"Downfall of the Apostates" is the second full-length release from DEIQUISITOR, a Danish death metal band that takes their influences from 90's death metal.

"Atom Synthesis" gets right to the point: the riffs, drums patterns, production, everything about the sound screams old-school death metal. The vocals also had an old-school feel - the vocal patterns are simple, like classic death metal, but they were so rich and guttural, some of my favorite vocals I've heard in a long time. The ride that enters around 2:30 has a very high chime to it, and it almost feels out of place in the mix. I also wish the snare had much more of a crack to it; it feels very muted and low in the mix, but the drum mix fits the overall old-school style, and the kick drum has a great click to it. As an avid fan of 90's death metal, I'm already hooked, but I hope to hear some elements that will bring this style into the modern era.

The title track feels relatively stagnant - not much build or progression - until 3:17 at the sudden, almost thrashy feel change. I love when a band can surprise me, and this change was definitely a pleasant surprise. It leaves me excited to hear what other stylistic variances will make appearances.

"Faint Distorted Images" is just heavy as f*ck. It immediately explodes in with blast beats and an extremely simple yet catchy riff. The guitar tones are very saturated and suit the style well. The vocals are pure modern brutal death metal - guttural and nasty and incredible. When the next riff drops at 0:37, it's like a punch in the gut (in a completely positive way). It shakes you. This song also features the first guitar solo on the album. The solo itself is a very classic old-school death metal solo: glorious, slightly sloppy shred full of this incendiary energy. Thomas's vocals are really fantastic - he could do vocals for a slam band and fit in perfectly, and his vocals are really what drags this band kicking and screaming into the modern era.

"Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses" jumps right into old-school MORBID ANGEL meets CANNIBAL CORPSE. Henrik's drumming is really solid; the double kick is spot-on, and the accents on the cymbals add a fantastic flair to the song. The snare has much more room to breathe in certain sections of this song, and the more muted tone works in these sections. The extremely short, 4-measure lead guitar line is much more melodic than the solo in the last song; I just wish it was longer so it could develop more.

"The Order of Pegasus Light" completely leave the classic death metal style behind; this is pure face-smashing modern brutal death metal. I very literally got chills from the unexpected change in style. This is like a song from a completely different album. An almost indiscernible lead guitar line enters at 1:52. Fortunately, it becomes much more succinct as it continues, and the style stayed like an old school 90's death metal solo. The feel change at 2:34 is a fantastic, brutal change of pace. This song is definitely one of the highlights of the album.

"Metatron" is another heavy-hitter, featuring some blazing double kick from Henrik. This one returns to the old-school MORBID ANGEL/CANNIBAL CORPSE hybrid that this band seems to be more comfortable with. Again, the entrance of the guitar solo is hard to discern; in this song the entire guitar solo seems almost inaudible. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I really wish the lead guitar was much higher in the mix - you can't enjoy a guitar solo that you can't hear. The song progresses and builds wonderfully, and just gets more and more brutal as it progresses, switching between an almost techy riff and a very simple but catchy and heavy chord progression.

"The Magnificence of" has an intro that is a great, unexpected deviation from the rest of the album. It fades in with an extremely ominous, atmospheric build, and then it just breaks down your door and throat-punches you with this very old-school yet heavy as hell riffage. The song is an endless stream of almost exhausting energy, between techy fills, solid blast beats, dissonant chords between the single note riffs, and some of my favorite brutal death metal vocals I've heard in quite a while. This is another track on the album that really blew me away with its pure ferocity. I don't think the song needed to be four and a half minutes long; it felt like it was dragging a bit for the last minute of the song, but this one was definitely another banger.

"Planetary Devastation" sounds like it's from a completely different album; it sounds like the production was adjusted to accentuate the pure old-school style that this song reverts to. At some points in this song, however, Thomas's vocals are almost reminiscent of Matti Way (one of the greatest vocalists in death metal today - he has done vocals for slam giants such as ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY and PATHOLOGY). The vocals really get to shine on this track: they keep the band in this century. "War on the Gods" is another pure modern brutal death metal track, and probably my favorite one on this album. This is a song that had me holding my breath throughout the almost 7 minutes of pure brutal aggression; the riffs and styles and feels changed so much and almost sporadically at time. Again, my favorite thing is when a band surprises me; this track was an aural roundhouse kick to the face, and I loved every second of this song, riff after aggressive riff. The last two and a half minutes of this song are ominous, atmospheric noise, and it's an incredible way to end an album because it leaves you with a very uneasy feeling. While I don't think this section had to be two and a half minute long, maybe 30 seconds to a minute, it completely breaks the mold of death metal outros, and it's so unsettling. It's like when you know something brutal is about to happen in a horror movie.

This album was not at all what I initially thought it to be; it's, without a doubt, one of the best releases of the year so far. It is a travesty that this band hasn't blown up yet; with a greater social media presence and overall online presence, this band could easily catapult with this incredible material. They like to wear their influences on their sleeves, as exhibited in the very MORBID ANGEL/CANNIBAL CORPSE-style sections, but they can obviously, undoubtedly excel at the more modern, brutal death metal style. The mix left a bit to be desired: at points, the guitar solos were almost indiscernible, and the snare sounded muted at times. But this album really blew me away, particularly the vocals. This vocalist. . . left me speechless at times, particularly in those few sections when he exudes pure Matti Way guttural, rich, disgusting (again, in a completely positive way) vocals. And these guitarists know how to right some catchy as hell riffs. Some of the songs really progress and build in a way that a lot of modern death metal bands are lacking in their songwriting.