TOUR: Vader + Decrepit Birth, more

Polish death metal legends Vader are fully prepared to unleash their torment on the North American continent in a tour billed as Monsters of Death. Starting early November, they'll be embarking on an intense 38-date trek across the United States and Canada, along with five other bands you can't miss. Offering their support are Decrepit Birth, a straightforward and exceedingly sharp Californian death metal band; Warbringer, one of neo-thrash's most well-known acts, due to their relentless touring; The Amenta, an industrial/experimental band from Australia; Augury, a progressive/death metal group that invokes elements of Cynic, Atheist, and The Faceless; and Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky, a newly formed death metal band that manages to kick a severe amount of ass, despite their mouthful of a name.

Tickets are a bargain at just $19 (or $14 each in a 4-pack). If you're not a Vader fan yet, you can get up to speed by checking out their superb compilation album XXV. Vader's new album Necropolis drops September 22. Everything these guys put out is pure gold, so it's not a risky purchase. Shows this essential don't come along very often; this one should have some sort of mandatory attendance policy for metalheads. The dates are here:

11/04/09 Sonar – Baltimore, MD
11/05/09 The Palladium – Worcester, MA
11/06/09 Webster Underground – Hartford, CT
11/07/09 The Blender Theater @ Gramercy – New York, NY
11/08/09 Fou Founes Electriques – Montreal, QC – Canada
11/09/09 Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC – Canada
11/10/09 Mod Club – Toronto, ON – Canada
11/11/09 Penny Arcade – Rochester, NY
11/12/09 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
11/13/09 The Pearl Room – Mokena, IL
11/14/09 Rave – Milwaukee, WI
11/15/09 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
11/16/09 Royal Albert Arms – Winnipeg, MB – Canada
11/17/09 The Exchange – Regina, SK – Canada
11/18/09 The Underground – Calgary, AB – Canada
11/19/09 Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB – Canada
11/20/09 Roll-A-Dome – Prince George, BC – Canada
11/21/09 Bourbon – Vancouver, BC – Canada
11/22/09 Sugar – Victoria, BC – Canada
11/23/09 El Corazon – Seattle, WA
11/24/09 Satyricon – Portland, OR
11/25/09 Regency Grand Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
11/27/09 Jumping Turtle – San Marcos, CA
11/28/09 Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA
11/29/09 The Key Club – Hollywood, CA
11/30/09 U.B’s – Mesa, AZ
12/01/09 The Rock – Tucson, AZ
12/02/09 Gator’s – Farmington, NM
12/03/09 Club Vegas – Salt Lake City, UT
12/04/09 Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
12/05/09 Marquee – Tulsa, OK
12/06/09 Scout Bar – San Antonio, TX
12/07/09 Scout Bar – Houston, TX
12/09/09 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
12/10/09 Peppermint Beach Club – Virginia Beach, VA
12/11/09 Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC
12/12/09 Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
12/13/09 The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA

-Psychotic Pulse

REVIEW: Suffocation + Obituary

(left)

Artist: Suffocation

Album: Blood Oath

Release Date: July 14, 2009

(below)

Artist: Obituary

Album: Darkest Day

Release Date: June 30, 2009

Genre(s): Death metal, brutal death

Two kickass old-school death metal bands, back with all-new albums. Two questions: do these bands still rip? And which album is more brutal?

Suffocation:

If you want to talk brutal, that's the very best word you could use to describe Blood Oath. Holy crap, the vocals on this album own. Frank Mullen has a killer growl, and it's all natural. The drums are fast and lay the groundwork for some hard-hitting guitarwork. The force behind the riffs can be wondrous to behold at times. The solos, however, leave something to be desired. Thankfully, the band doesn't make that the focus of their music, so it can't be counted as too much of a flaw. It's straight-up, no-frills death metal. Easy to listen to, memorable, and very enjoyable.

There's not much to say about Blood Oath; it's well-done all-around. Production, instruments, songwriting: all are impressive. If you have any taste for death metal, buy this album, you'll love it. Anyone who went to Summer Slaughter this year heard Suffocation make an insufferably long speech about being a band for 20 years. For longtime Suffocation fans, this is the band's gift to you for sticking with them for so long. Congratulations to Suffocation, they have put out another death metal must-have, likely to go down as one of 2009's best.

