MASSTERON : "Second in the Spheres"

This Polish black metal band carries a raw punk aggression in their violent attack on your ears while writing riffs rather than just defaulting to the standard tremolo-picked guitars. More rabid than msot it makes me think of a less epic for feral version of Immortal. "True Midnight" is powered by a pretty killer riff that cuts through the other instruments and takes control of the chaotic mix. They remind me of the early days of 80s metal, when the term black metal was just referring to a more satanic thrash or death metal band on the song "Achronon".  This makes even more sense considering there is a slight hint of a Deicide vibe going on in terms of the hateful aggression being vented. 

Then things go wild on "Strife Eternal,"  with the beginning of the song feeling like it is more deliberate, as a "Show No Mercy" era Slayer influence cuts through. Though they are pretty steeped in metal tropes that I have been hearing since the 80s, when not caught up in a whirlwind of blast beats, that shines a light on the lo-fi drum sound that guitars have distracted me from up to this point. The Slayer vibes continue on "Sidereal Chaoskamp," but they begin to feel like a more obligatory layer of sound. Sometimes they play too fast for their own good when a more deliberate tempo might come across as both darker and heavier. I can hear where they are trying to go on the last song, but the arrangement could use some tightening in order to make sense of where they are trying to go . Once again, their need for speed gets the best of them. That said, they do care about songwriting when lost in the frenzied blur of their own riffs, and it captures an era of metal I think fondly upon. I will give this one an 8.5  . This album drops on  ATMF September 24th. 

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