This one turned out to be a pleasant surprise, first because with a name like PANTOKRATOR I was expecting something in the line of retro Thrash Metal, secondly because these Swedes play a highly enjoyable and melodic death metal that reminds me of bands like INSOMNIUM and IN MOURNING.

PANTOKRATOR, whose name actually means Lord Almighty in ancient Greek (they're assumed Christians), was formed in 1997 and have released two full-length albums and a few EPs, and have been on hiatus since 2007, so this new effort "Incarnate" is sort of a comeback album. As a whole, "Incarnate" is a very respectable release, offering some pleasant melodic, engaging riffs , however suffers a bit by lacking some truly standout moments.  The release was never boring at any point, but to be honest none of the nine songs featured here really grasp your undivided attention.

Still, if you're an enthusiastic aficionado of this form of Death Metal, melodic and a bit melancholic, you'll surely enjoy most of the album. "Cast Down" for instance, reminds me of later-day Edge of Sanity, merging some great guitar harmonies with some harsh, heavy death-metal. "Seraphim Wings", an instrumental song offering a great combination of melodic leads with gentle keyboard lines also reveal a strong progressive influence and is surely the softest track on the album. But PANTOKRATOR are also pretty competent in delivering some heavy and hard-hitting numbers, and both "Sammath Naur" and "Milennium in Chains" are two powerful songs consisting of fierce, churning guitars and strong, deep grunts.

Although there's nothing truly remarkable to be found in "Incarnate", it's solid for what is; a nice and pleasant melodic death metal record delivered with competence and conviction.