BLIGHTMASS are a Death Metal band from Lyon, founded in 2014 under the moniker PURGATORY UNLEASHED. The band draws its inspiration from the Old School Death Metal scene with Thrash and Black Metal influences. After a few demos, the band recorded this, their first album. Simultaneously, the band delivers live performances across France. BLIGHTMASS already shared the stage with bands from the death metal scene like CANNABIS CORPSE, SADISTIC INTENT, HYSTERIA, MYTHRIDATIC and TEMPLE OF WORMS

"My Embrace" just kicks into gear from the start. The beat is steady, as the vocals start off, not too aggressive nor fast, so very easy to follow. You can tell that they have gone Old School Death Metal for inspiration, just by the aspects of Thrash all over this song, which of course in an old school trait in Death Metal. As an opening so to the album we may have expected a bit more of a frantic, frenzied start, but it has set the pace well enough, could have gone a bit heavier and still hit target

"Destruction Inevitable" has a solid start; vocals are easy enough to follow. The melodies are brilliant, the tempo is still a bit lower than I feel it could be, not saying it should be any slower, but I think it could have gone up one more gear. That being said, it is still a great song. Instrumentally, it works really well for the band as a whole.

"Misery from Martyrdom" starts well, the pace matches that set by the album. It builds up nicely with the melodies from the instrumentalists. Vocals are kept at a good speed to match the melodies. The pace and tempo created work very well to build up the sound to as full of a potential as possible. The elements and aspects put together here are fantastic with how they work. It seems like every member of the band is not only slaying it, but helping one another also.

"Invert Ascension" begins slower with a sample. Once the vocals kick in the pace seems to have picked up. The melody built is set at a healthy pace, which makes the song work, the instrumentalists have come together to create a decent song. The pace could have been raised, but the song at this pace is easy to follow and still allow a bit of head nodding. The technical guitar play is brilliant and when it is a slower song, it allows us to appreciate it more.

"Severed from Your Soul" is another song that starts slowly, with the sound spiraling its way into our ears. The beat does not get faster; it gets heavier and almost sludgier, for lack of a better word. At this point in the album, you expect to have a pace set and possibly slow things down in the middle, not as a filler, but to break up the sound. That is what seems to be done here. It is not a bad song; it just does not really go anywhere. Still, it has a good sound

"When He Wakes" has the approach similar to some CANNIBAL CORPSE songs where the vocal pace out does the instrumental, which gives it a more aggressive stance. The pace does pick and the tempo built creates harmonies for the song to progress into higher levels. I think the pace does not last long enough or become heavy enough for a frenzied finish, which it could have.

"Grave Hatred" has a similar pace set down by the last few songs, so song placement works well. The pulsating tempo sections work well to build the song up, the tempo goes up and down, which allows us to enjoy and appreciate the higher points. The thrash aspect has faded away somewhat, and it is more of a progressive stance with the tempo rising and falling. Its another song that you cannot say has anything wrong with it, but also feel it does not reach full potential.

"Scorched Atrocity" picks up the pace once more, which is greatly appreciated at this point in the album. You can hear the Thrash aspects once more. The progression through sopund adds a depth the last few songs has missed, and although it does not explode, it has picked up a more lively sound and this allows us to enjoy the song more, especially when you think about the last few songs have been slower.

"They Will Listen to the Dead" does not continue from where "Scorched Atrocity" left off which is surprising as the finish sounded like it was going over to two songs. This has a progressive guitar approach from the off. The start sounds like JOE STUMP would be strumming along with. The vocals and instrumentals kick in, but still feels like it is being held back, not into full throttle. Even though it is a longer song, there are not as many changes as you may have expected. It slows down towards the end and fades away to finish

"To Have Bled the Price" builds up slowly, teasing us with a few different sounds in its melody. Vocals seem coarser and less aggressive at the same time. The pace starts up but it stopped quickly, it repeats this trend several times, which adds the aspect of change and new ideas, but it does not add much new each time. The tempo is still decent enough for most of the song, in the final 2 minutes the song picks up fully, and if the song was like this all the way through I would appreciate it more. Unfortunately, it does die out again to close

"Vision of Desolation" seems like it will be another slow burner. As an outro, you sometimes hear a few styles from the album. This was a pointless addition as it does not do anything, and this album has a bonus CARCASS cover, so this one fading out does not work.

"Black Star" you can tell instantly that this is someone else's song, it has many different styles thrown in, that's not to insult BLIGHTMASS, it is just we have not heard this sort of thing in the album enough. Covers are harder to approach; do you stick with the original stance or do your own? Luckliy this one is done credit by keeping it like the original, which you have to hand it to BLIGHTMASS.

I think it's a good album, it could have been faster in places and heavier in others, but it works as a whole. For Death Metal fans, play it in your mixed playlists and you should enjoy it