CONVICTORS began in 1986 when the four friends Fabian, Lasse, Thomas and Atom decided to start a band. Influenced by bands such as POSSESSED, DESTRUCTION, KREATOR and SLAYER, their style could be described as Old-school Death Metal. The band recorded their first Demo Tape called "The Last Judgement" and was distributed by various magazines. Then in 1987, the band suddenly went into hibernation for more than 20 years. 2008 brought the band back into the musical fray with a regained sense of energy. Three of the original members, along with new Bass player Zimmi, reunited and started to work on new songs. They entered the Iguana Studios in 2009 and recorded a 5-track EP called "Abdication of Humanity".  2010 saw Zimmi and Atom leave the band and be replaced by Samuel and Zufi.  August 2011 saw the release of the song "Epitome of Decay" which was recorded in the bands' rehearsal room. The following two years were used to write new songs, rehearse and play some live shows. In March 2014 the band once again stepped into the mighty halls of the Iguana Studios to record the first full length album, "Envoys of Extinction".  After playing many shows during the past years CONVICTORS went back to Iguana Studios in June/July 2018 to start recording a new 8 song album called "Atrocious Perdition," which was released January 25th 2019.

My first intro to the band comes by the first track "Withdrawn".  From the first note, it is a full blast to the face. And let me tell ya, if you are looking for that Old-school Death Metal, this is probably it. The up and down the fret notes of the guitars following the blast beats will take you back in time. The vocals are truly demonic with the dark raspy exerts of Fabian. "Fading Epitaph" comes out more like a SLAYER song, even as the music passes the intro. The constant passing of the fret work sounds more like Kerry King doing what he does best. The vocals still remain dark with no change in tone or range. The song does have a decent beat to it though.

"All Hope's Gone" starts with a dark and heavy intro that remind me heavily of the bands influence. If you took all of the mentioned bands and threw them together, mixed up a good bit, shaken not stirred, you get this song. The chugging guitar and bass lean heavily on that old-school feel and even the vocal work shows a little range. In the end, the song sounds about the same as all before it. "Abandoned Freaks" shows a bit more promise with the intro, but it just falls into some fast guitar play with some blast beats underneath. You get a few seconds of a nice groove, in between all of the fast play. A true highlight to be honest.

CONVICTORS do hold a good sense of that Old-school Death Metal, but fall into the grind of every song sounding the same. They put together some nice grooves but I feel as if they do not use enough of it in a lot of their music. Do they pay tribute to their influences while staying true to their vision? That I have no doubt, but Death Metal sometimes falls into a vast idea of the genre. Sadly, CONVICTORS fall in between the faults of the genre and just doesn't stick out well for me.