Track to Check: "Provoking the Disturbed"

Rating: 8.5/10

Obituary:

Oh yeah, Obituary is kicking ass, as usual. Here, you'll find the same monstrous John Tardy vocals you fell in love with the first time you blasted "Don't Care" at home on your old stereo. The speed fluctuates between Obituary's trademark slow groove and speedy riffs. Either way it's punishing. The guitarwork isn't all rehashed, though. Ralph Santolla, the recent replacement for longtime member Allen West throws down some sick solos on top of the driving licks. It shakes things up without deviating too much from the Obituary formula. The band knows what works for them, and sticks with it throughout.

It's good to see that Obituary's not concerned with melody or technicality, for that is not what Obituary's about. Obituary's all about walking own the street, turning the headphones up to max volume, and smile snidely as the badass feeling comes over you. I'm a huge Obituary fan, and I can't resist the appeal of thirteen brutal new tracks from them. Obituary's been steadily on track since they reunited in 2003, but Darkest Day is their most focused post-reunion effort yet, and delivers all the goods that Obituary fans should expect.

Track to Check: "List of Dead"

Rating: an unbiased score would be 7.8, but based on my personal preference for Obituary, I'd give it an 8.8/10.

In conclusion:

Both albums offer little in the way of originality, but both serve to show us something more important: how each band has established themselves as masters of the death metal genre. Still going strong after 20 years, Obituary and Suffocation have provided us with more reasons to love them; both albums are essentials for death fans. Blood Oath is a more balanced and more accessible album for death metal fans of all sorts, while Darkest Day is geared more towards Obituary diehards, but guaranteed to give that group of metaheads an extreme thrill. Take your pick. The best choice for any true metalhead, of course, is to get both.

Choosing death again!

-Psychotic Pulse

TOUR: Mastodon + Dethklok, and more

Oh hell yeah. Two of today's greats in metal team up for a co-headlining tour. Adult Swim presents: Mastodon, a prog-metal band, highly successfully commercially and critically, whose latest opus Crack the Skye is already being hailed as the year's best metal release; and Dethklok, a real-life version of the world-famous death metal band from Adult Swim animated comedy Metalocalypse, whose set will likely feature a ton of awesome new material from The Dethalbum II, set for release later this year. The openers are Converge (math-metal/post-hardcore legends) and High on Fire (doom metal prodigies). This massive tour entails 30 guaranteed-to-be-amazing dates coast-to-coast across the USA (as well as 4 stops in Canada!).

General public ticket sales begin Friday, August 7, at 10:00 a.m., so make sure to be on Livenation with your finger on the Order button when that time rolls around. Mastodon tickets sold out last time they visited NYC, and tickets can only sell faster this time around, with the sweet, sweet lineup.

Here are your dates! Check to make sure this badass tour is coming to a city near you:

Oct. 02 - Roseland Theater - Portland, OR
Oct. 03 - WaMu Theater - Seattle, WA
Oct. 04 - Orpheum Theatre - Vancouver, BC
Oct. 06 - Big Four Building - Calgary, AB
Oct. 07 - Shaw Conference Centre - Edmonton, AB
Oct. 09 - Great Saltair - Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 10 - Fillmore Auditorium - Denver, CO
Oct. 12 - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO
Oct. 13 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO
Oct. 14 - Val Air Ballroom - Des Moines, IA
Oct. 16 - Myth - St. Paul, MN
Oct. 17 - Aragon Ballroom - Chicago, IL
Oct. 18 - Eagle's Auditorium - Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 20 - LC Pavilion - Columbus, OH
Oct. 21 - The Fillmore - Detroit, MI
Oct. 23 - Sound Academy - Toronto
Oct. 24 - The Fairgrounds - Buffalo, NY
Oct. 25 - Armory - Albany, NY
Oct. 27 - House of Blues - Boston, MA
Oct. 30 - Hammerstein Ballroom - New York, NY
Oct. 31 - Patriot Center - Washington, DC
Nov. 01 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 05 - Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
Nov. 06 - House of Blues - Myrtle Beach, SC
Nov. 07 - Hard Rock Live - Orlando, FL
Nov. 08 - Pompano Beach Amphit - Pompano Beach, FL
Nov. 11 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
Nov. 12 - Verizon Wireless Theater - Houston, TX
Nov. 13 - Austin City Music Hall - Austin, TX
Nov. 14 - Brady Theater - Tulsa, OK
Nov. 16 - Pan American Center - Las Cruces, NM
Nov. 17 - Mesa Amphitheater - Mesa, AZ
Nov. 18 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
Nov. 19 - Palladium - Los Angeles, CA

See you in the pit!

