This album starts off as pretty straightforward thrashing black metal. Coming from Sweden this is not surprising, as it's not unlike Watain's rawer more feral moments. The first two songs find the vocals carrying a similar snarl. Energetically they are also very similar in their urgent attack, though the guitar playing begins to get a little more melodic as the second song progresses. The buzzing guitar driving the title track gives way to the unrelenting almost punk drumming that collides with it. To their credit at least it is not just droning blast beats and is something more riff-oriented., The emphasis however is placed more upon being in your face than offering a wider range of dynamics. This lack of atmosphere also causes it to not be as dark as what I normally want from black metal. Watain who does similar opens the door for a more ritualistic throb that is missing here.
"The Deep Ends" has the hookiest riff so far. While it still gallops into bad with a similar snarl coming from the vocals, there is more of a traditional metal influence simmering under the razor-sharp jab of the guitars. You can hear the growl of the bass cutting through the guitar on this one which gives it more punch. Things do not begin to switch up sonically until they open "Where the Void Begins" with a clean guitar intro. The verse is allowed to groove more. Stormclouds roll in from the chords to darker the song, "The Undercurrent" reverts back to the rabid thrashing that album opened up with, but things get more interesting on "Closure" which has more of a gloomy swagger mixing the wild west with post-punk tension. It's the first totally original moment the band has allowed themselves to create. They do build it up into more of the stomping thrash that has been their signature. It is an instrumental, as their vocalist does not attempt to sing over it, and his scowling narrative would be too heavy-handed for it.
There is a marginally darker feel to "Unto Sepulchres" which is the last song before they include three covers. So this last original finds them in a taunt uptempo thrash riffing. It reminds me a little of Kreator. The three covers they pick are very telling in regards to what this band is about as they are thrash, punk, and death metal. Anti-cimex's "Dogfight" is the first up and it sounds very Watain if we are talking about when they are in their rawer punk mode. It's always been funny to me that Brazil's Sarcofago has left such a big impression on so many Swedish bands, but their influence is undeniable on black metal. Sadus' "Torture" is perhaps even more obscure than the previous song. They keep a raw tone that does it justice. I'll give this album an 8.5, it's well done, when I am in the mood for this style of black metal I am personally more prone to listen to Watain as they have a wider dynamic range, but if you want something punkier and thrashy this album is worth checking out. This is dropping on Century Media.
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