In Solitude - The World. The Flesh. The Devil (2011)

In Solitude is one of a trio of Swedish bands who have unearthed a striking similarity to Danish legends Mercyful Fate. Seeing that all have found a rather high profile home (both this group and Portrait signing on with Metal Blade), one might discern the formation of a trending, or 'hot' sound. This is not to take credit away from these acts, who are all good for what they do, but The World. The Flesh. The Devil tends to play it pretty safe, and it takes a few songs for anything really interesting to happen. Having grabbed the album this past summer, listened a few times and then put it away, I decided to dig it back out and see how it's aged with me, but I'm sad to report that the impact is about the same: good, but really nothing special in the end, slightly short of the band's debut. Perhaps a little of the zeal placed in this band (and album) is borne more of a nostalgia for the beloved, rare sound they represent rather than the actual quality and memorability of their songs.

Now, I doubt anyone could accuse In Solitude of directly aping their Danish masters, because in truth the majority of semblance comes from the vocals of Pelle Åhman, whose vocals mirror the mid-range, wavering howls of King Diamond, with perhaps a dash of James Rivera in how he sustains the end of his phrasings. He's got this style locked, but unfortunately he lacks the dynamic range, falsetto squeals and cheesy but endearing narrative that Petersen is known for (more on his solo albums, perhaps). As a result, a lot of the verse structures and the chorus sequences in these songs feel pretty samey and unremarkable, even if his tone is not unpleasant upon the ear. Thankfully the lyrics are quite interesting examinations of haunting vices and occult concepts, so this helps a lot in gluing ears to Pelle's guidance atop the cruising, mid paced chord batteries, but I felt that by the time the record was half over, there was very little nuance in the performance and the 14 minute finale "On Burning Paths" didn't deviate far from the titular opening track.

Musically, the Swedes diverge somewhat from the precise riffing climate of their prime influence. Unlike their countrymen Ghost, In Solitude do not dabble much in 60s or 70s psychedelia as a basis, but instead charge along the well trodden path of hard rock and heavy metal pioneered by the NWOBHM movement. Maybe some Angel Witch, UFO, Priest and Deep Purple, or forefathers in the Swedish scene like Heavy Load and Proud. Certainly songs like "We Were Never Here" and "Poisoned, Blessed and Burned" have an air of eerie sadness to them that resonates the Fate/King Diamond atmosphere, but others like "The World the Flesh the Devil" or "Demons" have a bit of Maiden pomp, and some, including "To Her Darkness" hone in on a hard rocking, central strut that feels even more archaic. All told, though, these guys come up with functional, workmanlike guitar lines. Not all are created equal, and few distinct unto themselves, but in tandem with Åhman's straightforward, soaring tones, they get the job done.

The album does tend to work against itself in terms of consistency, because I found the closing pieces like "Dance of the Adversary" and "On Burning Paths" to be its strongest, the former with a lot of Romantic charm and mystique to the bridge melodies; the latter simply offering a far more varied and adventurous side of the band that isn't explored on the shorter pieces leading up to it. Worse, though, is the almost utter lack of memorable chorus hooks. Instead of sugary, ear bleeding climaxes, the vocals rarely feel any different than the verses, and thus is lost one of the major hallmarks of all the old school acts this one desires to offer libations. For some, The World. The Flesh. The Devil will surely get by on its nostalgic virtue alone, and yet with such a primary component missing, this is not something I can envision myself returning to repeatedly, whereas an album like Enforcer's Diamonds has both the hooks AND the retro appeal. In Solitude has raw potential, it just needs a little more time to sizzle on the hellfire grill before served.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (in roots and bones and embers)

http://www.myspace.com/InSolitudeHeavyMetal

Portrait - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae (2011)

Portrait is the 'other' Swedish band to ride the King Diamond, Mercyful Fate coattails into a deal with Metal Blade, but they've got a slightly different focus than their countrymen In Solitude. Nostalgia is still a major factor in the songwriting, and yet Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae bears a lot more in common with the King's earlier solo albums like Fatal Portrait and Abigail than, say, Don't Break the Oath or In the Shadows. However, there are a few points upon this album in which the music reflects a broader worship of 80s era Combat and Metal Blade speed/heavy metal recordings circa Leatherwolf, Abattoir, Exciter, Obsession, etc, and the seasoned balance of dirty rhythms and blazing, often elegant leads and melodies makes for an exciting listen experienced despite the obvious derivation.

