Vastum : "Hole Below"

The third album from this death metal band, who I appreciate for the darkness coursing through the first song. Like most extreme metal bands the first song kicks the door and impresses you because of sheer power, though here they also have more ambiance and groove. After the first song then it becomes another story, can you write songs? So that is what we are looking for here. They inject a slight dab of thrash in the accents to a a few of the riffs to "Amniosis". The vocals are what death metal should be low echoing roars. The drums at times sound like the could be higher in the mix as the guitar generally dominate. Spoken moaned vocals that haunt the back ground of the song at times.It is not until " In Sickness and In Death" that the songs begin to run together and sound the same.

They dive down into a old school Morbid Angel like grind before picking up the pace on "Intrusions". The lyrics sound like they are about rape from what I can make out . The title track might have some interesting lyrics about ritual abuse, but the song it self falls out of the previous one and things are beginning to sound the same, which is a common pit fall for death metal as a whole. "Empty Breast" has a determined chug, but the last three songs could be one long song. Lyrically the themes of this album become clearer. I'll give them credit for not just writing typical death metal lyrics.

I like the feel of this album, the only thing that keeps me from needing it in my iPod, is the same thing that keeps the bulk of death metal out of it. The sound lends it self to certain parameters that Vastum functions very well and even tries to add some atmosphere to, it adheres to a uniform sound with less of a dynamic range that black metal which gives it self more room to experiment. I'll give this album a seven, but if you mainly listen to just death metal and don't need anything else from the genre then round it up a point.