Menacing Force

First off, the production is not very good. The guitars sound muddy and are played a little sluggish. The leads and solos are obscured in the mix a little and sound thin at times. The drum computer also sounds thin and, well, artificial. I was not sure if I could even make out a bass, but the intro to "Tomb of the Violated" is played by one, so I assume it is in the background strictly following the guitar riffs. Speaking of riffs, they consist of mostly solid, yet a little uneventful typical thrash or death riffs.

The vocals are split up between Paul and Alex. Paul's vocals are quite fitting, slightly black metallish with some higher screams mixed in. All in all, very listenable. Alex' vocals mostly go into a more death metal direction, where the low growls don't really sound forceful. On "Hounds of Hate", he goes for a higher, thrash-oriented shout, which suits him way better as it sounds more natural and powerful.

Moving onto the musical part, which is clearly the interesting one in this case. What saves this release is that the band is trying to write actual memorable songs, which is quite rare with new bands nowadays. For example, songs like "Chainsaw Ripper", "Society's End" or "Mass Hysteria" deliver catchy choruses accompanied by stomping, simple riffs. This is definitely the strong point of this album, as this makes the songs just plain fun to listen to.

Looking toward the future, if the band could handle the basics (sound and playing performance) better, they might be onto something.