Per Lengstedt handles the vocal duties here, and the man is no stranger to savage Swedish speed metal aesthetics, having also fronted Overdrive. His delivery is a mix of gritty, mid range acid redolent of US bands like Armored Saint and Lääz Rockit in their early to mid 80s heyday, and straight up Kim Petersen shrieking, though it takes a few songs before either of the styles wins out. For example, apart from a few shrill lines and the La Rocque-like guitars in opener "Beast of Fire", one can't draw the direct connection; while "Infinite Descension" might have been right at home on either Don't Breath the Oath or Fatal Portrait, Lengstedt aping both the King's trademark cries and his mid-range (which In Solitude sticks to almost exclusively), and a good chunk of the ensuing record then continues to follow in that unhinged, noisy and haunting pattern, though lyrically these guys dwell more on occult and mythological fixtures than any coherent narrative.

The similarities don't end in the vocals, of course, and the guitars definitely have a bit of that breakneck intensity and solid melodic glaze that was so prominent in the Danish monarch's output through the 80s. Tracks like "Bloodbath" and "The Nightcomers" kick some serious ass with a slew of dynamic and memorable riffs whose tones breed true to the production of the albums that clearly inspired them, and the finale "Der Todesking" is a 9+ minute beast which ranges from stringy spikes of melody to raging mid-paced fist shaking to even a tranquil bridge breakdown which is the equivalent of stumbling across some calm amidst a hurricane. There's also a quite nice instrumental here, "The Wilderness Beyond" in which I was mildly, delightfully reminded yet again of King Diamond (in this case, "Insanity" from The Eye). Overall, I don't think there's a single song on Crimen Laesae which fails to adhere to a sleek, blissful miasma.

That said, it's not entirely perfect. Some of the shrieking gets on the nerves after awhile, since it's more loud and copious in the mix, and thus headaches are certainly possible. There's also the fact that, whenever Per is wailing his lungs and pipes to the limit, it's hard not to think that the apple is falling a bit too close to the tree of its creative forebear. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I get that, but I'd be pretty curious to pick the King's brain over this. In addition, while the album is fun enough to sit through, I wouldn't call most of its individual riffs exactly 'memorable'. The raw, 80s compositional elements and structural variation keep it interesting once in the mood, but there are very few chorus parts or melodies that resonate long after the album ends. I liked it more than In Solitude's sophomore, but it's not nearly at the level of a Them, Melissa, or Abigail, and how could it be?

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.portraitband.se/

Abigail & Fornication - Drink Beer. Listen Hell Metal! EP (2011)

Of Engrish and the damage done! Drink Beer. Listen Hell Metal! is one of the latest in Abigail's nigh on endless parade of limited press split recordings, this time paired with the Canadian newcomers Fornication who appreciate a similar taste in sluts, blackened speed thrash and spent kidneys. As is usual with this sort of thing, the focus is strictly on the collector/consumer who views this band's output (and that of countrymen Sabbat, etc) as a paragon of rarity and long-term value. With just over 10 minutes of content, there's hardly even an impetus to break out the gramophone, but what the hell, right? Abigail and Fornication are cool bands, and whoever their cover model was this time out seems...rather agreeable.

