Shadow Cut is a new death/black metal band hailing from Finland. The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Omnio and drummer Repe F.W. Misanthrope (Impaled Nazarene) in 2003 and later on Mitja Harvilahti (Moonsorrow) joined the band just one week before they recorded their promo. Shadow Cut then signed a two-album deal with Firebox Records. But don’t expect even the slightest hint of doom metal this time around.

Shadow Cut plays a raw mix of death/black metal with lots of groovy riffs. The production of the album was intentionally made quite raw and harsh to attain a cold and aggressive feel to the music. However, it doesn’t sound like total shit like some random underground black metal release might do. The sound is quite heavy on the bass but the guitar and drums can be heard clearly. There are no guitar-solos, no keyboards or effects used here, just raw metal. The vocals though, are often drowned in the crushing assault of the guitar, bass and drums. The growls themselves are quite generic and don’t offer much variation. Lots of aggression but not very interesting.

That could also be said about the album as a whole. The first track “Drug/Murder/Them” is very cool and a solid head-banging tune. It’s heavy, catchy and groovy and a good album opener. But once you’ve heard one song you could almost say you’ve heard them all. The album continues in the same vein with mid-tempo to slightly faster songs but don’t offer enough variation to keep it interesting. There are some good riffs spread out trough the album but there’s room for improvement. It’s fun to listen to a song or two but listening trough the whole album may get a bit tedious.

If you’re a fan of raw death metal then you might want to check out Shadow Cut. “Pictures Of Death” is a decent debut album but nothing new and original. My favorite tracks of the album are “Drug/Murder/Them” and “The End of Humanity”.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]