Finnish Thrashers UNHOPED have released this new EP, "Nuclear Death", and if you're here to get your face melted then you are in the right place. It's short, obviously, being an EP, but it certainly makes its point.

These songs are intense, I don't think there's any other way to describe them - in your face from word go, they don't let up once, which as we all know, is definitely a good thing. I'm not going to pretend that UNHOPED are reinventing the genre or anything, but what they are doing is showing it at its best. It's frantic, and the instruments want to rip your ears off, but that's what we expect from this sort of Metal. The guitars and drums are fast and heavy, whilst the brutal, deathly vocals round up this small, but great, package. And it's a full package, offering pretty much everything their fans could want. Unfortunately, because it's just an EP, you won't probably get a true sense of what the band can do, based on this release alone. The production values are pretty awesome as well, the sounds are nice and clear, and it all sounds very polished.

It might only be twenty minutes long, but "Nuclear Death" really shows off what these musicians can do. As you can probably guess from the EP title and song titles, it's got some pretty dark themes running through it but lyrically wise, it's sound, and to be honest pretty much what you'd expect from this type of music. J. Luostarinen's vocals are higher than your usual guttural and growling Death vocals, but they work well with the music, especially when he pulls out a bona fide Metal scream at one point. It all feels really slick, and it was a good listening experience, helped along by the fact that the songs flowed well in to each other.

I was definitely impressed by this release by UNHOPED, and whilst it's nothing groundbreaking, it still captures the listener - albeit it with a vice like grip in a headlock, but let's be honest - you'd expect nothing less.