Old School Death Metal's a delight to anyone who loves a crunchy guitar sound, barely edited growls from live monsters, and a form of heaviness not witnessed in any genre of Metal; not even modern Brutal Death Metal can overcome the one of a kind explosion an OSDM bomb can cause. An intriguing thing I'm noticing nowadays is the dedicated underground fanbase for the early 90's sound of Death Metal and those who still choose to play in that particular style while being slightly influenced from newer outside sources. TORTURE PULSE is a perfect example. Being an outfit from Finland, home for some of the Elite Black Metal legions and underground circles, I wandered how they would sound like with so many people saying they're more of an Old School inspired band.

The Extended Play "Devilroot" comes with 7 tracks, each being an onslaught of violence and gore. That is very evident when the first song "Adramelech Arise" kicks in. What I first notice is the production, being very crispy and hard while vocals are slightly played with to keep that fresh assault old and true. Succeeding tracks follow the same exact formula, each with its unique form, especially the last track "MPA" which is quite surprisingly slow and sadly the most boring on this release.

Now, what did I love and what did I not like on "Devilroot"? What I loved was the production, raw tuned down instruments, and the sick vocals. In fact, I got a rush to listen to INCANTATION due to how devilish and slowly paced the band plays. The resemblance is absolutely incredible. What I did not like is the lyrical content, which from what I deciphered was very lazily written and uninspired, just something the band wrote for the sake of writing Death Metal lyrics. Creativity is dying out with upcoming underground acts when it comes to lyric typing and due to that I do not blame the majority of people who mock the lyrical content of albums like this. Track names like "Dr. Undertaker" and "Ride of a Deathtime" are overly cheesy for example... yuck.

All in all, if you love INCANTATION, DISMEMBER and old ENTOMBED, don't hesitate to acquire this EP. It's a really good form of revival for a style of Death Metal that has mostly died out now, and is sadly replaced with overly produced replicas.