-Psychotic Pulse

100 Reasons to Hate Chris Barnes

1) He's Chris Barnes. Do you need any more reasons that that?

2) He's ugly as fuck.

3) He's a terrible vocalist.

4) Six Feet Under sucks huge balls.

5) Cannibal Corpse wrote better songs after he left.

6) All of his songs sound better with George Fisher on the mic.

7) Chris Barnes produced the worst lyrical compositions known to man.

8) He shoves pro-marijuana propaganda down our throats.

9) The fuckin' guy can't even sing without smoking pot first.

10) He's talentless.

11) He's worse than every single one of his contemporaries.

12) He wrote a song called "Shot in the Head".

13) He actually thinks he's good.

14) He thinks he's better than George Fisher (What's that smell? Must be bullshit!)

15) Six Feet Under's guitarwork takes almost no skill to play.

16) Six Feet Under's basswork takes almost no skill to play.

17) Six Feet Under's drumwork takes almost no skill to play.

18) He brought in Ice-T to rap on one song. I repeat, Ice-T RAPS in Six Feet Under.

19) He probably smells really bad.

20) His dreads make him look like a pussy.

21) He doesn't shower.

22) When he first started Cannibal Corpse, he wanted to play the bass.

23) HAHAHA seriously?! LOL @ bass.

24) He only growls because he wasn't talented enough to sing, according to him.

25) He's full of himself.

26) He records horrible death metal covers of classic songs, disgracing them.

27) He made an entire album of those called Graveyard Classics.

28) Later, his band went back in the studio and created Graveyard Classics 2. Ugh.

29) They recorded a cover of Back in Black by AC/DC in its entirety. Fuck.

30) He thinks it's ok that he ruined one of the best rock albums in history.

31) Anyone with a low voice can growl like Chris Barnes effortlessly.

32) Six Feet Under has 8 original studio albums. WHY?!

33) No one has attempted to assassinate Chris Barnes yet... and they should have.

34) He writes songs about raping children.

35) He writes songs about necrophilia.

36) Jim Carrey cracking his neck grosses out Chris Barnes.

37) He looks stupid. He probably can't spell.

38) He would make a terrible babysitter.

39) He makes other people with his name feel ashamed.

40) He's fucking fat as shit.

41) He joined a Six Feet Under cover band, Torture Killer.

42) He performed covers of his own songs, in a different band. What's the point?!

43) He's useless to the world.

44) He can't multiply 14567 x 6783 in his head.

45) Nor can he divide those two numbers in his head.

46) ...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA CHRIS BARNES LOL!

47) He's part of the worst band of all time.

48) He didn't unlock Vincent's Turk outfit.

49) He originates near Canada. Meaning, he can't form a band. Unless he's in Rush.

50) No one wants to wear a Chris Barnes shirt.

51) No one wants to wear ANYTHING with Chris Barnes's face on it.

52) Especially not Chris Barnes underwear.

53) I would feel comfortable using Chris Barnes toiletpaper though.

54) His mind is in the gutter.

55) He lives in Beverly Hills, California. What the fuck.

56) If he's rich enough to live there, he doesn't deserve it.

57) The world is a worse place because of him.

58) He exposes new metal listeners to shitty music.

59) He gives death metal a bad name.

60) He doesn't have the ability to sing/growl fast.

61) Smoking too much weed killed all his brain cells.

62) I told you to hate him.

63) Hypothetically, he could murder your whole family.

64) There's a "Best of Six Feet Under" album, whose title is a misnomer.

65) He didn't play Psychonauts.

66) He hasn't accomplished anything, yet is known.

67) He doesn't know all the words to "The Toxic Waltz".

68) Six Feet Under is in the studio right now recording *gulp* Graveyard Classics 3.

69) I almost vomited when I wrote that.

70) It's coming out THIS YEAR.

