When I first got my hands on the new THE FORSAKEN album, I must say that this name was somehow familiar to me. I couldn't remember when and why, but I was 100% sure that I've heard this name before. After I used Google a little bit, I got it - I listened to their album "Traces Of The Past" long way ago. But it was so long ago... It was something like 9 years ago.

It is really not wise for a band to just stop writing a new material - sometimes the fans will starting forgetting until no memory will be left. After all we are not talking here about a band like BLACK SABBATH, this is just another good band from Sweden which started its music career back in the 90s with many other great bands from their country and released 3 albums (one per year), but then they went silent. I don't know why they were gone, but here they are - after 9 years, they made a comeback.

First let's talk about the artwork. While I was working at a Metal shop I wanted to find some good new bands with new albums. The cover is 50% of what makes me choose an album. Others it's 40% music style, 5% the band's name (it must attract me), and the last 5% is what the shop owner will about it (after all, he will say anything in desperate years like that when nobody buying CD's and to hold a Metal shop for CDs it's almost impossible). They really messed up with the album cover, it's sure not my type, and I think this is one of the most awful covers that I saw in 2012, and believe me I saw a lot.

But in the end, the most important thing is the music, and here they done an amazing work. I think that I can call it THE FORSAKEN's best album. It begins immediately with the great deathly song "Beyond Redemption". No intros, no talking - just get down to business. The guitar work is amazing and Anders Sjoholm (Vocals) makes one of the best growls I've ever heard. And I must admit - I am not a Death Metal fan, so it is really hard to impress me when it comes to the Death Metal style. But THE FORSAKEN did it!

"Only Hell Remains" and "Foul Messianic Grace" continued the great beginning of what "Beyond Redemption" commenced. Sjoholm continued to astonish with more and more growl techniques and Patrik Persson (Guitars and Backing Vocals) joined him in the right moments. "As We Burn", "There Is No God" and "No Dawn Awaits" provides more amazing evil strikes with a great drum solo and amazing guitars, and "Reap As We Have Sown" consists of the best solo in the album.

I can talk and write more and more about this great album and how the band surprised me after what seemed to me that everybody forgot about them, but my time is short, so let me just say that the album cover is ugly (and that's why the album can't get 9/10 from me) but the music is amazing.