MIASMAL are from Gothenburg, Sweden, known for its death metal. I was interested to see if the band could bear the weight of such an illustrious legacy. Their CV is quite impressive, with the mixing having been done at Studio Fredman (OPETH, AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES) and artwork by Mattias Frisk (GHOST, SACRAL RAGE, VAMPIRE). This album is their second release on Century Media Records.

The guys bring the thrash metal vibes to their brand of death metal. The second half of the album is mostly a non-stop rollercoaster of death-thrash, with "Key To Etnernity" bringing things up to fever pitch. Final track "The Shining Of Stars" gives the listener a breather with its slow, acoustic intro. The band also manages to incorporate some hardcore into their sound, which gives their sound extra heft in places. Speaking of adding heft, Björn Eriksson is a powerful presence on the drums, while maintaining precision throughout. For example, his blastbeats on "The Pilgrimage" are superheavy, yet well-controlled.

Pontus Redig has a distinctive and powerful growl; tracks such as "Venomous Harvest" and "Key to Eternity" are good examples of his vocal prowess. However, I felt that the vocals were mixed too high at times. On a more positive note, the rhythm work on this album is notable in its own right, and isn't merely background noise for the leads to skip around in. I assume that Magnus Andreasson does most of the lead work; regardless, there are some beautifully done solos on this album. "Earthbound" has an extended solo section which manages to combine "epicness" without overstaying its welcome. Also, the acoustic passages are a great touch, and break up the heaviness without sounding out of place. I felt that the best of these acoustic interludes came on "The Shifting of Stars", and is a suitably moving closer for the album.

While I felt that the promo material accompanying this album was a bit too gushing, this album grew on me after a few listens. That's not to say that this is bad album; far from it. The diversity of subgenres is handled well, which makes for interesting listening.