Crawling out of the molding crypt of the Norweigian Death Metal scene, EXECRATION is here to show you that there’s more than black metal in the Norway underground. Coming six months after their debut EP, “Language of the Dead,” this is pummeling death metal, still dripping slime from its rotting corpse.

Obviously indebted to the death metal pioneers AUTOPSY and DEATH, they bring in newer death metal touches of NILE and DISGORGE into their decrepit mix. Precise in their riffing, the boys pound through the nine songs here, growling and lumbering like an infested zombie. Occasional nice breakdowns separate the songs into segments, adding variety, also spiced up with the intermittent lightness of a guitar lead. This is hardcore viking death metal, a battering assault of skeletonized, rotting warriors, dripping pus from their oozing eye sockets, descending upon your helpless village to pummel, maim and=2 0infect.

And for all that, it’s good. On the downside, some of the tracks lumber on like the stuttering walk of the dead, adding a touch of the title’s lethargy to the music. The mix is rather flat when it should be adding dynamism, not taking it away. The vocals are present, in all their death metal glory, adding the necessary texture but not much else. The compositions are complex and varied, but overall, there’s a certain lack of originality here; you get the feeling that they’re perfectly happy following trends rather than creating them.

Overall, a worthy first time effort by the Norwegian boys. They’ve picked up the death metal mantle and pounded it rotting and screaming through their sound system. Next time, hopefully, they’ll add something new. And it’s worth watching to see.

- Severin

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/execrationnorway

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