Nowadays, the BEHEMOTH model of Death / Black Metal fusion is in evidence, but sometimes, some bands try to give a differentiation to that model, escaping from the hard influence of it and blasting our ears and brains with outcomes of explicit musical violence. And it's good, for we need more and more fresh and strong bands, and BLISS OF FLESH, from France, really is an excellent band from the style and tries to innovate with their second album, "Beati Pauperes Spiritu". They use a more organic sound, not as intense as we see in bands who works on Hertz Studios, but with a more melodic approach and some Thrash Metal influences under the brutal and oppressive music.

Recorded at Midnight Studio, and having the mastering at Drudenhaus Studio, the sound we hear is very clean and intense, in the way that you'll hear clearly all the instruments, but sounding heavy and abrasive. The grunts and clean voices appear clearly, as the guitar riffs, bass and drums can be heard with no problem at all, but get ready for something extremely brutal.

The artwork is made by Nagash (not the bassist and vocalist of Norway's COVENANT, please), and it's a fine job, well worked, giving a sight of what awaits us all... And then, the apocalypse starts!

Highlights: the more traditional (in terms of Death Metal) "Black Procession" (a bolt of thunderous aggression, with clean voices appearing from out of nowhere in the middle of grunts), the more technical and with some mid tempos "A.M.E.N." (pay attention to the guitars work, it's something from out of this world!), the well worked "On the Paths to Expiation" (except for the start of it, that brings to our minds chants like we saw in BEHEMOTH's "Decade of Therion", the track really astonishes), the long and more melodic "Forgotten Epitaphs" (the melodies arising from the guitars are beautiful, but the rhythm kitchen is doing a excellent work), and the rock duster "Possessed".

Really, this album is very fine, and we hope that BLISS OF FLESH can go further with their music.