EMBRACE DAMNATION

"Satanic death metal for fans of DEICIDE, BELPHEGOR and AT THE GATES." Looks good on "paper", doesn't it? Unfortunately, the hype does not quite match the product. EMBRACE DAMNATION's "Glory of a New Darkness" is a well played, clinically precise to a fault work of death metal that lacks distinction, even though bright spots are present.

I can hear where the influence might be post-HoffmanDEICIDE and maybe BELPHEGOR, but that's kind of where it stops. There are some decent arrangements involved and the lead guitar playing of Joe Hector is certainly accomplished; the classy harmonies are quite notable and give an air of elegance to the album. But where a band like BELPHEGOR makes those harmonies sound damning to all mankind, EMBRACE DAMNATION simply makes them sound…well…nice. Too nice for what is supposed to be a collection of hymns to the horned one.

Along similar lines, the songwriting is generally workable; it is just not memorable or at least dangerous enough to compensation for middling composition. In fairness, the band does a good job of mixing up tempos and moving into slow-burn mode on tracks like "Broken Wings Drenched in Blood" and the multi-tempo "Diabolic Possession". The larger problem is two-fold. First, the production is polished to the point of dullness and the cut-and-paste Pro Tools effect hurts the album's otherwise convincing aggression. Secondly, Dave Kibler's screamy growls are devoid of any distinguishing nuance or effective patterning. Occasionally pairing up the mid-range vocals with a deep growl makes a world of difference. Most telling is that the cover of SLAYER's "Necrophiliac" is the album's finest moment, especially since EMBRACE DAMNATION doesn't merely carbon copy it.

Things never really get off the ground though and the right "feeling," for lack of a better term, just isn't present. That some real effort when into the writing/recording of "Glory of a New Darkness" is obvious and none of what you'll hear outright stinks by any means. But in the final analysis, it is blandness that rules the day.