tail end of last year due to personal commitments.

Now on first listen I gotta say this one is pretty enjoyable if not groundbreaking. There are ten cuts on offer, all nice and well delivered slices of fairly typical Teutonic death bludgeon; you get the growled vocals, the death and the devil lyrics, riffs that switch frequently between 100mph speed blur and slow and menacing smash and grind, some nice little interludes where monks chant, latin is spoken and people give confession... If you know your death trash you will already know exactly what to expect.

So no marks for originality, but I will give these guys their due and say this is still an enjoyable and very listenable album, and I will give special praise to the aforementioned Herr Seifert and his oppo Nils Forster for some fairly impressive guitar work, both on the riffing and the lead, the slow and plaintiff lead on The Devil Grins is especially noteworthy

Other highlights include the dark and devilish The Serpenta Canta, the pound and grind of Swallow The Bitterness and the opening thrash out of Death Chain.

All in all, although this album is a bit formulaic it is not without merit.

Worth checking out.

For Fans of... Exumer, Charred Walls Of The Damned, Slayer, Testament....

Viking Skull - 'Cursed By the Sword' (transend) 4.5/5

This is the third full length opus from Corby based 'Viking' metal outfit Viking Skull and the first for Transend.

Now from the off lets clear up any confusion, although Viking Skull do admit to being influenced by and inspired by all things viking, this album is not true Viking metal as such, there's no Amon Amarth / Falconer / Turisias / Kivimetsan Druidi style longship rowing epic nordic stylings here. Instead on first play of this album you get huge chucks of Battleaxe and Fist style NWOBHM and large helpings of post NWOBHM aggression in the style of acts like Drunken State all wrapped around a vocalist who does a damned good Blackie Lawless (WASP) impression. And to be honest I am pleased about that, cos the result is a Brit band playing tin the classic Brit metal style that I grew up listening to and as a result is right up my musical street.

To say I'm liking this one lots is a gross understatement. There are ten tracks on offer, all sweet as a nut old school headbangers that take me back to those air punching and head banging days back at Bristols old Granary Club in the 1980's. You get cuts like the savage and boogie driven Machine Gun Honey,  the AC/DC fueled Second Left On Harris, which features classic lyrics like 'I've got 1,000 watts of rock and roll, turn it up and watch your neighbours cry' and fantastic tongue in cheek beer goggle anthem You Look Like I Need A Beer. It's larger than life, in your face and what's more important, is delivered with a sense of humour that in these days of dead pan metal is a breath of fresh air. However my fave track here has to be the Sabbath inspired Sleepwalk, a true metal epic if ever there was one.

Musically this album is first rate, its aggressive and heavy yet it still manages to maintain a full on dance-floor friendly boogie attitude that will make even the squarest of old metal-heads wanna dust off the old air guitar and jam along; and that is something the current UK metal scene needs more of. The production here is spot on as well. it's tight enough to pull the sound together nicely but remains loose enough to allow the bands raw attitude and fire to shine through to the max. Not a balance that is easy to achieve.

Over all this is a great record and one I'll be playing a lot, both on air and for my own pleasure.

Well worth getting

For fans of... Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Battleaxe, Drunken State...

Furyon - 'Gravitas' (frontiers) 4.5/5

When the Sunday Rockshow first launched on BCFM one of the first unsolicited demos to arrive was from a young Brighton band called Furyon. I was very impressed with what was on offer and have been following the bands development from a distance ever since. Now five years on we have this their first full length release on key international rock label Frontiers.

And what a release it is. One of the things that really impressed me about aforementioned early demo was the bands ability to write and construct classic metal tracks yet at the same time keep them sounding fairly accessible and radio friendly, and that has not changed. The opening cut on this one Disappear Again manages to come over as accessible and FM happy as anything the likes of Nickleback or Avenged Sevenfold can cook up, yet still manages to keep a good old school Saxon / Marshall Law metal vibe going at the same time, and that's no mean feat.

Then with the stall well and truly set out Furyon go on to show their diversity. To pick just a few highlights... Stand Like Stone comes over a bit like Iron Maiden jamming with Mastodon, Don't Follow mixes Lamb Of God style riffage with a classic vocal delivery from Matt Mitchell that reminds me somewhat of a husky Rob Halford. Voodoo Me, a re-recording of what struck me as the stand out track on that early demo, is a classic little pop-metal number that comes over like Tygers Of Pan Tang on a Def Leppard trip and Our Peace Someday is a track as good as anything Ion maiden have delivered on their past few album and features some fantastic guitar work from Pat Heath and Chris Green.


However to me the stand out cut is the closer, Desert Suicide, which starts out sounding a little like a classic Canterbury era Diamond Head number, all darkly acoustic with shock beats then builds and build into a spine tingling epic where the light and shade are played to maximum effect and it leaves the listener feeling they have indeed just heard something very special indeed.


Over all this is a cracking album that should help shove Furyon up the league of British metal and bring them closer to recognition they undoubtedly deserve.


Very highly recommended


For fans of... Avenged Sevenfold, Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Marshall Law.....