You get two tracks by Abigail, one of which is a rehearsal recording of "I Am Holocaust" from their 2005 album Ultimate Unholy Death. Even in such a crude capture, I actually found that particular track more entertaining than either of the others on the split, with its burning and dirty speed metal aesthetics and Yasuyuki Suzuki's splattered vocals, but it's one that the Abigail fan will have already known and in no way better than the finalized studio alternative. Their new contribution, "Nocturnal War" takes more of a straight black metal approach with a lot of tremolo/blasting, and until the thick, distorted bass ruptures of the Hellhammer inspired bridge and the wild, rocking lead I admit that I was mildly bored with it. Fornication's anthem "Fornicator" is a predictable, messy but fun hybrid of speed/punk metal with black rasped vox that accelerates into blasting territory before the verse, with a thrash bridge breakdown, but the riff didn't really catch me, and the production was mediocre raw.

At any rate, these two bands are a good match for one another stylistically, I just wish they had brought more of their 'A' game and perhaps given us 6-8 songs of better quality. As it stands, I could not muster any real enthusiasm for this split outside of the smutty, sexy cover and another in Abigail's canon of smile inducing titles. Both bands are fun, but I'd urge you to check out their better studio works, like Abigail's Forever Street Metal Bitch or Sweet Baby Metal Slut, or that compilation of demos that Fornication released last year. This split itself serves as little more than an obscurity for the collectors to pin onto their collection like butterfly wings. But, hey, tracking down a copy might afford the bands a pack of smokes.

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

http://www.myspace.com/666abigail
http://www.myspace.com/fornicationofgod

Lantern - Subterranean Effulgence EP (2011)

Lantern are another of these many newer bands who load on the reverb and perform a decidedly old school variation on the death metal genre. I've taken to calling the style 'cavern core', and I would certainly consider these Finns a part of that movement, however there are some individual characteristics to this EP that set them slightly apart from many of their peers. For one, they use quite a lot more blasted rhythms and tremolo guitars than many others who explore this subterranean nightmare niche, and thus one can detect a subtle hint of black metal coursing in their blood. Also, they create some unexpected and somewhat unusual patterns in the guitars like the melodies in the center of "Revert the Living into Death" which are functionally hypnotic, drawing the listener deeper into their world until each remaining light of hope is snuffed out.

Let's be clear: Lantern plays faster death metal in general. This is not some slow, sludging crawl through the spaces below, and it's not a direct Incantation or Autopsy knockoff like so many others in this field. You can hear traces of their Finnish forefathers like Abhorrence, Convulse and Demigod, with the broad, harrowing vocals one usually associates with early Entombed or their Swedish contemporaries of the 90s, maybe a fraction deeper. Saturated in reverb and dense, deep guitars whose rhythmic patterns often become lost in the atmosphere itself, they present a different option to those seeking underground escape from the tumult of their surface lives. I wouldn't call all the tracks here equally absorbing, but certainly "Ritual Unearthing" and "Slumbering Dying Dreams" have their moments, and some credit should be awarded that the Finns don't endlessly recycle themselves. The drums and guitars are solid, and they vary up the riffs just enough so you don't sink into sodden ennui.

Subterranean Effulgence is not quite the best of this style that I've heard in the past few years, but they do well to cross their Swedish and Finnish forefathers with the more ominous, archaic US influences. As a sampling of their ability, the EP proves the band has the dynamic range and chops to possibly survive when this whole tide boils over and people have moved on to the next wave. I kind of enjoy their simplistic logo, cover graphics and the morbid, funereal lyrics. They could probably mix in a few extra, slower rhythms to great effect, but I laud their ability to craft their serpentine, bewitching melodies above the darkened din of the rhythmic structures, and thus am looking forward to a full-length. In the meantime, I'd urge fans of groups like Miasmal, Entrails, Cruciamentum, Grave Miasma and so forth to dig around for this and see what they think.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://lantern.dy.fi/

Cruciamentum - Engulfed in Desolation EP (2011)

England's Cruciamentum are by far one of the better bands to emerge plagued and bloodied from that infectious time tunnel of 90s death metal, their 2009 demo Convocation of Crawling Chaos impressive in its ability to merge actual song structures with the meticulous worship of influences like Incantation, Bolt Thrower and Entombed, sans devolving into a dull, direct knockoff. Thus, I was pretty eager to hear what they could come up with next, and I've not the slightest inkling of disappointment with their subsequent EP Engulfed in Desolation. If anything, this only solidifies the band's potential to be the 'next big thing' in primal brutality, for it isn't just some stupid palette of derivative and uninteresting down-tuned drudgery dowsed in reverb to sound like it was born in a cavern with no actual riffs of worth in sight.

