Whilst a 4-piece live, ENTRAPMENT's studio ventures are the one-man project of Michel Jonker. The moment this, their 4th full-length LP, begins it is incredibly evident that this is a real passion project. Through its 30-minute run-time, whilst never truly blowing minds, we are taken on a tour of various Thrash and Death inspired set-pieces. If you shut down an overly analytical approach to listening, there is definitely a good time to be had with this record, despite its rougher edges.

Racing off the starting line with blisteringly fast thrash riffs and pounding blast beat drums, "Mortality Unleashed" is a great intro for the album. Furious and violent, the pace never lets up, showcasing some great guitar work in this brutal 4-minute opener. Where this song is let down however is with the vocals. The vocalist just sounds like he's lost his voice after screaming all night at someone else's gig. There is no impact or body to the vocals. This is bearable for the most part, but when the vocals are covering up interesting guitar work, they are actively detracting from the song. As well as this, the production of said vocals leaves a lot to be desired.

Production is a real issue on this record. Full stop. It's not awful, but god is it inconsistent. The vocals for example sound as if they've been recorded through an iPhone in some tiny room, which really prevents the forceful sound that has obviously been attempted here from being realized. In addition to this, guitar solos, and various other lead lines, really struggle to cut through the mix. It's as if all guitars were recorded with their tone knobs on zero. The best solo ever written could be hidden somewhere amongst this record for all I know. It doesn't matter how good the guitar work is though if I can't hear it though! A personal laugh-out loud moment came from the absolutely, pathetically weedy tom intro for "Sanctifying Putrescent".

ENTRAPMENT threatens to elevate themselves from enjoyable, yet forgettable, standard metal band to genuine quality with excellent track, "Malicious Predominance". Here Chuck Schuldiner is truly risen from the grave, as eerie harmonies give way to melodic lead lines and furiously groovy old school Death Metal riffing, before even progressing naturally into a dynamically interesting clean section. The writing here is incredibly strong, and genuinely captivating, however, the production really defangs any potential this track has. The clean sections have, quite simply, the worst and most sterile guitar tone I have ever heard. It is as if they forgot to re-amp these parts, and left us with the raw DIs. To make matters worse, the vocals are left entirely cringe worthy here. Whether with painfully clichéd lyrics ("Forgive me Father for I have sinned"), or with a tragically misplaced phaser effect during the clean sections, any potential this incredibly well written song had is unfortunately euthanized.

ENTRAPMENT has produced a decent enough record here, that is definitely enjoyable, but that is also the main problem. THEY produced it. Unfortunately production problems kill this record dead in the water. Maybe save up to visit a recording studio next time guys?<