A bit of Pagan death metal this time all the way from Bali in Italy. This is the debut album from the 5 piece although they released an EP back in 2010 to critical acclaim.

Brutal about sums up Vinterblot’s sound with riffs hitting you like a sledgehammer to the face. The band produce a wall of sound which at times can be too much of a good thing, losing clarity and becoming a wall of heavy, rhythmic noise. Vocally, front man Phanaeus is a practitioner of the ‘death metal burp’ ( copyright C Wilson 2012), a phrase used by my wife which just about perfectly describes the grunt emitted by a number of death metal vocalists, it fits with the musical style, but personally I find it a bit wearing over the course of a full album. However there is a lot to admire here as well with tracks like ‘ Upon A Reign Of Ashes’ and ‘ Council Of Trees Beholder’ being solid slabs of quality death metal.

This release will appeal to a limited market but should do well within that. If extreme death metal is what floats your boat, then you might want to check around the nether regions of this lot.

David Wilson