Eternal Slaves

Bohema is death metal band. That indeed sums up what they are about. But like with any good book, you should not judge it by the cover. Eternal Slaves is somewhat deceptive here. Upon hearing it once, you might think this is just another average death metal release. But what makes it stand out from the rest is not the music itself, but how that music have been arranged. This is a clockwork of frantic drumming, blunt guitars, churning bass, and demonically guttural vocals. It is pure enjoyment and entertainment.

With the instrumentation, the drums are the first thing to really stand out. There are a lot of blasts, typical, but the work on the kit by hand is just great, going back and forth between every drum, with a big dose of catchy rhythms. The guitars do not necessarily improve upon this, but demonstrate an agile nature, shifting between tones fast. And they also tend to dish out some very neat leads. As for the bass guitar, it stays somewhat in the background, but if paying attention to it, you will notice the rather rapid playing and simply good performance. Nothing exceptional, but simply good. With the vocals, things go up a notch again. They are most easily described as growling, but have a roaring feel to them and are overall quite enjoyable. There are also some acoustic tracks here to cut in between the carnage of the other instruments, and these balance the release rather well.

With the mixing and production, the only thing that can be a backlash, is the somewhat mixed down bass guitar, but it does not prevent it from being audible. The production itself is rather clean but have a gritty and raw feel to it that really works out for this album, leaving everything clear and audible. So generally speaking, the instrumentation is plain and simple well executed. As for song structure and arrangements, every moment have something going for it, leaving no room for any filler sections. On top of this is the great chemistry between the members, who all know their place and all cooperate to create a satisfying final result.

There are really no negatives to be found here, maybe creative differences between listener and the album itself, but that more or less boils down to taste and preferences. What Bohema have made here is not something original or innovative, but instead, made something focused on being simply well written death metal.

Stand-out tracks: Majagan, Renounce, Silhouette, Dilmun, Sleep in Emptiness, Ishtar.
9,5/10

'Eternal Slaves' is the first release of Bohema and when I heard this album, I was really surprised. The style of the band is just great. Altought the style are very similar than the style of Nile, they gives to each song a great sound because the brutal riffs in all the instruments are heard in the entire album.

First of all, I think that this album is the best work of Bohema and the production is great. The very fast and darkened guitars can be heard during the whole album, the solos have a perfect musicality and have a very skillful scales. The job made in the drums are just awesome, the drummer have a good pattern and rhythm and the vocals are mixed above the music well.

With respect with the structure of the album, the album are well-structured, all the instruments and vocals have a great rhythm and do well with the tempos and the Arabic style and scales mixed with their music are simply great.

In the aspect of the lyrical themes, I think that the lyrics are great because the themes on the album are related to Sumerian mythology and the vocalist made an excellent job here, he gives to their music the 'brutal' and 'death' voice.

To finish, if you like the brutal death metal with technical influences, you'll like this album. The riifs, the drums, the solos, the style and the sound is just awesome. Although the sound quality isn't the best, I think that the sound is good and have a great rhythm. If you're looking for a brutal death metal band with technical influences and brutal riffs, you might pick this one up.