71) Any song sung by Chris Barnes would sound terrible.

72) He can't shoot a bullet with another bullet, blindfolded, while riding a horse.

73) His mother's a whore.

74) He enjoys sodomy.

75) Anal Cunt wrote an awesome song called "Chris Barnes is a Pussy".

76) His vocals are incomprehensible most of the time.

77) He's not cool.

78) If you asked to borrow his car, he'd say no.

79) He has huge, disgusting gauges in his ears.

80) Death Rituals is the worst abomination of an album ever conceived.

81) Death Rituals is so bad, it deserves another line.

82) "Death By Machete"

83) "Involuntary Movement of Dead Flesh"

84) "None Will Escape"

85) "Eulogy for the Undead"

86) "Seed of Filth"

87) "Bastard"

88) "Into the Crematorium"

89) "Shot in the Head"

90) "Killed in Your Sleep"

91) "Crossroads to Armageddon"

92) "Ten Deadly Plagues"
93) "Crossing the River Styx"
94) "Murder Addiction"

95) These songs are already terrible musically, but c'mon... those titles... really?

96) His songs are repetitive as hell and drag on incessantly.

97) The intro at the beginning of "Shot in the Head" is way too long.

98) I have nothing good to say about Chris Barnes.

99) He has perfected his killing technique.

100) Barnes-fest would be a terrible music festival.

Summer Slaughter Diary: The Death, The Brutality, The Glory

The story starts as I sit with my friends in a NYC pizzeria talking about which bands we're going to mosh for. Doors open to Summer Slaughter in an hour; Karina's holding our place in line, as we flag down a taxi to take us to Irving Plaza. We have half an hour to wait, far longer than it seemed, as we had a killer time talking bands with hundreds of kids sporting death metal t-shirts. I had never seen a death metal band live before, and I was very excited to make that a thing of the past.

I got inside and was unpleasantly informed that the lineup would be split over the 2 NYC dates, and only seven bands would go on that night. This sounded like bad news until I found out that all the shitty bands were going on the next day. Looks like I picked the right time to come! My only regret is that I came on the wrong day to see Born of Osiris (check out my review of their latest; I'm a huge fan), but all seven of the bands that performed for me that night owned me.

1. Blackguard was first up. Like most opening bands I've witnessed, they kicked way too much ass to be first. They played folk metal with an awesome pirate theme, to great acclamation. I love seeing a young band with serious chops, and apparently, so did everyone else, because the crowd ate up their performance. Everyone in the band banged their head in unison, while their vocalist (whose shriek greatly resembled Alexi Laiho's) delivered each line of the song with great power and feeling. Overall, this band's performance was a win; their 25 minute set was all too short.

2. Decrepit Birth had a lot to offer. They play straight up brutal death metal. No frills, all quality. Their music is simple, but very good, so I had high hopes for them. Sadly, they are a lot better studio, but I was happy to see them live, if only because I was a big fan of them already. I bought one of their awesome-looking shirts, and proudly displayed my love for the band by knocking out some people in the pit. I'm seeing Decrepit Birth again this November, and I'll be hoping for a performance on par with my high expectations for what these guys can do.

3. Origin WAS GODLY. Their latest album Antithesis is one of the greatest technical death achievements ever. The band played their best songs, and played them spot-on, no mistakes. The drum sound was spectacular, the driving force behind it all, and John Longstreth consistently proves himself to be one of the finest drummers out there. Some asshole in the crowd picked a fight with me, but I don't have the time for that bullshit, so I spat on him and walked away. How can you think about anything else when Origin is playing right in front of you? Everyone on the stage kicked a gratuitous amount of ass. I love Origin, end of story.

4. Darkest Hour... meh... good performance, I'm just not that into these guys. I respect them for being in the top quartile of metalcore and bringing in a lot of melodic elements, no doubt. They played a good set, while I sat in the lobby and hung out with my bros. It was about this time that I realized that I was going to be in major pain the next day. And there were still three more amazing bands to come.

5. Ensiferum had the craziest and fastest circle pits I've ever seen. Whoever says circle pits are lame clearly hasn't been in one that intense. Excellent song choices by the band, including "Deathbringer from the Sky", "One More Magic Potion", and "Iron". These guys rock with their chants and their keyboards. They all performed shirtless and with face paint, which is slightly odd, but Ensiferum puts on a cool presentation. They're coming back to North America for a headlining tour soon, and I highly recommend them to everyone.

