DARK POETRY is a four-piece Death Metal group, formed in Cyprus. They exhibit a broad spectrum of sound; inspired by what seems to be Middle Eastern flavor, all the way to the heaviest Hardcore Punk from the 1980s. On their first full-length album, they present us with eight aural assaults that left this reviewer longing for the vocal smoothness of Henry Rollins.

Let me preface this by stating that I am genuinely not a fan of Death Metal. While I get the angst in the presentation, it has just never appealed to me. I do appreciate some bands who use the vocal roars in their music (such as OPETH and SHADOWS FALL), but there is always some redeeming factor for me. I can forgive a lot if the depth and musicality are happening. That is not the case with "Specimen."

The album opens promisingly enough with some of the Middle Eastern flair I spoke of before. A nice, acoustic under electric introduction, however, quickly becomes the body of "Specimen Evil." The song displays some real musicianship at times, with some nice time signature changes and a heavy bottom end. The vocal squashes it. The lyrical content is so bad that it is unintelligible at most times and in nearly every song on the record.

"Deep Black Eye," the album's second track, has a very Hardcore Punk feel to it, but it plods along for five minutes. The song made me feel as if I needed to get up after listening to it and check a mirror to make certain I was not indeed the victim of a black eye.

Moving forward to the fifth track, "Blasphemy," we have another Punk-inspired piece. This song actually displays some remarkable instrumentation at times, including some sweet double bass drum work from Kallis. Again, the song fails in the end. Koutzis' vocal work kills any shred of hope throughout this release. Try as I might, I can't get past it.

I tried to look past my disdain for the genre and give this album a fair shake. There may be another person who hears something that I can't, and absolutely loves it, but I honestly would fail to see how.