Not bad at all. Raging death metal from Mexico. The title track opens up and is nothing but a dark ambient styled intro, which is actually not bad, but really all it does is create a two-minute delay of the true content of the record. It's basically made up of low vocal growls and a good mix of tempos that tends to stick with moderately fast tremolo picking and chord progressions, but drops some amazing dissonant rhythms and really thick slow passages as well (think Morbid Angel circa "Covenant" to some extent). Most of the solos are pretty succinct and almost chaotic, but there are some more developed leads and a few subtle uses of tactful melody as well. It's not all that original or whatever, but the riffs are pretty damn strong compared to a lot of what you'll hear from this particular niche of the genre. I do think that the songs often run on for a hell of a lot longer than necessary due to the general lack of actual variety (many nearing six minutes or more, none coming in at less than four), but they pull it off to a tolerable level thanks to the constant fluctuation of riffs in a pretty fluid fashion. I do find myself getting a little restless about 60% of the way through the record, as it really need not run 50+ minutes, but I still like it. The production is another strength simply because there's a good level of density and nothing gets too messy or nondescript. The drums are rigid but the mix keeps that in check, you can make out the bass in certain moments where the guitars calm down, and I think the guitar tone is really quite good for what they're doing. In a few cases some of the dual guitar parts sound slightly out of tune, but I'm not too annoyed by it. The vocals sound great. I might tone down some of the doubling, but I like the force of the standard delivery. Visually I like the really tight presentation of the lyrics, but the artwork is a little goofy, complete with lots of computer generated flames, typical symbols, skulls, and so on. It ends up looking a little cluttered and busy, but it is a professional attempt. The lyrics aren't half bad for what the band is dealing with - sure, the message is the typical vengeance, warfare, and hell type of thing, but I've seen worse. I had never heard of this band before this showed up in the mail, and it sort of surprises me just because this is a much stronger sounding record than most of what I hear from comparable bands. I'd recommend this for fans of some of the Brazilian death metal acts that tend to mix up the tempos a bit more. This doesn't sound too similar to that stuff, but it's heading in the same general direction. Good work.
[Sempiternal]
Running time - 52:18, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Witching Bloodreaping, Where Black Flames Arises, Descend (Congregation of Blood and Flames)]
Sempiternal Productions - http://www.sempiternalproductions.com