6. Suffocation sounded awesome... when they were playing. I didn't enjoy hearing Frank Mullen go on a bunch of rants and make a dozen speeches and, at times, talk about nothing at all. Let's play a drinking game: every time Suffocation says they've been around 20 years, take a shot. You'll pass out by the end of their set. Having a Brooklyn accent and lacking the ability to stop talking must be prerequisites to joining Suffocation. I gotta give these guys credit though. When they got down to it, they demolished with a huge, heavy sound that threatened to wreck the venue. The pits weren't very good, which disappointed me. I guess people get tired from rocking out to six straight hours of death metal. Suffocation are legends though, and well worth seeing.

7. Necrophagist: the holy headliners. The sound system can make or break a live band, and sad to say, it broke Necropagist. The vocals and drums sounded superb, but the guitars were a drowned out. The crowd gave Necrophagist mad respect anyway, deservedly so. Necrophagist is one amazing band, and despite the relative poor sound quality, I loved them, especially as their sound improved as the set went on. They even snuck in a song from their upcoming album (set for release this year), and it was beyond awesome. They ended the night spectacularly.

I emerged from the venue reeking of smoke and sweat, out onto the night streets of New York City, along with a bunch of other satisfied metalheads. Per tradition, everyone chills in front of the venue for a while before making their way home. Summer Slaughter was a lot of fun. I regret missing it the first two years, but there's always next year to make up for it. The lineup is consistently killer year after year, so I'm almost positive that if you go to the Slaughter next year, you'll see me there. Here's my quick analysis of the bands, by the way:

Best to worst:

Origin

Ensiferum

Blackguard

Suffocation

Necrophagist

Decrepit Birth

Darkest Hour

This has been your Summer Slaughter review, which I hope you enjoyed almost as much as I enjoyed the concert. More album reviews coming this week, and Mayhem Festival two weeks from today!

-Psychotic Pulse

Summer Slaughter Diary: Introduction

Midnight has just passed, and Summer Slaughter will be arriving at a town near me in less than 18 hours. It's the third iteration of the annual festival, but the first chance I've gotten to go myself. My excitement is peaking, and... you know what, that sounded wrong. This is starting to sound like a fanfiction. Ok, so what makes Summer Slaughter so damn awesome?

If there's one thing I have to praise it for, it's that the lineup is no less fantastic each year. This time around, the headliners are Necrophagist, the German band who singlehandedly gave birth to the technical death metal subgenre as we know it today, and Suffocation, one of the oldest and most respected bands of the original American death metal movement. Without a doubt, Summer Slaughter should be at the top of the list for death metal fans this year. The rest of the bands are icing, but don't make the mistake of writing them all off, because there are some standouts that should give hard-hitting performances.

Support comes from Ensiferum, Finnish viking/folk metal masters; Darkest Hour, a long-running American melo-death act; Winds of Plague, a deathcore band with a female keyboardist; Dying Fetus, a death metal band unique for expressing a strong political agenda; Born of Osiris, a new band that blends tech-death and metalcore with beautiful atmosphere; Origin, a highly acclaimed tech-death band who have scored a breakout hit with their new album; After the Burial, a metalcore band with progressive elements; and Blackguard, a recently-signed pirate metal group who won their slot on this prestigious tour in a battle of the bands. Wow, this night's going to kill me, in the best way possible.

With a total of ten bands vying for my attention (HOLY SHIT), I'm a little worried whether spending a large number of hours in a cramped venue will make Summer Slaughter a detriment to the claustrophobic. It's an experience, though, one I'd like to see firsthand. The idea of holding an outdoor style festival in an indoor setting doesn't appeal to me, but awesome metal bands do, so nothing can hold back my ecstacy; seeing several of my favorite bands in one place is the kind of thing metalheads live for. How will it all turn out? We can only wait and see. Check back tomorrow, and I'll let you know if the Slaughter is as awesome as it seems, or an event too good to be true.

-PsychoticPulse

TOUR: Obituary + Goatwhore, and more

Us metalheads, we love shows. Especially ones with a solid lineup featuring several kickass bands. Well here's a tour hitting the US (and Canada!) this September, headlined by the death metal legends Obituary.