No, this is well written, dynamic death metal which is likely to thrill long-term advocates of the authentic nostalgia they hold so dear. What's more, the production standards are quite tight. Potent, clean guitars felt in the gut during the slower chugging sequences, but entirely capable of picking up the pace without losing any of their clarity, and the tone itself is not so polished that the music could ever feel sterile or plastic. Ominous, guttural vocals of the Incantation school, which, while not exactly original, are effectively menacing as they alternate between echoed, sparser passages and a more percussive, hostile meter. The drums here are also quite versed and flexible, with a lot of thundering warlike fills and steadier rhythms that feel as if they were built of the mud, blood and brick that confine corpses to the band's lyrical catacombs. However, by far the 'star' of this show must be the lead sequences, like that of "Thrones Turned to Rust" which is diabolically fleeting as it caresses the grimy substrate of the evil riff below.

Ultimately, you will hands down want to own this EP if you've been following closely this latest crop of nostalgic death metal acts arising from both sides of the pond. Regardless of whether you are more interested in the elder Swedish and Finnish tones being wrought by acts like Miasmal, or the direct Incantation lineage to the sounds of Disma, Vasaeleth and so forth, there is something here for you. Engulfed in Desolation is not flawless in its ratio of unforgettable riffing, perhaps, but the fact that it so effortlessly marries the libations to its influences with a strong, competitive studio sound should see it spurred forward in accreditation. Most importantly, these Englishmen have not forgotten that ages old, seemingly abandoned concept that death metal, like any other sub-genre, is first and foremost about the songs; that leaden, bludgeoning brutality is nothing without skilled pilots at the helm, and Cruciamentum have earned their licenses.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cruciamentum/285239791946

Nucleus Torn - Golden Age (2011)

Nucleus Torn is a Swiss project only loosely connected within the metal sphere, having had some crossover appeal in the past. Their relationship with Prophecy Productions out of German ensures that they still see a bit of runoff attention to and from that scene, and deservedly so, because their ability to hybridize dusky, folksy acoustic rock with hints of progressive and the occasional, jarring fit of heaviness is certainly congruent to the introspection found in a lot of the rustic folk and avant-garde metal stretching back to the names of Ulver, This Mortal Coil, In the Woods and so forth. What germinates here on their fourth full-length, Golden Age might well be described as a mix of the later art rock of The Gathering and Northwestern US crooners The Decemberists, but it can trace its lineage all the way back to those tranquil, psychedelic sounds of the 60s and 70s.

Be warned that Golden Age is an album of intense calm, which puts it in dire straits with the rest of the content you'd expect yours truly to cover in these pages. As usual for Nucleus Torn, the compositions are crafted by Fredy Schnyder, who in addition to writing the lyrics, music, mixing and production duties also performs a wide variety of instruments including but not limited to the guitars, bagpipes, dulcimer and mandolin; and then carried out by a core group of musicians and guests that serve as natural extensions to his vision. The male and female voices here drift seamlessly from sultry coffeehouse tones ("Hunger") to sweltering sing-a-longs reminiscent of Anneke's performance on an album like How to Measure a Planet? ("Against"). Lots of simple, efficient drum grooves, flutes and all manner of strings frolic in cohesion to the emotional sway of the central lyrical melodies, but the band can just as easily swerve into blistering, wah wah guitar psychedelia (the bridge of "Against") or even a rumbling ambient breakdown ("Ash").