Desaster - 'The Arts Of Destruction' (metalblade) 3.5/5

Since their formation in 1988 Teutonic death thrashers Desaster have been  hellishly prolific, clocking up 23 releases (if you include demos, split albums and eps) of which this is the latest.

Now this lot claim their biggest influences are the likes of Bathory, Slayer and Venom, and its good to see they are still sticking to their roots here. Cos once you get past the short intro track and hit the first full cut The Art Of Destruction, your slapped in the face with a sound that is dripping Venom-u-like riffage and Cronos style vocals, that grabs you by the throat and demands your attention. And so it continues nearly for the entirety of the album. Tracks like The Splendour of the Idols, Queens of Sodomy, At Hells Horizon and Beyond Your Grace come screaming from the speakers, rape your ears and damn your brain to a glorious black pit of metal oblivion.

Its only on the epic cut Possessed and Defiled do you get any real real respite as the band do go in for a little bit of Bathory style light and shade. All in all its nothing overly mind blowing, and is fairly generic, but what the hell, it's still enjoyable and after 20 odd years of doing this stuff and with a large fan base Desaster know their audience and sound and are still delivering the goods their fans want. Besides its well played and produced and I have heard a lot lot worse.

Worth checking if your into black thrash metal

Fr fans of... Bathory, Venom, Behemoth, Asphyx, Waxface....

Michael Thompson Band - 'Future Past' (Frontiers) 4/5

Micheal Thompson is a bit of a legend on the session scene, starting off as the 'house' guitarist for the TV series Fame, hes gone on to be the hired gun of choice for the likes of Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and a whole galaxy of other household names. But he still finds time to record and tour with his own outfit The Michael Thompson Band, and this is MTB's latest album.

Now I'm find this one a bit of a strange one. One the whole its fairly typical west coast stadium AOR, all Toto-U-like big ballads and Journeyesque light weight radio friendly rockers. Stuff that I don't dislike, but stuff I tend to use as wall paper music whilst chilling out reading and doing the house work rather than actively listen too. However there are three factors here that lift this record above the ordinary and have earned it an extra mark. First up we have some excellent song writing, tracks like the anthem Here I Am and the power ballad When You Love Someone are all raised above the bog standard by some first rate arrangements, and some fine attention to detail. Secondly there is the vocals of Larry King, here is a guy with a distinctive voice and someone who knows how to use it dodge cliche, just check out his delivery on Beautiful Mystery, it is indeed stunning.

Finally there is the guitar work or Mr Thompson himself, if you ever wonder why this guy is in so much demand as a session player just skip through this album, every track features guitar work that can only be regarded as superb, it is technically impressive without resorting to show off widdling, sympathetic to the song and compliments the music perfectly. My personal fave section being the rock and blues fueled solo on Gypsy Road, a slice of lead work that sends a shiver right down my spine.

All in this album has a lot to recommend it.

Well worth checking out.

For fans of... Toto, REO Speedwagon, Mecca, The Magnificent etc....

The Ottawa Hoax - 'Kid Gloves, Made With Real Kids' (self released) 4.5/5

I first encountered Bristol hardcore / metalcore outfit The Ottawa Hoax a good few years ago when my old mate, and former band buddy Jim Cogan was producing their debut demo, and I was impressed with what I heard. then as is often the case with local and unsigned bands they dropped off my radar, but now they are back with this their latest ep.

There are four cuts on offer and I am finding this one really enjoyable.We start with God's Rottweiler a delightfully brutal little exercise in blending old school hardcore attitude and aggression with more modern metalcore sensibilities, and it works really well, there is none of the cliche clean v dirty vocal interplay going on. Yes there are clean and dirty vocals but they are blended together so well the transitions are barely noticeable, and the result is a sweet little mosh your brains out opus that makes even this old hippy want to start a circle pit.

Next up is Mendeleev, a slightly more experimental opus that comes over like Melt Banana meeting Rolo Tomassi for one helluva fucked up blues jam. Chuck in the Converge influenced Odourdose and the Gay For Johnny Depp meets AFI fueled Kid Gloves with sweet acoustic passages inter-cut with some first rate hardcore brutality and the result is a sweet little ep that is gonna win this lot a lot of friends.


Recommended - Highly recommended

For fans of.. Converge, Rolo Tomassi, The Hotel Ambush, The Bled....

The Feral Underclass - 'Social Disease' (death to music) 4/5

Taking their name from a speech my Torey grandee Ken Clarke in the wake of last years riots, The Feral Underclass are a Brighton based death, grind, extreme metal project formed by Meads of Asphodel guitarist James Fogarty and vocalist Elliot Wainberg (a drum and bass dj apparently) with guest lead guitar from The Clan Destined guitarist Lee Cassidy, and this is their debut ep.

Now this is a tasty little four tracker, its angry, tight, and dripping in a metallic sauce that references the likes of Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Entombed and Doom. We kick off with the title track, all sweetly controlled riffage, bludgeoning beats, slick lead guitar work and some wonderfully dark and aggressive vocals, we some wonderfully angry and socially charged lyrics, 'we are all guilty, we are the disease on society...' great stuff.

