So here we are. Two years after AMORAL's very good Decrowning, the Finnish melodic Death metallers return with a brand new album that is aiming to blow our brains to the wall. To tell you the truth, the band fell in the trap I expected it to fall. If you are already aware of this band, forget about the elements that made them really good and heavy.

Formed in 1997, the Finnish Death Metal squad has been delivering a great mixture of melody and brutality for ten years. Even though they are not as famous as they should be, they have released albums that beat the living shit out of many melodic Death Metal wannabes out there. In my humble opinion, this band is one of the best things Spikefarm Records has - or should I say had - along with KALMAH.

Even though the kind of music this band has decided to play has fell into the black hole of saturation, AMORAL always managed to amaze me with their originality and their great guitar melodies. These guys were never the classic boring Gothenburg style band with tracks that sounded the same. Their third full-length album shows that they couldn't release a work that could match the quality of their previous ones. This time they sound a lot like the top bands in this genre, borrowing many elements from ARCH ENEMY and THE CROWN. The band's guitar leads remain one of AMORAL's strong points, it is just that even this part is a bit weaker than it was in the past. The production is again killer and the guys surely know how to play some Metal, but Reptile Ride definitely lacks of the feeling and the energy Wound Creations (2004) and Decrowning (2005) had. Not to mention the incredibly shitty cover!

Reptile Ride is NOT a shitty album, for God's sake! It is just that I wouldn't spend my money on releases that don't have to offer anything new or at least original to my tortured ears. Fans of melodic Death Metal will definitely like this band. At least prefer AMORAL instead of other bands that sell thousands of albums for reasons I can't even understand (I don't want to mention names).