In a few spots, like the 12 minute closer "Death Triumphant", the proggy metallic guitars erupt in full force to take on a prevalent role, but these are the exception on Golden Age, and that one particular song is perhaps the only consistent example. Still, the fact that the band is so seamless in its exploration speaks volumes of their ability to work as a unit. Sure, Schnyder handles the heaviest load of responsibility, but I can just picture in my mind's eye what it would like to be chilling out with an espresso in some cafe somewhere in the alps when this band decides to erupt into some lilting, aggressive passage and I have to say the contrast is appealing. Granted, a few of the songs here are rather bloated at the 12 minute mark, but unlike the Swedish icons Opeth, they never seem to be just killing time or bouncing you back between poles.

There seems to be a natural procession to how the tracks develop, each reaching a climax somewhere before drifting back outwards to a creative oblivion. In particular though, I think it must be the acoustic guitars and vocal performances of Anna Murphy (Eluveitie) and Christian Kolf (Woburn House, Island) that really shine. Ponderous, melodic and yet fully capable of raising the roof off, these two feel like ghostly acquaintances gently fording a stream of life, exchanging bedtime lullabies and revelations to one another while the waters carry them through cycles of loss and rebirth. It's not perfect, and there are moments of lull where the music is not incredibly catchy, but it's highly effective at what it sets out to be. Alas, if you're not into material with predominantly clean guitars and vocals that would be more suited to a John Denver album than Blackwater Park, this might not be your thing.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.nucleustorn.ch/

Immolith - StormDragon (2012)

The frustrating thing about an album like StormDragon is that while the band brings absolutely nothing novel or interesting to the table, neither do they really do anything wrong. In fact, it's not often you hear a US outfit with such a solid aesthetic correspondence to the Norse and Swedish rush of mid-90s black metal, and Immolith do not dishonor this tradition by scrawling out mindless cycles of lame repetition, instead forging riffs that exhibit some degree of foresight. StormDragon might be a little too blast-heavy in places, a trait tracing back to bands like Marduk or Dark Funeral, but really, any album with a song named after an obscure 1st edition AD&D adventure module deserves some further scrutiny.

That song would be "The Ghost Tower of Inverness", and it bears mentioning because it's one of the better balanced on the entirety of the album. Slower, doom-like passages lapse into searing tremolo riffing and back again, while vocalist Isiamon spits vitriol in the form of a percussive, echoing rasp, and at its climax the band lurches into this taut death/thrashing riff which I almost wish they'd used more often. The first few tracks "Torch of Baphomet" and "Rites of the Blood Moon" are also appreciable, with solid tremolo picking patterns, intense drumming and a splash of sheer hatred from the vocals, like spurts of blood upon a well-honed, once shining blade. Fans of anything from Lord Belial to mid 90s Mayhem and Emperor will find some solace in the familiarity and precision of the songwriting, and unlike a lot of black metal front men out there, the vocals here are entertaining enough that they don't seem to grow tiring, even if doesn't always bark them out in an intriguing meter.

Of course, it's that same familiarity which also holds StormDragon back from achieving a greater impact, for its audience will likely have heard the same style and aggression countless times in the past, and Immolith are unable here to really trump their predecessors. The progressions of notes here are certainly decent, but they could always be better, and though the band does not always stick to the same tempo to the point of monotony, there are rarely any surprises lying in store throughout any of the tracks here. A few of these have been polished up from the band's 2009 EP, Hymns of the Countess, but I found the writing fairly consistent throughout, and the production here is about as good as you want it if you've got some built in nostalgia for the 90s works of Marduk, Dissection and so forth. Immolith does not sound like a product of New Jersey, but more of Scandinavia, and that's a compliment when gauging this style. Competent, blazing fast and burning bloodied with hatred, StormDragon exhibits a formidable level of raw ability, but I'd love to hear the band stretch and challenge itself more.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.immolith.net/

Macabra - Blood-Nurtured Nature (2012)