And so it continues, Bitter Milk kicks off sounding a bit like Panzerchrist jamming with the Amebix and coming over in a series of brutal hammer blows that take no prisoners, and again featuring some sublime lead work from Mr Cassidy. Sociopathy - in my mind this eps outstanding track, is a wonderful exercise in death grind with lyrics that drive home the very valid point that how can people care about a society that doesn't care about them. Chuck in a spot on cover of the old Carcass classic Death Certificate and you have a really impressive little debut release from a project that shows a helluva lot of promise.

And whats more you can download this little gem for free!!

In short a great debut from a project I for one want to hear more from.

For fans of... Bolt Thrower, Somnus, Carcass, Police Bastard....

download this ep for free from here -  http://www.deathtomusic.com/main.htm

Van Susans - 'Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw' (Beatnik Geek) 4/5

Now last time UK indie hopefuls Van Susans crossed my inbox it was late last summer with their ep 'We Could Be Scenery', and I wasn't that impressed to be honest, with the exception of one stand out track I found it generic, and a bit a lacking in both direction and fire, so when this their new two track single arrived at BCFM central I was a bit apprehensive.

However I'm glad to say that this two tracker is an improvement by a country mile over that last ep. OK its still very student friendly indie rock, but these two tracks seam more mature, more rounded, better produced and more focused than their previous material. We have Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw itself, a sweet indie / alt rock anthem with a huge sing along chorus, a lovely chiming guitar riff and a slick and smooth lead line overlaying it. It's a track I can imagine going down a storm on a summers afternoon at certain festivals. The other track (or b-side / bonus track - call it what you will) is a nice pseudo celtic pop ballad called Disappear that has hints of Runrig or The Waterboys about it and features some tactful piano playing underpinning an engaging vocal line.

Over all this is a sweet little single and shows that the Van Susans do have something to offer the UK music scene beyond generic indie pop, and they should be a band to watch out for in coming years

Worth checking out

For fans of... The Satellite Year, Mind Museum, Where's Billy, Waterboys, Runrig etc....

Blessed By A Broken Heart - 'Feel The Power' (Tooth & Nail) 4.5/5

Canada's Blessed By A Broken Heart are a band who have come along way since their metalcore debut inspired debut album back in 2004, slowly changing over each release until we have this one, their third studio opus.

Now as I've said before in this review blog, my metalhead was fixed on in the 1980's, inspired in equal measures by the NWOBHM, the thrash explosion and the hair metal outfits of the time.  And its from the later wicket that BBABH are now batting. Playing this one through I can't help but notice the thumb prints of Dokken, Quiet Riot and Ratt all over it, and I for one aint gonna moan about that.

Kicking off with the gloriously Dokken fueled Deathwish and the Ratt influenced Shut Up And Rock, this one had me wondering if I could still get away with wearing spandex and bullet belts and if the girlfriend would object to me getting a bubble permed mullet. It's damn infectious, expertly played, packed with feel good rock and roll attitude, produced perfectly for the genre and has immediately become a bit of a fave of mine.

Tracks like Holdin' Back For Nothin', Rockin' All Night, Scream Like You Mean It and Sleepless Nights boogie past in a glorious parade of the best of LA circa 1987, as hats are tipped to the likes of Motley Crue, Poison, Cinderella and the rest. But there is something deeper going on here in a few places such as on the track Love Nightmare the ghost of this bands hardcore past lifts is head to remind us that BBABH have a certain fire so many of the other 80's rock revivalists often lack.

Over this is a great record, highly listenable and is a worthy addition to the current crop of 80's revival albums that are around at the moment

Highly Recomended

For fans of.... Black Veil Brides, Halestorm, Ratt, Dear Superstar etc......

Goatwhore - 'Blood For The Master' (metalblade) 4/5

This is the fifth studio outing from New Orleans black death thrasher Goatwhore, a band formed some 15 years ago by former members of Acid Bath, Solient Green and Crowbar.

Now I like albums like this, there's no pretensions here, you look at the cover, look at the band name and read the track listing; full of titles like Judgement of The Bleeding Crown, Death To The Architects of Heaven and My Name Is Frightful Among The Believers and you know what to expect. Then you play the album and you get exactly what it says on the tin. There are 10 tracks on offer here, all sweet and neat packages of good old no bullshit black metal attitude that vary in pace from the headlong thrash and smash of Collapse In Eternal Worth to the more controlled grind and bludgeon of In Deathless Tradition. OK there's no marks here for originality, but lots of marks for a band doing what they do best with near perfection.

Vocalist Sammy Duet is in fine form, his intelligible grows and death grunts manage to stay just the right side of understandable and cliche, while the rest of the band support him perfectly by laying down layer after layer of really quite enjoyable metallic soundscapes that should put a smile on the face of headbangers and pit junkies everywhere

In Short - a pretty good album, recommended

For Fans of... Onslaught, Slayer, Anterior, Revoker, etc....