Support comes from Goatwhore, a black metal band gaining a huge following in the wake of their excellent album Carving Out the Eyes of God; Krisiun, a Brazilian band who've been cranking death metal since 1990; The Berzerker, the only awful act on this tour; and Warbringer, a neo-thrash band whose relentless touring is gaining them exposure to all sorts of different metal crowds. Obituary will hopefully be showcasing a bunch of tunes from their 2009 opus Darkest Day, as well as classics such as "Don't Care" and "Slowly We Rot" from their impressive 8 album discography.

Here are the dates:

September 3 - Tucson, AZ @ The Rock
September 4 - Mesa, AZ @ U.B.’s Bar
September 5 - Farmington, NM @ Gator’s
September 6 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
September 8 - San Marcos, CA @ Jumping Turtle
September 9 - Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
September 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Slims
September 11 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
September 12 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
September 14 - Victoria, BC @ Sugar
September 15 - Vancouver, BC @ Plaza Club
September 17 - Calgary, AB @ Warehouse
September 18 - Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
September 19 - Regina, SK @ The Riddell
September 20 - Winnipeg, MB @ Royal Albert Arms
September 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
September 23 - Mokena, IL @ Pearl Room
September 25 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
September 26 - Quebec City, QC @ Imperial
September 27 - Montreal, QC @ Foufounes Electriques
September 29 – New York, NY @ Blender Theatre at Gramercy
September 30 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium
October 1 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
October 2 - Raleigh, NC @ Volume 11
October 3 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
October 4 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall

I'll be going for sure, so expect a concert review of this show in September. The first concert review will be up this weekend, detailing Summer Slaughter 2009, followed by one on Mayhem Festival 2009 a couple weeks later.

REVIEW: Born of Osiris

Artist: Born of Osiris

Album: A Higher Place

Release Date: July 7, 2009

Genre(s): Tech-death, metalcore

If your eyes haven't started reeling at the genre classification for these guys (technical death and... metalcore? Huh?!), then keep reading. These guys provide one hell of a weird genre fusion that somehow works (dare I say it?), spledidly. The guitars lay down metalcore riffs and technical sweeps in the same song. You'll hear the drummer do breakdowns and later go into sixteenth-note and double bass mania. The vocalist utilizes a death growl most of the time, but throws in the occasional metalcore scream to shake things up. Why does it work?

This genre-fusion works because it sounds so damn cool when these guys do it, plain and simple. Bands have tried mixing death metal and metalcore, with some less-than-stellar results (Job for a Cowboy, anyone? No thanks!); Born of Osiris thankfully put some more creativity into the process. Metalcore is a very stale genre with little diversity, so leave it to Born of Osiris to take the best aspects of it, cut the fat, and leave it on the plate, while experimenting with one of the very few metal genres that has yet to be played out: techincal death metal. What is the result?

The result is an album that surprises listeners by contrasting brutality with melody at the drop of a hat. There's a bright atmosphere behind all of the dark overtones; never before have I listened to a record with such pounding heaviness and came away with an uplifting feeling. It's a compelling sound, without a doubt, and most of the songs stick out in my mind, the novelty no doubt playing a major role. Those looking for something new, you absolutely have to give this album a shot; it's progressive and absolutely refreshing.

The repitition, surprisingly, is kept to a minimum due to the album's rational concesity. Almost all of the tracks on A Higher Place run under three minutes, making sure that none of the songs wear out their welcome. The 13 songs add up to slightly over half an hour, giving it a short but sweet spin in your stereo. Each of the tunes have a similar-sound when they first start out, but the disc keeps you listening to hear what sort of changes the band will throw in as each song picks up.

This is a very interesting listen for open-mided metalheads. If you're tired of hearing the numerous unoriginal, lifeless clones of last decade's metal bands (that happen to be so prevalent in this decade), make it your business to pick up a copy of A Higher Place. It's one of those releases that supports my theory that metal has more to offer than we ever imagined. Those who appreciate originality may come to agree after taking this record out for a few spins.

Track to Check: "Starved"

Score: 8.8/10

More Info At: www.myspace.com/bornofosiris

-Psychotic Pulse