Nostalgia has been the bread and butter of death metal for years now, hundreds of bands deciding to push back against the increasing technical/studio standards that progressive and brutal death have been evolving since the 90s. Believe me, I hear more of these old school cavern-core and Swedeath records that possibly any other sub-genre of metal outside of black, and for every good band in the field, there are a few who aren't. As for Macabra, the collaboration of a Belgian vocalist (Adrien 'Liquifier' Weber) and US illustrator and multi-instrumentalist Mark Riddick, they take this retrospective approach to the extreme, dressing down the production to give it the atmosphere of a bare bones demo, so decidedly old school that in listener I lost complete track of what year I was actually living in...

The press release I had for this album compares it to recent acts like Necros Christos and Grave Miasma, but I'm hearing more of a direct connection to the prototype sounds of bands like Autopsy, Cianide, Asphyx and Death. The guitar tone is incredibly boxy during both the chugging mutes and chords, and the vocals so humble you'd think they were being grunted at you from a few meters away in a rehearsal room. Gutturals and rasps are alternated here to create a claustrophobic, sepulchral environment through which the pangs of saddened dual-melodies thread like the ancient death/doom artisans of yore, but the band goes one step beyond this, including all manner of cheesy choir synthesizers and effects to enrich the campy and suitably horrific atmosphere created through the ridiculous song titles like "Consuming the Fleshly Wax (The Rule of Decomposing Eminence)" and "Thick Slabs of Moribund Fat (Hung on Hooks)", which coincidentally number among my favorites here; and they're not afraid to incorporate an all-out clean, ambient passage as with the intro to "Contribution to Your Dis-elaboration (Sustenance of the Void)".

All of this sounds like some eager band of wretched hi-top sporting longhairs churning out their first demo in the year 1989, thanks to the absolutely polish free allure of the mixing. Don't get me wrong, this is not some muddy sounding slop-fest. The guitars are incredibly clear, the drums clapping, kicking and simplistic, the bass doing little more than hover and plug along the background. When the synthesizers arrive, they add to the live vibe of the recording, since they don't seem to have been mixed to some symphonic gloss. Strangely enough, it works ingeniously well. If the music itself were not so stripped, simple and invigorating, with careful attention paid to each line of melody, each intercession of keyboard, vocal and guitar, Blood-Nurtured Nature might not yield such entertainment. But even if the riffs feel derivative from time to the time, the vocals like a hundred acts to come before, there is something so authentic and fun about this record that it should not be missed by any past-starved maven of the macabre.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

Strikemaster - Vicious Nightmare (2009)

Vicious Nightmare was originally released a few years ago through Marquee Records out of Brazil, but due to its relative obscurity, it's getting a new boost through MetalHit.com. The second full-length from Mexicans Strikemaster, it showcases a pretty firm grasp on various 80s thrash influences, from a number of scenes, and fashions them into a competent, if not exemplary burst of action. Clearly the music has a lot in common with the West Coast sounds of Hirax, Slayer, Sadus, Defiance, Vio-Lence and so forth, but I was also surprised to find that the composition and the tone of the guitars often reminded me of Brazilians Dorsal Atlantica. Vocals are fairly average for the faster US thrash or crossover acts of the 80s, but I also heard some hints at Kreator's Mille Petrozza when Col. Kmu shifts into a more violent, sneering territory.

Unfortunately the album doesn't front load it's better material, so for the first 10-15 minutes it feels like a fairly average journey through 'thrash-standard' riffing and muted sequences, paced by a slower, instrumental intro which was, of course, a common trait on many 80s albums. The first few songs "Black Violence" and "Total Disposal" certainly kick up the energy a notch, but I did not find the riffs here to be particularly exciting. Thick, plunking bass lines serves as support to a muddy, raw and authentic guitar tone that occasionally seems cluttered enough to follow just behind the beat. The chorus parts aren't really all that interesting, think earlier Kreator or Dark Angel but far less memorable, but I will say that once the album arrives at the fifth track, "Metal Fastkill", things take off considerably. Between this, "Rabid Abstraction" and "Prophetic Chemical Death", we're treated to some blistering, catchier riffing that infused early Slayer with a bit of Canadians Razor in their late 80s heyday, and some solid gang shouts.

