This EP sees this trio from Holland unleashing six excellent tracks of tight, blistering melodic black metal in less than 30 minutes. Think Dawn meets Naglfar, or something along those lines. There are tons of blast beats, fast chord progressions, and snarling vocal screams, but there's definitely more going on. Just check out the beautiful clean break in "Sanguis Vitae Est"! As brief as it is, that shit is powerful, and that's what this material is all about. The eerie sustained notes and clean guitars with distant spoken vocals at the beginning of "Deathforce Refilled" also sound fucking stellar. I like the fact that these guys know how to write a song. There are a lot of tempo variations and dynamics. It's not all fast, it's not all melodic... they spread themselves out and mix things up, but they keep the running times compact so that nothing gets boring. In fact, I'd almost argue that portions of some of the songs border on being catchy... The recording is pretty damn good, especially as far as black metal goes. It's very crisp without being too thin or anything like that. The drums are on the rigid side, but the mix favors the guitars and the vocals a bit, so the percussion is kept in check. I love the sound of the vocals, and the guitars are just harsh enough to be heavy without sounding either muddy or weak. I could definitely go for some more bass in the mix, but it's not that big of a deal. The layout's okay. There are a lot of band photos inside, some of which are sort of cheesy and detract from the impact, but the cover art looks nice: Overlaying what looks like an illustration of a man being stoned and a grisly scene of corpses littering the ground. The lyrics portray the bleak and violent destruction of mankind, offering forth lines such as, "We have destroyed our own species 'cause we lived like a whore!" or, "With cancer growing in us all, We will settle our reign for the very last time, No reverse. No pity. No nothing can help." When all is said and done this is a damn promising piece of work. I think that an EP is a good length here, if it were too long it would have been overkill. I'm not sure, but I think this release might even be sold out now, and with good reason. Check around with various distros for it if you're interested. I'm certainly keeping an eye on these dudes...
[Regimental]
Running time - 25:34, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: Sanguis Vitae Est, Deathforce Refilled, To Confirm When Destruction Comes]
Regimental Records - http://www.regimentalrecords.com
