CYCLE BEATING is a Thrashcore / Groovecore band based out of Germany. From the promo, I obtained the following description of the band: "At the foot of the vineyard, if the sun goes down and the first shadows are moving over the pictorial timber framed houses, the bardic Rhine river plains show their dark side. Who isn't able to escape fast enough from the dark back into his sweet home, runs the risk to be overrun by the aggressive and bleak riff landslides of CYCLE BEATING. CYCLE BEATING, that's a nasty mixture of Thrash and Groove Metal combined with a juicy list of Core. This monster has claws... claws, with which it shows humanity the dark and melancholic side of the everyday life quite plainly.

Since 2012, the four headed ogre exists and lurks in the shadows of the towns for its chance." This is their debut album, and contains ten tracks.  The "Intro" is dark and foreboding; a promise of evil to come. I love the haunting piano line and use of ambience in the background. The spoken words are somewhat intelligible but are made to have a sinister impact on the listener. The title track is a grinding, mid-tempo song with an easy to follow guitar riff. Vocally, Robert walks a line between a growling Death approach and a more guttural style that is common in Grindcore. I like the swinging feel that the riff has in "Burning Down the Bridge." It gives the track some lively potency. Combined with some change-ups here and there, it's a sturdy song. Some other highlights on the album include the swifter tempo in "No Regrets," which has a pleasing spacy sort of keyboard entrance.

I also appreciate the backing vocal shouts in "Still Sober," which give song a little more beef in the chorus section, as well as an acoustic interlude after the second chorus. Perhaps the bossiest, most catchy and aggressive riff on the album can be heard in "The Wrong Path." Nor should I fail to mention the varied and evil opening to "Who Do You Think You Are." Had this sound continued in the remainder of the track, I think it would have been very enjoyable.  Overall, "The Age of Depression" is a nice debut for CYCLE BEATING. The band has the brutal and powerful part of the genre down, with simple but effective riffing, dark and brooding Death Vocals, and a rhythm section holding it all together tightly. Where I may offer some criticism is in the too familiar pacing of most of the tracks, over-reliance on the low E chord as the basis for most of the riffs, and not quite enough stretching to set themselves apart from others who compose this style of the Metal genre. On the other hand, it's as pure as it could be.