Hailing from Tennessee, As Hell Retreats is one of the recent addictions to the Strikefirst/Facedown Records family, so you know they play some form of quality Christian metal, and in this case it’s a hybrid of melodic metalcore and crumbling deathcore.

Not as utterly devastating as label mates Impending Doom or Earth From Above and possessing some of the melodic moments of Onwards to Olympas, For Today or some of Strikedown/Facedown’s other acts, As Hell Retreats is a little of both with a mix of rumbling angular deathcore, melodic death metal, some thrash and a whole lot of love for god. The end result is a solid if unspectacular release that should tide you over until Impending Doom’s There Will Be Violence hits later this summer.

With an overall quality in line with label mates In the Midst of Lions, As Hell Retreats growl and grumble through some angular, staggering riffs, some death metal-ish blasts all laced with some melodic solos and plenty of breakdowns. None of it is stunning, but it’s all done fervently and with enough skill and aggression to warrant the attention of church going metal heads. The vocals are the genre requisite scream/deep growl/gruff hardcore shout (no clean croons), and the production and musicianship is all adequate – which leaves the songs.

None of the seven actual songs (this is Christian metal CD so there is an intro and an interlude – “Revival”) really grabbed me but some moments within songs like “Inferior”, “Raze” and closer “Poor God” all have enough bits here and there, whether it be a solos or breakdown to make the album worth a few listens and further cement that Strikefirst and big brother Facedown are the premier labels around for the serious Chrisitan metal head.

[Visit the band's website]

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