While Tomas Lindberg’s other 2017 project and release by The Lurking Fear (which I found to be a real snoozer), might get more press and recognition, possibly  due to the Century Media label or more prominent former and current bands members from At The Gates, Bombs of Hades, Edge of Sanity and Disfear . But the fact remains, this project and release is a better effort.

An international collaboration founded (way back in 1999)  by Tomer Hasenfratz from Israeli act Viscera Trail, and guys from lesser known acts like The Sin, Fuzzgod and Equilibrium, Sign of Cain‘s long awaited debut is a moody sometimes doomy take on crusty, melodic death metal and occasionally throws in a well used violin segment , recalling At The Gates early works.

The more doomy or violin flocked tracks  like personal favorites “Thunders Never Followed” and the title track , as well as “Path of the Feeble” and “Again I Shed” , are the the album’s standouts, but all 10 tracks are damn solid. From opener “Sign of Cain” (with a couple of nice moody bridges) to the almost 8 minute closing title track, the guitar tone is rough and raw, with a slight Swedeath/crust edge, as are many of the riffs such as “The Earth Collapses Behind” and “Empires Ablaze with Unrest” . An expected At The Gates influence can also be heard here and there such as “Path of the Feeble” , “Scatter” and blatantly in “Bearing Eyes”. Occasionally, I also get a bit of a Liers In Wait vibe with some of the more off kilter riffs like “‘Again I Shed”. There is even a nice, somber instrumental, “Remembrance and Pain”, that breaks up the album nicely.

Tompa is what you’d expect, delivering his instantly recognizable, gravelly rasps  and he definitely didn’t phone in this appearance, whether he is just a guest of a fully fledged member. He is as venomous as he is on anything he has appeared on and shows no signs of letting up. Hasenfratz jumps in occasionally with some deeper backing vocals, which add to the whole affair.

To Be Drawn and To Drown is going to be a little known gem for 2017/2018 depending on if you live in Europe or the US, as it’s release date is either October of 2017 or January 2018 depending on where you live. Either way, this could end up on either year’s year end list for me.

[Visit the band's website]

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