Finnish Death Metal quintet SHRAPNEL STORM have officially stormed the metal Normandy with their ten-track debut album "Mother War". Now I know what you're all thinking, "God! Not another full-length death track conceptualised and centred on the annals of war and domination." [Insert yawn emoticon here]But stick with us while we tell you the tale of how this five member, seven-year-old battalion, from a seemingly saturated genre, has stood the test of time and remained a constant, moving and everlastingly grooving sect of musical dominance.

SHRAPNEL STORM have a whole lot against them when you think about it. Competing (let alone debuting) in a genre so prize-packed with mid-tempo drum mixes and crunchy guitar chugs is just something I would have found them to have struggled with. Especially considering their ten-track debut sings songs of nothing new to the death genre; try the theme of war? Keeping this in mind, I couldn't help but display a newfound appreciation for all and everything this deathly ensemble produced with this album. Having been back and forth and somewhat inconsistent with Demos and Promos since their establishment back in '08, SHRAPNEL STORM I feel have really banded together for this one. And you can tell how difficult that is in such a genre where death giants like BOLT THROWER and OBITUARY to even less popular names (MORDICUS, MASSACRE etc.) have left such a mountainous mark in their wake. In the world of death metal (old school, melodic and so on) it's an encumbrance to create original music stemmed from original ideas. And I'm not saying SHRAPNEL STORM has done that, but we must give credit where credit is due. And here's why people!

Though SHRAPNEL STORM hasn't managed to do the near-impossible by releasing a full-length death track that isn't exactly ... well death (if you can figure that one out), they've certainly made it an album to remember. The opener "Casus Belli" echoes an eerie air raid siren as to warn the listener of imminent, deathly doom. It's not too soon before were graced by Mäkitalo and Laaksola's prominent guitar palm-muting played against what I found to be a rather bouncy bass drum pattern. Similar to this, I found "Warfiend" to display that same kind of rhythmic "groove" the band promised openly to deliver.

Another key track in this deathly debut "To Each Battle" immediately took me by surprise due solely to the fact that it resembles the rest of the album, heck, the rest of the genre, in such little ways. This song exudes trash. Pure stinking, brutal trash! And I love it! Why? Not because I love Trash, or even because I love Death, but simply because I found this beast to be an amalgamation of both genres. This one opens in a flurry of full-time aggression with Orava's undisciplined and no-holds-barred style drumming accompanied by Ykä's alternation between low growls and mid-pitched vocal fries (similar to those of EPICA's Mark Jansen.) This one is special to me as it's a positive move in the right direction for the band. No, not toward trash, but toward an entirely new genre. A genre which delivers singularly what another two do separately. And I give these guys props for that!

My only real source of criticism for this album stems from noticing a certain sloppiness between the connecting and bridging of intros to verses, verses to pre-choruses and so on. Titles such as "Detracked" and "Calling of the Void" I couldn't help but discern what I can only explain as musical heart palpitations in between certain constructs of the songs. You know, where the initial verse is about to end and you're waiting for that killer drum fill to deliver you into the next piece of the song? Only during these tracks, that never really happened and I couldn't help but feel disappointed by Orava's performance here, as a result. Too many recurring blocks of missing beats and too many mid-song pauses that restart guitar and bass riffs rather than reveal new ones, provide for quite a cacophonous and dissonant sounding piece. Not enough filler between the tiles!

Putting aside Orava's continual, untamed performance on the drums and Mäkitalo and Laaksola's unwitting desire to chug and tremolo their way along with it, I'd say SHRAPNELL STORM has done a fine job at creating an album which exposes not just the fact that there is obvious room for improvement, but also their musical ability to coagulate genres and make it sound damn-well good! For a debut album I would have to give them a solid 7 when compared to their in-genre counterparts. However, as an album overall, I'll be holding up 6 fingers for this one.