New Hampshire is a US State well known for its expanses of beautiful wilderness and serenity. But somewhere in the crisp and still countryside, a growl can be heard. As you move closer toward it, it becomes louder and louder. Soon you come face to face with CONTAGIUM. The four-piece band, having been conceived in 2018, have already released an EP to date. However, we are here today to review their debut album, "Chronicles Of Carnage".

The album artwork is full or images of horror, rotting people, ghoulish apparitions and demonic figures appearing in the smoke. There is a lot going on within the image and whoever produced it should be more than proud of their work. However, as far as a stand out cover goes, it's a fairly sturdy and stereotypical example of Death Metal artwork.

Opening the album is "Decomposing Alive", which really wastes no time in throwing us head first into the dense and heavy chords, unrelenting blast beats and dirty guttural growls. "Pulmonary Haemorrhage" continues with this breathless and aggressive style, opening with the unwavering pace and intensity before coming to an abrupt end.

"The Rigors Of Mortis" starts off a bit clunky, a bit stiff, probably playing to the title of the track. However, after a bit of a warm up the pace increases and the music begins to become more fluid and open, which just incites any listener to get up and move. I have begun to see a bit of a pattern, song titles seem to correlate with the style of the music. I say this because "Mechanical Limb Separation" starts off very steady, methodical even, I could instantly see some great big hulking industrial machine whirring and plodding away carrying out its tasks. As the music began to become more intense and frenzied, again I was seeing the title being carried out (in my mind I hasten to add!!!).

I must say that, for such a young band, this is some impressive stuff. The music is tight, polished and fits together seamlessly. The imagery conjured up from the music fits with the track titles perfectly and overall, it was just a really solid release. CONTAGIUM, take a bow lads, you should be proud of this one.