Another highlight would be "Violent Reinvindication", which features some riffs redolent of San Francisco's Vio-Lence or Texans Devastation, but in general, I found that as the album wore on, it suffered from a bit of repetition in the songwriting. The riffs might all be built up a little differently, but the pacing of almost all the songs is similar, with few pacing breakdowns outside of the intro or the acoustic outro with air raid sirens. Strikemaster plays well enough at this faster gait, but the riffs are never lethal enough to compensate for the lack of much dynamic variation. They seem so focused on recapturing the charging precision of their forebears that they forget to incorporate all those great, catchy chorus sequences and unforgettable riffs that made all those bands stand out to begin with. Thus, while Vicious Nightmare is more than tolerable, a sturdily executed 50 minute exercise in workmanlike retro-thrash with mostly decent lyrics, it never really stands far out from the saturated scene of similar acts, and I found it a little sub-par even next to their 2006 debut Up for the Massacre.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/strikemaster666

Witchaven - Terrorstorm (2010)

Another North American thrash hopeful to see a re-issue through MetalHit.com, Witchaven's Terrorstorm was self-released in 2010 to a fair degree of underground praise, enough that several indie imprints put it out in both vinyl and tape formats. Prior to that, they'd been kicking around demos for a few years and honing in on a style which flavors the formative Germanic black/thrash redolent of Kreator, Destruction and Sodom in the mid 80s, with perhaps a streak of older Bathory added for good measure. What I find most compelling about Witchaven, though, is that despite the antiquity or 'dating' of the music being performed, the lyrics and samples speak of a band who likes to keep its subject matter pretty current, so they'll engage topics of modern globalization, exploitation, meth addiction and other real topics that we, as a society, are actually facing today, rather than those big ticket issues of the 80s and the Cold War.

There are a few exceptions, like "Unholy Copulation" which is your usual Slayer blasphemy, "Ardent Lust" with its sexual overtones, or "Black Thrash Assault" which is frankly just a bit generic, but otherwise, it's a nice touch to know that someone is keeping tabs on the world rather than dissolving entirely intro retrospective aesthetics. I can't really say the same for much of the music, of course, but at least Witchaven perform their instruments with some earnest, volatile energy that faithfully mirrors their influences, whether it's the Slayer-like gunning in "A.D.D." and "Ardent Lust", the Bathory Blood Fire Death swagger of "Unholy Copulation" or the brutal Kreator blitz inherent to "Conflagration". Hell, they've even got a song here that feels more like straight up Bathory or Mayhem black metal ("Empty Chasm"), so while derivative, there is at least a fair dynamic range to pore over. The production itself is also solid, with a guitar tone that is both clean and raw, crisp and effective; and savage, hoarse rasping from Henry Montoya which sits at the precise right spot in the mix.

Where Terrorstorm seems to fall short of making a case for itself is in the various chorus parts, or when one breaks down a lot of the individual riffing. It's another one of those many albums which is predicated with little more than direct devotion to its early influences, and so the target audience will consist of fans who are happy with that primal black/thrash sound and desire no change or deviation from its original characteristics. Witchaven knows its business, and the lineup all seem to be sleek and competent performers, but aside from the lyrical material, they feel a lot like just another 'witch' band to follow the formula: Witchtrap, Witchburner, Bewitched and Witchery to name but a few. The guitars and vocals here are expletive and brazen enough that fans of the Nuclear War Now! or Hells Headbangers rosters might wish to give them a few spins, but ultimately I didn't find the songwriting to match up with other acts in the field like Norwegians Aura Noir or The Batallion. That said, I would not write off the potential here: it's a decent debut album, and one could do far worse.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/witchaven