Many times the albums I have to review are releases from bands I have never heard of before.  Total Devastation belongs in that category and with their second release, Reclusion, without having listened to their debut, they totally fucked my brain up!
The band came to life back in the summer of 1998, after an idea that Lauri Pikka and Jaakko Heinonen had to play extreme music. They released various demos and the band received positive feedback especially from the Finnish press and after another demo, Left Hand Of The Devil, they signed a deal with Firebox Records. At that time the band took its current form, consisting of the three Pikka brothers, Jaakko Heinonen and the identical Hakuli twins! The debut album was released in 2003 and was named after their first demo, Road Map Of Pain.
In Reclusion these Finnish guys play a mixture of Death/Grind Metal music. There are influences from bands like Morbid Angel, Carcass, Entombed, Autopsy and Neurosis. Their extreme, brutal Death Metal is mixed with Industrial samples that do not soften their sound but on the contrary add a new level of aggression and ambient atmosphere to the final product. It's like combining Bolt Thrower's Death Metal riffs with Fear Factory's sampling and keys. There is also the guest appearance of G of Rotten Sound on the tracks Divine and  Ground Zero as well as a cover song of Autopsy's The Grip Of Winter. Also a video, directed by Jussi Rautaniemi, will be included in the first pressing of the CD.
One thing is for sure. Total Devastation definitely deserves your attention if the aforementioned style of music fits your shoes. As for myself I fucking enjoyed listening to Reclusion and look forward to their third release in the near future.