By: Anders

Posted: Oct 29, 2005

The death/doom metal stalwarts from Chicago are now ready with yet a punishing and relentless album, to lay the lands desolate and powerless after the massive strike of Cianide. This is the first new material I hear with the band since 2000's "Divide And Conquer" which has gotten heavy rotation in my grotto ever since I got the LP.

The first thing that strikes me, is that the music is a bit lighter, not as doomy as on "Divide And Conquer". There are more pace shifts and it doesn't all happen in the slow to midpaced speed as before. That is both good and bad, the slow crushing and grinding sound Cianide used to have, was a part of their great charm and everlasting impact. Though the variation is a nice feature, and might make the music last even longer. The guitar is still very driven and catchy, raw grinding riffs, gripping the neck and forcing the head back and forth. The drumming is pounding, a steady double bass drum attack, a punishing snare drum and some nice fills and even blast beats at times. The beats are great as well and keeps it going all the time. The bass is heavy and keeps the rhythm in a tight grip and adds some groove and bottom. The growl is low and raw as always, the bowels of hell have once again opened wide.

A great and crushing old school death metal album Cianide here has delivered. Good compositions, well varied, direct and hard hitting. It reeks of Cianide, but offer more than they band earlier has. The doomy atmosphere is preserved even though the music gets speeded up a bit once in while. And the way the band pays tribute to their heroes is killer as well, and kinda strange since Cianide started out in 1988 and belongs to the same wave of bands, though check out the great 'Death Metal Maniac' to get an idea of what I am talking about as well as the "hidden" track, the great cover version of Death's 'Infernal Death'.

Rating: 8,5/10

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