The band’s single-minded focus on creating an all-encompassing feeling of despair means they’ll use anything at their disposal in their lengthy compositions.
So many jaw-dropping riffs and solos are thown at you during the first half, the band takes an instrumental stretch break before the second half beatdown.
Sweden’s In Solitude sound like King Diamond singing over galloping Maiden-style metal. That clicks with more readers than some clusterfuck from a thesaurus.
Samael settles into its trademark midtempo mood and plays things a little too safe at times, but the highlights leave more of an impression than the dips.
Los Angeles’ Abysmal Dawn doesn’t quite display the fangs necessary to deliver on the bold claim of their third full-length title, but they’ve got the ability.