There are times that mere words cannot describe the impressions that some albums put on us at the first hearing. And the more you listen to them, the more you'll like it, the more you will be sure that you have found a rare pearl. And the Dutch quintet SPARTAN is a fine revelation, because "The Fall of Olympus" is really something that can astonish us all.

If I merely label their music as Melodic Death Metal, it wouldn't figure out the whole truth. It really reminds a lot something from earlier works from CHILDREN OF BODOM, but with a more guttural orientated voice (besides there are harsh shrieked vocals present as well), and even some melodies here that could be on a Melodic Power Metal album without any problem. Yes, they have a good amount of personality on their music, and I truly believe that in a near future, they can become a pillar on the style. And one interesting feature: the absence of keyboards, so the melodic focus is created by the guitars, along with a heavy and thunderous rhythmic kitchen.

The production was done in a very good way. And the result is a clean and aggressive sound quality, but keeping a heavy weight that their music needs to work. And to be honest, all the features needed of the production are really in a very good level of quality on "The Fall of Olympus".

All the songs are very good. But as their best moments on this album, you can bet on "The Age of Man" with its astonishing melodies, very good and worked tempos and excellent guitars; the brutal and technical "Breaking the Chains of Olympus" (some excellent clean vocals appear here and there); the astonishing balance between melody and aggressiveness heard on "Elysium" (what wonderful guitar solos) and on "The Labyrinth"; the destructive rhythmic session work on "Titanomachy" (an all-out-war furious song, with great presence from bass and drums); the great guitars heard on "Written in Sand"; and the wonderful "Eurydice's Song", with harsh vocals and some female voices that are giving an excellent taste to the song. And it seems that all their lyrics deal with ancient Greek mythology.

An excellent album, indeed...<