You’d think with Flo Mournier of Cryptopsy fame on drums (taking over for the ubiquitous Dirk Verbueren) and Oliver Pinnard (Cryptopsy, Vengeful, ex-Neuraxis) on bass, the second album from New Hampshire’s Solium Fatalis (Fatal Throne?) would be a Canadian inspired, brutal tech death metal vortex of chaos. But its not. And that’s not a bad thing.

The band’s sound has much more in common with the other members (Ehren Hill- guitars, Jeff DeMarco-vocals, Jim Gregory- guitars) other active project, Excrecor– that’s to say a more melodic take on death metal. But fear not this isn’t wimpy, wispy melo-death but a bigger bigger and meaner more of melodic death metal that has a strong Hypocrisy undercurrent that’s littered with a few expected Canadian flurries.

Big, robust, crunchy guitars, some mild atmospherics and riffs that alternate between precisely mid paced and some slower moodier moments  along with plenty of solos, and a mix of Tagtgren-ish mid range rasps and deeper growls make the Hypocrisy comparison come to life without being quite as obvious as say, Souldrainer. And I get a sense of the band’s geographical roots with some slight early 00s East Coast metal such as Beyond the Embrace and Beyond the Sixth Seal.  The balance of  stout chugs like “Corporeal Form”, very Hypocrisy-ish “Monolith Of Internecion” and the impressive closing title track (which has a little of everything)  and and bigger,  slower more developed songs like standout “An Asylum for Penitence” or “Corrupter” make for a very satisfying release. And a few moments of more expected speed spurt forth here and there such as “Contagion” and The Project Hate -ish throes of “Paths to Obliteration” give the album some bite.

Throw in a solid modern production, The Undying Season is a damn solid release and a good comeback for Galy Records, who went dark for a while. Let’s hope this jump starts them as it’s a quality release featuring some quality musicians, big name or otherwise.

[Visit the band's website]

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