From the opening mid range chords of the introductory “Into the Fire” with strains of that classic Phantasm/”Left Hand Path” riff, you know exactly what you are getting from the debut of Germany’s Endseeker: Classic, Swedish styled death metal.

And much like recent releases from label mates Lifeless and Blood of Seklusion,  it delivers the goods, and is probably my favorite of the label’s 3 releases in the style of late. It’s got the guitar tone, got the song writing chops and it’s certainly the more high energy, nasty and octane of the three, lying somewhere between Dismember’s hack ‘n’ slash melodies and early Grave’s more bruising approach . Denmark’s Funeral Whore would be a good comparison.

The familiar recipe is cooked to perfection as the 9 proper tracks are full of blistering mid range riffage that stay pretty high intensity for the most part as there are very few respites or atmospheric, moody/doomy segues, thought there are some killer grooves as heard on “Malicious Intent”, “Worshiping the Bloodthirsty” and burly standout “Shredding Your Graven Image”. Only closer “Possessed by the Flame” has a more restrained gait and that Phantasm/”Left Hand Path” riff, subtly appears again. . Overall, there is also a bit of a punk/thrash sneer to the bands presentation that give everything a little more character and slightly different energy to the usual run of the mill homage and odes. Occasionally, I get a bit of a Comecon vibe, thought that could be mostly due to the LG Petrov stylings of the vocals.

Of note, Morgoth’s Marc Grewe helps out on “Black Star Rising” and the penultimate track is a cover of Bolt Thrower‘s classic “Powder Burns” (another influence that creeps in here and there throughout), is given a Stockholm buzz, making a great track even greater, and a solid album even more solid.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments