By: Anders

Posted: Oct 22, 2006

One of the most exciting recent newcomers on the death metal scene, the Swedish technical and overly brutal band Spawn Of Possession is now ready with their sophomore album "Noctambulant", the follow-up to the very good debut full length "Cabinet", an album that will be hard to top.

The debut album possessed what technical death metal needs, momentum on top of the technical wizardry and showing off. Technique and high speed is seldom enough and the band had realized that. Though it soon stands clear that some of the momentum has been lost in the process of making the new album, I miss the continuation in the songs, often the music stands still after a break or due to a quiet or very technical passage on "Noctambulant", the "bridge" Spawn Of Possession mastered so well on the debut seems lost, somewhere in the development of the new music, quite a shame. The material has also become darker and heavier and has lost some of the captivating melodic leads which painted a big part of the first album, all 3 things making it harder to get sucked into the world of "Noctambulant". The song 'By A Thousand Deaths Fulfilled' is the arch type Spawn Of Possession track where it all adds up and works, even though there is a middle piece with some advanced leads.

Drummer Dennis Röndum who have handled the vocals duties in the band up to now, is only drumming nowadays, which means the band has gotten a new member in vocalist Jonas Renvaktar, he as such does a good and fulfilling job, though I miss the terrier-like aggression and fierceness from Röndum and his vocals did also do a lot for the momentum for the music, as he kick started the red thread in many songs, after a complicated break or solo.

Don't get me wrong "Noctambulant" is a damn fine album, though at times one gets lost or the songs loose their momentum and it all starts from the top again. Though we are getting a lot of excellent musical equilibristic performances and a lot of brutality in a technical package often delivered at breakneck paces, even though the band also show they know how to slow down and become very heavy. A varied death metal album missing that last punch and momentum that made "Cabinet" the amazing album it was, even though there still are traces of the straight ahead style that painted that album on "Noctambulant", just give 'Scorched' a listen!

Rating: 7½/10

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