Circle of Death

f you play Unleashing the Slugathron and Circle of Death back to back, they combine seamlessly. The debut's squeal-lead ending pitch shifted into white noise combines with the squeal lead-flavored noise beginning of Circle of Death. The actual musical part of the album is fired off with a great bellow that effectively sets the mood. The intro track shows off heavy riffs with slow to mid-paced tempo and an odd time signature which clearly indicate where this album differentiates from Unleashing the Slugathron. Now, the odd time signatures aren't very prominently featured; they only show on the two prelude-type tracks. But this exemplifies one difference between the albums. Circle of Death is more thought out and carefully constructed. The approach to songwriting is very different. The songs are very structured and different parts are given a lot of room to breath. A lot of it has to do with the slower and steadier pace. When you're going a hundred miles an hour, it's hard to give the sections of your songs space to showcase themselves, to be memorable.

The songs consist of numerous parts with nare a repetition in sight. Rhythmic and percussive riffing combined with the drums is what the album is built upon. These two elements form the cohesive whole that keeps the songs together even without distinctive sections being repeated. This way of songwriting doesn't lend itself to memorable songs, but rather memorable parts of songs due to the immeasureable catchiness of the riffs. The vocals being more of an atmosphere inducing instrument, rather than being in the lead, just emphasizes this effect. Like the rest of the production on the album, the vocals are low and deep, the sort that fit this kind of mid-paced and rhythm-focused death metal perfectly. There are some high register, black metal screeches on the first tracks courtesy of Sami Hynninen. The odd thing about the vocals is that they don't often follow any sort of a pattern, but since they're mostly there to create the atmosphere rather than to be a lead element, this doesn't distract the listener.

The focus on the album is on the drums and rhythm guitars, the way they mesh together and complement each other. Well, rather the drumming supports the riffs, accentuateing the changes within them with precisely timed hits and fills. There are traces of Obituary in the chugging riffs in some of the mid-paced parts, but more often the crushing, even slightly melodic riffs at the slower sections make one think of Bolt Thrower, if one is looking for comparison. However, on Circle of Death, the band clearly has a sound of their own, especially with the well-placed and fluid shifts between the sections with clearly different tempos. Two songs differentiate themselves from the norm of the album. First off is Journey into Oblivion with its groove and rather off-beat solo in the beginning. The off-beatness is due to the fact that it is played by a guest guitarist. The song does feature the fast and obliterating parts, but the mid-paced riffs are groovy instead of crushing as is the case with the rest of the album. The other song is the highlight of the album, Final Ceremony/Temple of Shadows. It is a sign of what was to come with its excellently doomy parts with ominous guitar leads lading the atmosphere heavy with dread and sense of impending fate.